Red Clay, Blood River

by William Johnson Everett

About the Book

How to Purchase Red Clay, Blood River

A Word from the Author

Discussion Group Guide

Readers Guide and Glossary

People Present in the Book's Creation

Upcoming Events

How to Contact William J. Everett

On December 16, 1838, an African woman lies dying on the icy banks of the Mississippi River, comforted by her son and her Cherokee master and mistress. At the same time, not far from her birthplace, the life blood of a young warrior slips into the ground on the banks of the Ncome River in southern Africa. The earth that binds our histories together in a rhythm not our own tells three intertwined stories culminating in these synchronous events. In their connection we enter a narrative of estrangement, oppression, memory, and reconciliation rooted in the simultaneous events of America's "Trail of Tears" and South Africa's "Great Trek."

These events and journeys reverberate in the lives of three contemporary students brought together by their interests in ecology. Through their often difficult friendship and a surprising discovery they begin to unravel the mystery of their estrangements, struggles, and deep connections to each other and to the earth.

Through the many facets of this work we are invited to see our fractured human history from within the sensibilities of an earth that seeks the flourishing of all creatures and transcends their loves and deaths within its life.

Based on ten years of research, travel, and writing in the US, England, and South Africa, this novel combines elements of historical fiction with an unusual narrative style and perspective that provides many layers of enjoyment and reflection for a wide variety of readers.

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How to Purchase Red Clay, Blood River

www.Booklocker.com for an excerpt and purchase of E-book version;

www.Amazon.com and www.BarnesandNoble.com;

In South Africa at www.Loot.co.za and www.Kalahari.net;

Also through select local independent bookstores (find them through www.Booksense.com)

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In the academic phase of my life I authored eight books and numerous articles in social ethics and religion. After over thirty years of teaching social ethics and theology - in Germany, India, and South Africa as well as in the United States - I wanted to turn my hand to a poetically written novel to probe the issues of ecological and human reconciliation.

We live in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, where writing and woodworking are in the blood, the woods, the mountains, and the story-telling culture of both Cherokee and European settlers. The massive tulip poplar behind me in the photo was a sapling when colonial settlers and Cherokee inhabitants struggled for control of this land. Contemporary struggles for reconciliation in these mountains find deep resonance in the experiences of South Africans, with whom I have lived and worked for much of the last ten years. As Lanier Johnson, one of the contemporary characters would say, exploration of these connections is what this book is all about.

When I am not writing, I create furniture for worship settings from the wood that grows around me. For more about my work, go to www.WisdomsTable.net, where you will also find galleries of artwork by my wife Sylvia, whose ancestors were the original inspiration for Red Clay, Blood River.

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People Present in the Creation

While writing itself is a work of solitude, what goes into it is always the expression of many minds and hearts. I want to identify here some of the people who made this labor possible.

My wife Sylvia, whose ancestors set this story in motion and who traveled many miles visiting monuments, graves, buildings, and fields of battle and harvest.

Nan Watkins, whose critical eye and enthusiasm for the project first encouraged me, and who introduced me to the rich resources of Hunter Library at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC.

George Frizzell, with his capacious memory of Cherokee history, who helped me take advantage of Hunter Library's extensive archives.

Sara Jenkins, whose combination of editor's eye and warm encouragement sustained and guided me in the middle passages of composition.

Anita Oser, cartographer at WCU, who generously contributed the maps to guide readers.

Marietjie Conradie, who read the first draft with an eye to South African, especially Afrikaner, culture, and to Ernst Conradie, for his extensive explorations of the deeper meaning of our ecological crisis.

Elinor Sisulu, for her early help with Xhosa and Zulu names and her enthusiastic support for this audacious project.

Robert Conley, whose writings inspired and instructed me and whose wonderful humor gave zest to my research into Cherokee history and culture.

Margaret Osondu, who supported this project with critique, advice, and encouragement, from middle draft to the arcane world of book publishing and marketing.

My daughter Aneliese Parker, who not only read and critiqued my writing but helped prepare the graphics for the cover and advised me on all matters of the electronic media in which we swim.

Ecological concerns run in the family. I have been cheered, entertained, and illuminated by my son Eric Everett's work with children in the Animal Party project.

This brief list only touches the many members of my family, members of writers' groups such as Mountain Writers Alive, librarians, archivists, genealogists, folklorists, and researchers who contributed to this work. May these unnamed also be remembered, for they have my deepest thanks.

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