THE OUTER BANKS HOUSE (Diann Ducharme)

Ducharme's first novel will appeal to fans of historical fiction and to young adults.  Its powerful sense of place and unusual perspective on post-Civil War life and attitudes in the South make it difficult to put down.

During the summer of 1868, Abigail Sinclair is the 17-year-old daughter of a North Carolina plantation owner nearly ruined by the Civil War.  Despite his financial difficulties, Abby's father builds a cottage on the beach at Nag's Head with the intention that his family will summer their, benefiting from the sea air.  After hiring illiterate "banker" Benjamin Whimble as his fishing guide he enlists his older daughter, Abby, to teach Ben to read and to write.  In return for the lessons and for helping Ben to procure a job at Cape Hatteras, which will enable Ben and his father to give up the hard life as fishermen, Mr. Sinclair asks Ben to find a freed slave, Elijah Africa, rumored to be a preacher on Roanoke Island, now a colony of former slaves.  Elijah is accused of murdering his former owners and needs to be brought to justice, according to Mr. Sinclair.  He can be identified by the letter "B" branded on his shoulder.

The story is told from the perspective of Abigail and Ben in alternating clusters of chapters.  Abigial is mesmerized by the sea and the sand and, eventually, by Ben.  She is sympathetic to the bankers (natives of the Outer Banks) and to the freed slaves who crave education.  One of the most memorable and telling moments in the novel is when Abby and her former wet nurse, now family maid, Winnie, are being introduced to members of the Roanoke colony.  Winnie corrects Abby's belief that "Winnie" is her given name and reveals that she is actually "Asha."  Winnifred is the name given to her by Abby's mother when she was purchased as a slave to work in the plantation house and Abby is shocked to realize that she had never given a thought to where Winnie came from or what she was called.  This was a true "coming of age" moment for Abby, a young woman of intelligence and compassion who finds her true self on the Outer Banks.

We have all read stories about the Civil War and its aftermath.  Ducharme creates what feels like a fresh, first-hand perspective on the attitudes of former slave owners, their families, and freed slaves.  I think that this is one of the shining attributes of "young adult" novels, meaning novels with main characters in their teens.  Youth is more open to new ideas and new persepctives and I like what is presented here.