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Burning Prospects: A Novel Based on a True Story
Revolutionary War Captain Isaac Ross built a fortune in the fertile cotton growing region of Jefferson County, Mississippi on his plantation Prospect Hill. Towards the end of his life, he came to realize that he owed much of his prosperity to his large holding of slaves and wanted to reward them for their efforts. With this in mind, he made the decision to free his slaves in his will; with the stipulation that the American Colonization Society would oversee the transport of the Prospect Hill slaves to Liberia. Once on the shores of Africa, the proceeds from the sale of his estate would establish the slaves there, providing everything necessary for them to begin a new life. Including the establishment of a school. What Captain Ross was not counting on was the challenge to his Last Will and Testament that would be mounted by his heirs. A legal challenge that went on for years after his death. Before a legal settlement was reached, Prospect Hill was burned to the ground. By the time any of the slaves reached Africa's shores a young girl would be dead, several slaves would be lynched, and a legacy of the tragedy would remain forever. Based on the events at Prospect Hill from just before Captain Ross' death until the aftermath of the fire, Burning Prospects will bring this unique piece of history to life.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
362 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2014
4 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
About the author
Melissa Miles
20 books31 followersMelissa Miles is a Registered Nurse and a Certified K-12 teacher. She recently founded a nonprofit, Superhero Success Foundation to help raise awareness of special needs kid and donate copies of Jeremiah Justice Saves the Day to children's hospitals, schools, and programs for special needs kids. Jeremiah Justice is her latest book.
Melissa is a member of SCBWI and serves as the local liaison for the Savannah area.
Melissa is a member of SCBWI and serves as the local liaison for the Savannah area.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 14, 2014
Melissa combines all the wonderful elements of history and fiction to make a gripping tale about a slave revolt. She does a great job of telling the story from all the different perspectives. I personally love the strong female character of Mary Girault and the other stories involving the plantation slaves. Definitely worth your time!
May 3, 2014
Great book if I do say so! Melissa Miles tells a historically accurate while somewhat fictionalized account of one of my family's most fascinating stories.It is a must read for anyone interested in historical fiction. I love the way she weaved the threads of actual historical events into the narrative. I've read the book more than once and enjoy it each time. I highly recommend this book!
February 25, 2014
What a wonderful job the author accomplished in bringing real Mississippi history to life! She captured place so well, it was as if you were there watching it all unfold. A great historical fact based fiction read!
February 22, 2014
I am reading this book again and I just read it the first time! My family descended from the Ross and Wades and so I have an interest in the history. It was very well researched and written! I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction!
June 14, 2014
I received a wonderful autographed copy of this book through the First Reads program on Goodreads. What a thrill for me a voracious reader and lover of books!
Burning Prospects is a novel based on a true story that has everything going for it. I'm a genealogy nut and the author is related to people in this book. I love history and this book touches on a little known aspect of the abolition movement, to remove slaves and return them to Africa. There is also a little romance and who can argue with love?
The characters (white and black) in this novel are well drawn and very believable. There is no sugar coating done but realistic people in a strange time in our nation's history. Slavery was a money making endeavor. Even Thomas Jefferson, who philosophically hated slavery wrote that his biggest crop was growing slaves. Preachers justified the masters by claiming God allowed slavery and even advocated for it. Blacks were looked at as inferior beings that needed to be looked after to reach their full potential. We know today it was all garbage but this is what a large proportion of whites believed back in the 1800's.
This story tells the tale of a white man deciding to free his slaves and send them back to Africa to the colony of Liberia. After his death his heirs contest the will for years until the slaves have had enough and strike back in the only way they know.
This story is one that needs to be known and talked about. I found it very moving and completely engrossing. I highly recommend it!
I can't wait to read what Melissa Miles comes up with next.
Burning Prospects is a novel based on a true story that has everything going for it. I'm a genealogy nut and the author is related to people in this book. I love history and this book touches on a little known aspect of the abolition movement, to remove slaves and return them to Africa. There is also a little romance and who can argue with love?
The characters (white and black) in this novel are well drawn and very believable. There is no sugar coating done but realistic people in a strange time in our nation's history. Slavery was a money making endeavor. Even Thomas Jefferson, who philosophically hated slavery wrote that his biggest crop was growing slaves. Preachers justified the masters by claiming God allowed slavery and even advocated for it. Blacks were looked at as inferior beings that needed to be looked after to reach their full potential. We know today it was all garbage but this is what a large proportion of whites believed back in the 1800's.
This story tells the tale of a white man deciding to free his slaves and send them back to Africa to the colony of Liberia. After his death his heirs contest the will for years until the slaves have had enough and strike back in the only way they know.
This story is one that needs to be known and talked about. I found it very moving and completely engrossing. I highly recommend it!
I can't wait to read what Melissa Miles comes up with next.
June 20, 2014
Based on a true story, Burning Prospects tells the story of Capt. Isaac Ross' cotton plantation in Mississippi, built on Prospect Hill. With over 200 slaves, his last wish was that his slaves be set free, the plantation sold and the proceeds used to pay for passage to Africa (Liberia). But after his death, some family members are not so keen to give up the family plantation they feel should rightfully be theirs. The slaves know of their master's wishes and patiently (and some impatiently) wait for the courts to grant them freedom. A compelling story of human bondage, human nature, comfort zones and fear of the unknown. Told from all angles, this story gives you a view from every prospective. The story begins with the demise of Prospect Hill Plantation and then takes you back on a journey of life in the 1840s in the south. I longed for a bit more character development (or background) on Captain Ross, certain family members and some of the slaves. I felt the author adequately skimmed the surface of characters, but I wanted to know more about them. Perhaps that is the makings of a good story -- when the reader is intrigued enough to want to know more. A good story of greed, pride, tradition and a desire to find happiness and freedom. The fact that the premise of the story is based on the author's own family history makes the flames from Burning Prospects burn a bit brighter and a bit longer. A good read and a good discussion book.
Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from Goodreads FirstReads
Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from Goodreads FirstReads
June 13, 2014
This author does an amazing job of bringing the tragic and controversial story of Prospect Hill to life. I am not an avid reader of history novels, but this book blends history, romance, and drama in a way that kept me on the edge of my seat to the very end-right down to the discussion questions!
A great conversation starter about race relations(then and now), and a perfect choice for a book club.
A great conversation starter about race relations(then and now), and a perfect choice for a book club.
June 23, 2014
A Goodreads first read giveaway, this is one of the saddest books I've ever read. A Revolutionary War veteran who moved from South Carolina to Mississippi with his family and slaves to establish a new plantation, before his death, makes it clear to his heirs both verbally and by dint of his written will, that his slaves are to be emancipated. He further stipulates that the income from the plantation's cotton crop and its sale is to be used to transport those slaves who wish to go to a colony in Africa, Liberia. Further that the monies be used to set them up there with a school and homes and money to establish themselves.
Captain Ross' daughter, one of his heirs, is put in charge of the estate and she is able in her lifetime to hold off her sister and her nephew from interfering with her father's wishes. Nonetheless, between their challenges to the will and the laws of Mississippi regarding the manumission of slaves, she is unable to see its stipulations enforced before she, too, dies. Fortunately, she had a codicil to her own will that was iron-clad and her own slaves were freed upon her death.
The remainder of the book tells the story of the family struggling to prevent Ross' will being enforced, the work of lawyers attempting to get it enforced, the work of abolitionists to keep the slaves informed of the progress in the courts. The life of the slaves as the years drag on as well as the lives of the owners of the plantation are told with great detail. While it is evident that the white plantation owners, in many cases, were religious people and good to their slaves, it is also evident that they saw them only as possessions. They justified their ownership through interpretation of Scriptural passages that seem to condone owning slaves--and they probably do, since these are the writings of men and from time immemorial, slaves have existed in most societies. Usually,they were taken from conquered peoples. And there is no doubt that the fortunes held by many plantation owners were achieved only through the labor of unpaid workers and that those fortunes would be reduced if not depleted were that to change.
On the other hand, while many slaves were treated well by their owners the fact remains they were not free. They were loved, cared for in every way but had absolutely no control of their own fates. As is shown in this book, once the kindest of masters died, the life of the slaves he owned was thrown into total upheaval and uncertainty. Would the new owner treat them as well? Would the new owner keep them all? If not, would the new owner sell them as family units or pick and choose who he'd keep and who he'd sell? What would the buyer be like and where would they be moving? Several people could answer those questions but not one would be a slave, nor would any slave be asked for their input on the decisions made. Even considering the times and the customs of the times, it is impossible for me to imagine looking upon fellow human beings this way---with total lack of recognition of their humanity. It is unfathomable.
Even more unfathomable to me is Ross' belief that sending these souls to Africa was humane. Africa? None of them had ever been there--they had no idea what Africa was like. And yet, I'm sure the author is correct. Much as people had flocked to America, a total unknown, to escape persecution or poverty, these slaves or at least some must have been fearful of moving to Africa but must have had hope of a better life, one of freedom at last. Unfortunately, Liberia, while it provided that, did not provide much more than that. The money Ross had hoped would carry them through to a happier life in their homeland had been squandered in the courts of Mississippi. Africans found these American blacks to be invasive and did not welcome them. Poverty and hardship followed them across the sea. But not before the tinderbox left behind when Captain Ross literally burst into flame--destroying his beloved home, killing a young child and seeing slaves hanging from the trees of Prospect Hill.
Captain Ross' daughter, one of his heirs, is put in charge of the estate and she is able in her lifetime to hold off her sister and her nephew from interfering with her father's wishes. Nonetheless, between their challenges to the will and the laws of Mississippi regarding the manumission of slaves, she is unable to see its stipulations enforced before she, too, dies. Fortunately, she had a codicil to her own will that was iron-clad and her own slaves were freed upon her death.
The remainder of the book tells the story of the family struggling to prevent Ross' will being enforced, the work of lawyers attempting to get it enforced, the work of abolitionists to keep the slaves informed of the progress in the courts. The life of the slaves as the years drag on as well as the lives of the owners of the plantation are told with great detail. While it is evident that the white plantation owners, in many cases, were religious people and good to their slaves, it is also evident that they saw them only as possessions. They justified their ownership through interpretation of Scriptural passages that seem to condone owning slaves--and they probably do, since these are the writings of men and from time immemorial, slaves have existed in most societies. Usually,they were taken from conquered peoples. And there is no doubt that the fortunes held by many plantation owners were achieved only through the labor of unpaid workers and that those fortunes would be reduced if not depleted were that to change.
On the other hand, while many slaves were treated well by their owners the fact remains they were not free. They were loved, cared for in every way but had absolutely no control of their own fates. As is shown in this book, once the kindest of masters died, the life of the slaves he owned was thrown into total upheaval and uncertainty. Would the new owner treat them as well? Would the new owner keep them all? If not, would the new owner sell them as family units or pick and choose who he'd keep and who he'd sell? What would the buyer be like and where would they be moving? Several people could answer those questions but not one would be a slave, nor would any slave be asked for their input on the decisions made. Even considering the times and the customs of the times, it is impossible for me to imagine looking upon fellow human beings this way---with total lack of recognition of their humanity. It is unfathomable.
Even more unfathomable to me is Ross' belief that sending these souls to Africa was humane. Africa? None of them had ever been there--they had no idea what Africa was like. And yet, I'm sure the author is correct. Much as people had flocked to America, a total unknown, to escape persecution or poverty, these slaves or at least some must have been fearful of moving to Africa but must have had hope of a better life, one of freedom at last. Unfortunately, Liberia, while it provided that, did not provide much more than that. The money Ross had hoped would carry them through to a happier life in their homeland had been squandered in the courts of Mississippi. Africans found these American blacks to be invasive and did not welcome them. Poverty and hardship followed them across the sea. But not before the tinderbox left behind when Captain Ross literally burst into flame--destroying his beloved home, killing a young child and seeing slaves hanging from the trees of Prospect Hill.
February 17, 2015
This historical fiction novel is based on a very true story. The antebellum story chronicles the life of a wealthy plantation family and the slaves who live there. The main theme is abolitionism and it doesn't let you forget it. The theme is brought up over and over and over again. Okay I get it: slavery is wrong. I really would have given this book 2 1/2 stars but there seems no way to do that with this system.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews