Prime Leaf: A Novel of the Kentucky Tobacco Wars

Just after the turn of the nineteenth century, we saw the only large-scale agricultural strike in American history and the onslaught of the most violent saga since the Civil War: the Kentucky tobacco wars -- a colorful period of our history relatively unknown to most Americans today. We are all too familiar with the contemporary "tobacco wars", but few people know of the blood that spilled and property destroyed when family farmers took rage over the low prices paid them by the rapidly domineering tobacco conglomerates; evocative of today's struggles between small farmers and corporate agri-empires. Truly a story that wrestles with what Faulkner called "the human heart in conflict with itself", Prime Leaf is the multi-generational drama that starts with the gripping murder of Harry Converse just after the Civil War. After witnessing his father's murder, Boyd Converse comes of age amidst family struggles, ultimately pitting him against his younger brother who joins the Dark Tobacco District Planters' Association in their struggle against Duke Trust. The Possum Hunters (later, Night Riders) are born and subsequently ravage the land burning barns and inflicting violence against farmers who refuse to cooperate, Boyd in toe. One night, the NightRiders flog Boyd's brother and a family drama of epic proportion is set in motion: the conflict of a man defined by his violent actions yet pulled by family loyalty. In the spirit of Robert Penn Warren's debut novel, Night Rider -- the only other fictional account of this tragic period in American history -- Prime Leaf promises a spellbinding account of the struggle between family, land, and corporate America reminding us just how violent yetredemptive our history can be.