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The Lazarus Tree
Small town Alabama, 1905. Hard to imagine animosity and hatred for a lost cause still exist forty years after the Civil War's end.
A July 4th celebration "accidentally" burns the colored section of Oakman to the ground in one night. In the ashes and total devastation, that lay waste to property and lives lost, is a treacherous secret. A story of hatred, deprivation and defiance lost in the ashes and lost to time.
Not til amateur sleuth Robert Wallace sets out on a mission, to find the owner of the one relic not consumed by the fire and destruction of Pennsylvania Freedom, do we know how hard men's hearts can be. The quest sends Robert and his wife Mary back in time to a place in history they had only heard about. Stories of men, the South, cities and towns with no soul, no heart, that wanted nothing more than to extinguish the last reminders of the battles lost. At the center of these men is a town sheriff with a heart of stone and a non-existent soul. The destruction he causes at the very core of his own family overshadows even the most depraved secrets this small Southern town can hide.
The Lazarus Tree lies at the end of the devastation. The massive branches of the old oak tree have reached out to protect and hide those buried beneath its roots for over eighty years. There, in the confines of this small cemetery, Robert Wallace meets Annie May Watkins. A 108-year-old confidant that can tell him everything he needs to know to give his story an ending.
The narrative that leads Robert Wallace to this forgotten cemetery on the banks of the Tennessee River is an account of a terrible time in history many if not most would rather bury among these graves forever. Yet Annie, Robert and The Lazarus Tree provide a glimmer of hope that society and people can change the sins of their fathers and alter their future for the better.
A July 4th celebration "accidentally" burns the colored section of Oakman to the ground in one night. In the ashes and total devastation, that lay waste to property and lives lost, is a treacherous secret. A story of hatred, deprivation and defiance lost in the ashes and lost to time.
Not til amateur sleuth Robert Wallace sets out on a mission, to find the owner of the one relic not consumed by the fire and destruction of Pennsylvania Freedom, do we know how hard men's hearts can be. The quest sends Robert and his wife Mary back in time to a place in history they had only heard about. Stories of men, the South, cities and towns with no soul, no heart, that wanted nothing more than to extinguish the last reminders of the battles lost. At the center of these men is a town sheriff with a heart of stone and a non-existent soul. The destruction he causes at the very core of his own family overshadows even the most depraved secrets this small Southern town can hide.
The Lazarus Tree lies at the end of the devastation. The massive branches of the old oak tree have reached out to protect and hide those buried beneath its roots for over eighty years. There, in the confines of this small cemetery, Robert Wallace meets Annie May Watkins. A 108-year-old confidant that can tell him everything he needs to know to give his story an ending.
The narrative that leads Robert Wallace to this forgotten cemetery on the banks of the Tennessee River is an account of a terrible time in history many if not most would rather bury among these graves forever. Yet Annie, Robert and The Lazarus Tree provide a glimmer of hope that society and people can change the sins of their fathers and alter their future for the better.
151 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 3, 2019
3 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Graham
116 books40 followersStephen Graham is an academic and author who researches cities and urban life. He is Professor of Cities and Society at the Global Urban Research Unit and is based in Newcastle University's School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape.
Professor Graham has a background in Geography, Planning and the Sociology of Technology. His research centres, in particular, on:
•relations between cities, technology and infrastructure
•urban aspects of surveillance
•the mediation of urban life by digital technologies; and
• connections between security, militarisation and urban life.
Writing, publishing and lecturing across many countries and a variety of disciplines, Professor Graham has been Visiting Professor at MIT and NYU, amongst other institutions. The author, editor or co-author of seven major books, his work has been translated into eleven languages
Professor Graham has a background in Geography, Planning and the Sociology of Technology. His research centres, in particular, on:
•relations between cities, technology and infrastructure
•urban aspects of surveillance
•the mediation of urban life by digital technologies; and
• connections between security, militarisation and urban life.
Writing, publishing and lecturing across many countries and a variety of disciplines, Professor Graham has been Visiting Professor at MIT and NYU, amongst other institutions. The author, editor or co-author of seven major books, his work has been translated into eleven languages
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