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Fragments of the Ark: A Novel

Name: Fragments of the Ark: A Novel
Author: Louise Meriwether
ISBN: 9781611172829

by Louise Meriwether

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Overview

Fragments of the Ark follows the exploits of runaway slave Peter Mango, his family, and a band of fellow escaped slaves as they commandeer a Confederate gunboat out of Charleston harbor and deliver it to the Union navy. Mango is made captain of this liberated vessel and commands its crew through the duration of the war. He also travels to Washington to meet President Lincoln, adding his voice to others trying to persuade the president to allow black men to enlist in the armed forces. After the war Mango bought a home from his former master and became a political organizer for voting rights. Eventually he was elected a delegate to South Carolina's state convention to rewrite its constitution.
Based on the inspirational life of Robert Smalls, Fragments of the Ark explores the American Civil War through the eyes of its most deeply wounded souls. Against this chaotic backdrop, the novel sweeps readers into Mango's heroic quest for the most basic of human rights—a safe haven to nurture a family bound by love and not fear, and the freedom to be the master of his own life.

In the tradition of Alex Haley's Roots, Fragments of the Ark tells the heroic story of Peter Mango, a South Carolina slave whose daring Civil War escape from Confederate Charleston to the Union Navy brings him face-to-face with his freedom--and still closer to his own soul. From the author of Daddy Was a Number Runner. "Incredibly moving."--Maya Angelou.

About the Author, Louise Meriwether

Louise Meriwether is a novelist, essayist, journalist, and social activist with family ties to South Carolina. She earned a B.A. in English from New York University and an M.A. in journalism from the University of California at Los Angeles. In the 1950s, Meriwether worked for Universal Studios as the first African American story analyst in Hollywood history. Her first book, Daddy Was a Number Runner (1970), a fictional account of the economic devastation of Harlem in the Great Depression, was the first novel to emerge from the Watts Writers' Workshop. Meriwether followed with the publication of three historical biographies for children on Civil War hero Robert Smalls (1971), pioneer heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams (1972), and civil rights activist Rosa Parks (1973). Her most recent novel, Shadow Dancing, was published in 2000. A member of the Harlem Writers Guild, Meriwether has taught creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Houston.

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Editorials

From the Publisher

"Books like this enrich our lives by expanding our pantheon of heroes."—Library Journal

"Here is a gripping, unbearably sad, yet irresistible and enriching work of historical fiction."—Booklist

"First and foremost, Fragments is a powerful testimony to the spirit of a people who would not be denied their freedom."—San Francisco Chronicle

"In telling this true story of African-American heroism, the author paints a detailed portrait of the neo-African Gullah culture of the Carolinas and allows us to see how African-Americans not only endured the horror of slavery but triumphed over it."—Daily News

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This novel from the author of Daddy Was a Numbers Runner portrays a slave's escape from Charleston, S.C., during the Civil War.

Library Journal

In 1971, Meriwether wrote for children a biography of Robert Smalls, a South Carolina slave who led a successful mutiny and turned a Confederate steamer over to Union forces. Meriwether returns to this fascinating historical figure, this time in a novel for adults. Her fictional incarnation of Smalls is Peter Mango, who progresses from slave to commissioned officer and, in the postwar period, to political organizer. Striving to provide a true African American perspective, Meriwether continually interjects actual personalities, events, and issues (e.g., Lincoln, Sherman's March, and Andersonville). The studied combination of fact and fiction, however, is intrusive and tends to overwhelm the interesting story line. Additionally, reader John McCants often mispronounces words. Libraries should purchase where the book is popular. -Jeanne P. Leader, Western Nebraska Community Coll. Lib., Scottsbluff

School Library Journal

YA-A marvelous Civil War story told from an African American point of view. Set in South Carolina in 1861, the tale centers around Peter Mango, a slave who has been trained as a navigator. During the shelling of the forts, Peter, along with a small group of slaves, pilots a gunboat out of the Charleston harbor directly toward the Union forces. He continues to pilot this vessel for the Union Army. He also travels to Washington to add his voice to those trying to persuade the authorities to allow blacks to fight against the Confederacy. As the years pass, he becomes a successful riverboat captain and buys his former master's home. Furthermore, he becomes a delegate to the Freedman's Convention and helps to define the constitutional issues for South Carolina. Based on the life of Robert Small, this novel portrays one man's struggle, the emotional impact of slavery, and the determination to be free at all costs. Packed with historical facts, it shows how economic, social, and political forces effected the characters' lives. The story is predictable and some of the characters are underdeveloped, but the inclusion of many little-known details of the contributions of African Americans during this time period make it a fascinating read.-Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MD

Denise Perry Donavin

When Peter Mango and fellow slaves steal a Confederate steamboat, sneak their families aboard, and flee to the Union forces, their struggle for freedom has just begun. Even though Mango is decreed a hero and eventually made a captain in the Union navy, he and his friends face all the belligerence and bigotry from their "rescuers" that they faced from the slaveholders. In following the different paths Mango and his friends take, from enlistment with the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment to purchasing small farms, Meriwether tells Civil War stories that have too often been neglected. Here is a gripping, unbearably sad, yet irresistible and enriching work of historical fiction.