Against the Grain

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The book dramatizes the plight of abolitionist Quakers living in eastern North Carolina during the Civil War. As the war rages from 1861 to 1865, both Union and Confederate forces tramp through the region to destroy whatever they come upon and confiscate, as the war drags on, anything of value. A Quaker family entrenched in rural tradition and a faith emphasizing peace quietly resists the brutality of war but is made to suffer. As Southerners, Union soldiers see them as the enemy. As abolitionists going against the grain of Southern culture, Confederate soldiers despise and harass them. When they refuse to pay the exemption tax, their men are required to go into the army. Refusing to bear arms, their mettle is severely tested at Gettysburg and Petersburg. The book is about courage and endurance in the maw of adversity. It is closely based on historical fact, Confederate records, and Quaker tradition.