Beyond Ford and Fields

by Simon Henderson

Jalen Campbell and Daniel McBride live in very different worlds that are about to be changed forever. Set in a counter-factual 1970 American South, where black people live in a separate state, Beyond Ford and Fields is a coming of age story told across racial lines. Brought together by a chance encounter in the parking lot of a Mississippi clinic, the two teenagers begin a tentative but increasing friendship. Jalen’s life revolves around the illness of his six year old sister, Lakeisha, and his widowed father’s attempts to provide for them in the small town of Ebony Ford. Fifty kilometres east in Magnolia Fields, Daniel lives in the shadow of his older sister, Lisa, as his divorced mother works hard to open a window on the world that shows her children beyond the parochial concerns and blinkered ideas of a small southern town. As the adults in their lives try to navigate the complex relationship forged between their families because of Lakeisha’s illness, Daniel and Jalen embark on an adventure that takes them into the past and teaches them lessons that echo down to the present. With each step on their journey of self-discovery they grow closer despite the tensions and contradictions all around them. Their tentative bond is increased when they find a 1955 Mississippi State Football Championship ring tossed into the trash. The quest to find the owner is fuelled by Daniel’s drive to prove himself to the older and more streetwise Jalen. Together, and helped by Lisa, a beautiful and forthright high school senior, they are able to find the owner of the ring only to discover something unexpected. Little do they know that each pace into the future brings them closer to tragedy.

199 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 28, 2018