A Partial Sun, Lawrence Reid Bechtel
A Partial Sun, Lawrence Reid Bechtel
List: $24.95 | Sale: $17.47
Club: $12.47

A Partial Sun

Author: Lawrence Reid Bechtel

Narrator: Lawrence Reid Bechtel

Unabridged: 12 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/16/2020


Synopsis

Author Lawrence Reid Bechtel has captured the story of Isaac Granger, a slave from Thomas Jefferson's plantation as told through the eyes of amateur historian Reverend Charles Campbell.

In 1852, after much searching through the Black districts of Petersburg, Virginia, the amateur historian Charles Campbell finally located Isaac Granger, a former slave of the late Thomas Jefferson. Though disinterested at first in sharing his memories, Isaac was at last persuaded by the persistent Reverend to tell the full story of his time in Philadelphia as a young man in the early 1790s. It was supposed to have been a simple story: he would apprentice with a Quaker tinsmith and then return to Monticello to produce tinware for sale in such abundance that "Old Master" might pay down his plantation's crippling debts.

But Isaac was impressionable, and more thoughtful than Mr. Jefferson knew. Philadelphia was a big city, home to a thriving African-American community, and Isaac met all manner of characters, both tragic and comic.Isaac got himself into difficulties, contemplated his place in the world, and was challenged to do more than just serve. Conflict was inevitable.

Reviews

Very different from anything I've ever read before. Very well written and researched. Simple style that draws you in and keeps you reading. I love the development of the main character and the realistic depictions of life as a slave -- and the fact that a variety of slave lives are depicted. Great r......more

Goodreads review by Erica

The year is 1791. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson sends his slave, Isaac Granger, to begin a tinsmith apprenticeship in Philadelphia. Lawrence Bechtel’s novel, A Partial Sun, imagines this young man’s life as he travels to the nation’s capital to learn the tinsmith trade with a Quaker family. Wi......more

Thomas Jefferson has always been a mystery to me. Here was a man on integrity, great intelligence and of a gentle nature---YET he owned slaves. He owned house slaves as well as field slaves whose bondage was complete. A Partial Sun, looks at this phenomena from a young, gifted, slave’s point of view......more

Goodreads review by Marcy

In the year 1847, the Rev. Charles Campbell sets out to interview and record the life story of Isaac Granger Jefferson, an elderly Negro blacksmith now living in Petersburg, Virginia. Once the property of Sir Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, Isaac was chosen at age 15 to apprentice as a tinsmith in t......more

Goodreads review by Len

A Partial Sun is the first installment of The Tinsmith’s Apprentice Series, which is the fictional story of Isaac Granger Jefferson, a slave of Thomas Jefferson. Sixteen year old Isaac is sent to Philadelphia in 1791, where Jefferson is serving as Washington’s Secretary of State, to apprentice as a......more