About "Snow-Storm in August" from the publ isher Penguin Random House: "In 1835\, the city of Washington simmered wit h racial tension as newly freed African Americans from the South poured in \, outnumbering slaves for the first time. Among the enslaved was nineteen -year-old Arthur Bowen\, who stumbled home drunkenly one night\, picked up an axe\, and threatened his owner\, respected socialite Anna Thornton. De spite no blood being shed\, Bowen was eventually arrested and tried for at tempted murder by district attorney Francis Scott Key\, but not before new s of the incident spread like wildfire. Within days Washington&rsquo\;s fi rst race riot exploded as whites\, fearing a slave rebellion\, attacked th e property of free blacks. One of their victims was gregarious former slav e and successful restaurateur Beverly Snow\, who became the target of the mob&rsquo\;s rage. With "Snow-Storm in August\," Jefferson Morley delivers readers into an unknown chapter in history with an absorbing account of t his uniquely American battle for justice."
\nReview from Publishers
Weekly: \; &ldquo\;Salon Washington correspondent Jefferson Morley bol
dly and elegantly recreates a moment in time when free black businessmen m
ingled with their white counterparts while proponents of slavery and aboli
tionists struggled to co-exist in the nation&rsquo\;s bustling capital. .
. . A crackling good tale of the deep impact of race and politics on a you
ng nation struggling to create its identity.&rdquo\;