Flowering of the Cumberland

The author of Seedtime on the Cumberland returns with another richly detailed evocation of pioneering in the Cumberland River basin, or what is now middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky. Not a sequel but a companion piece, Flowering of the Cumberland covers much the same time—from first settlement in 1780 to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Whereas Seedtime was preoccupied with solitary men and women struggling to secure food, clothing, shelter, and land, Flowering goes beyond simple survival to focus on family and community. Memorably described are the strength of women like Sally Buchanan in stations fortified against Indian attack, the emergence of men like Andrew Jackson, the pursuit of sex and marriage, the birthing and raising of children, schooling, the state of agriculture, business opportunities and the professions, religion and tolerance, border politics, and social life and diversions. An entire bygone world comes to life, and with it the smell of strong whiskey, the clippety-clop of horses, and the haunts of ghosts.