Publisher's Synopsis
The American Civil War, fought over the subject of slavery, stands as a turning point in the country's history. Yet, more than a century and half after the end of that war, racial bias still threatens to rip this nation apart. The Whipping Post, lays bare the schism within a family divided in its perception and treatment of "Negroes." To some they are fellow human beings; to others, they are property whose sole purpose in life is to serve their masters.
Otilio Middendorf is a successful Kentucky farmer, the proud owner of two dozen slaves; the father of four children; and the husband of a loving wife. But he is also a cruel man who orders the whipping of his own twelve-year-old son when the boy refuses to whip a young slave girl who, in all innocence, kisses the boy on the cheek.
BOOK ONE (The Farm) depicts the daily life of the Middendorf family and the slaves who work their hemp farm in Kentucky from 1857 to 1864.
BOOK TWO (The Dispersed) is a collection of eight short stories that follow the lives of eight of the farm's residents after the farm is burned down by Union sympathizers: Otilio's wife, their children, three slaves, and the farm overseer.
