With the panoramic story of one “colored elite” family who rises from the ashes of the Civil War to create an American cultural dynasty Edward Ball offers the historical and literary successor to his highly acclaimed Slaves in the Family, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the 1998 National Book Award.
“The Sweet Hell Inside recounts the lives of the Harleston family of South Carolina, the progeny of a Southern gentleman and his slave who cast off their blemished roots and achieved affluence in part through a surprisingly successful funeral parlor business. Their wealth afforded Harleston the comfort of chauffeurs, tailored clothes, and servants whose skin was darker than theirs. It also launched the family into a generation of glory as painters, performers, and photographers in the “high yellow” society of America’s colored upper class. Harleston’s remarkable one-hundred-year journey spans the waning days of Reconstruction, the precious art world of the early 1900s, the back alleys of the Jazz Age, and the dawn of the civil rights movement.”
Join the Diversity and Reconciliation Commission for The Beloved Community of Care and Love Book Study: “The Sweet Hell Inside” by Edward Ball on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting on April 16 and going through May 16.
Tuesdays will begin at 4:30 p.m. and Thursdays will begin on 7 p.m. Both sessions will be online.
Call or email Canon Shirley Bolden if you are interested in joining either book study group. Please provide your name, email address, and which book study session you would like to attend when contacting her.
(816) 560-1656
Shirleybolden727@gmail.com
