Books

Set in the 1980s, this novel follows Martin Langley, a graduate student and then professor whose faith in academic life is unraveling. He comes to the profession with a belief in books, teaching, and honest inquiry, but finds himself in a world increasingly shaped by departmental quarrels, stubborn orthodoxies, and institutional politics....

Set against the backdrop of a young nation struggling to define its identity, Miss Blue Jacket traces the remarkable life of Frances Lloyd Garrison, mother of the renowned abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. From New Brunswick to New England to Baltimore, Frances navigates a world shaped by war, trade disruption, disease, and slavery. Her...

Set in 1965, this coming-of-age follows the freshman year of basketball player Lee Rollins, a shy and intelligent boy who is taken in by the romantic intrigue of three popular girls. His world is further rocked when his closest teammate is sent away for delinquent behavior. Lee's realization that friendships can be forged with girls as well as...

Charles Ball was born into slavery in Calvert County, Maryland and served there under several masters until, at twenty-six, he was sold and taken to South Carolina as part of a fifty-person coffle. After nearly seven years of grueling and often intolerable treatment in South Carolina and Georgia, he fled Georgia and returned to Maryland. This...