Four spirits : a novel / Sena Jeter Naslund.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Naslund, Sena Jeter.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civil rights movements--Fiction.

Civil rights movements.

Birmingham (Ala.)--Fiction.

Birmingham (Ala.).

Genre:

Fiction.

Historical fiction.

Political fiction.

Physical Description:

xv, 524 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : William Morrow, [2003]

Summary:

From the acclaimed author of the national bestseller Ahab's Wife comes an inspiring, brilliantly rendered novel of the awakening conscience of the South and of an entire nation. Twenty-year-old Stella Silver, an idealistic white college student raised by her genteel aunts, is not prepared for the events of 1963 in her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. At first, she keeps a safe distance, but the mounting tragedies send Stella reeling off her measured path. She plunges into the midst of the conflict, setting off a series of changes-in herself, her relationships, and her future-as dazzling and powerful as the civil rights movement itself. This inspiring novel weaves together the lives of blacks and whites, racists and civil rights advocates, and the events of peaceful protest and violent repression to create both an intimate and epic tapestry of American social transformation. Filled with the humanity that is the hallmark of Nalund's fiction, rich in historical detail and evocative in the way the best fiction should be, this novel goes beyond tragedy to redemptive triumph.

Contents:

Prelude: Old Times There, 1948

Helicon, Alabama 3

1 Unleashing the Dogs, May 1963

Stella 15

Christine 19

Edmund 22

Darl 24

Bobby Jones 27

TJ 29

At the Athens 35

Gloria at Home 38

Edmund at Home 40

Christine Walking 41

Fielding's Department Store 49

Mr. Fielding 52

At the Bankhead Hotel 54

On the Vespa 55

Night Duty 57

Night Pleasure 59

Christine at Home 63

Engaged 65

Fred Shuttlesworth 70

Wanting Bach 72

King 77

The Telephone, the Microphone 81

Ryder Jones 85

Gloria's Thought Book 88

Ryder's Second House 91

Lee 96

Martini: Christine and Gloria 100

At Fielding's 103

After Business Hours 106

At Her Desk 109

At the Gaslight 112

2 The Slaughter of the Innocents, September 1963

Gloria 129

Pimento Dream 133

At Woolworth's 139

Susan Spenser Oaks 141

Kind of a Growl 144

Huddled Together 145

Rubble 149

The Face of Christ 152

Someone Small 155

Homeward 156

Old Aunt Charlotte 158

At the Cartwrights' 163

Four Lambs 167

Trials 170

Edmund's Memori: I Begin Work and Study 172

3 O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, November 1963

Box of Moonlight 181

How the News Came to the Joneses 184

Stella's Odyssey 189

Dear Self 235

Lionel Parrish: Letter to the Four Families, December 1 239

Edmund's Memoir: A Christmas Story in Retrospect 240

4 The Oven, Summer 1964

New Work, New Life 247

H.O.P.E. 251

Driving Home 255

Stella's Aunts 258

Lionel's Office 264

In the Oven 268

Aftermath: Living It Again 274

Aftermath: "Traumerei" 275

Aftermath: Arcola at the Dressing Table 277

Aftermath: Home for the Night 278

Cahaba 280

Afternoon Roses 286

Night Again: Caryatid 289

Humming in the Heat 292

Aunt Pratt Alone 296

Lee Plays Barber 299

Dappled Light 303

Fans for August 306

View from Outside 310

Four Spirits 314

Lions Lounging 317

An Office Call 322

Picasso's Bull 327

Catherine's Story: A Friend of the Body 334

5 Seed People, September 1964

Dear Donny 353

He Doesn't 356

In the Basement 361

Night Riders 366

Resurrection 373

What's the Matter? 377

Lionel Watching 395

Close to Earth 399

Agnes's Honeybees 403

How to Dream 406

Jonathan, the Pianist 409

Dear Self 419

Saturday Morning: Edmund 423

Saturday Morning: Lee 429

Saturday: Agnes 434

Saturday: Lee 443

Saturday: Lionel 452

Saturday: Cat 455

Saturday: Gloria 460

Joseph Coat-of-Many-Colors 467

I, Gloria 473

Stella Listening 476

6 Spirits in the Snow, January 1965

Jonathan 487

New Year's Party, 1965 490

Stella 502

Postlude: Bringing in the Sheaves

Helicon Homecoming 515.

ISBN:

0066212383

006093669X

OCLC:

52127684