impact

In this sprawling novel, American writer Mary E. Wilkins Freeman moves from the light subject of much of her early work to a larger issue: the impact of poverty. With the help of the character Jerome Freeman skillfully shows how impoverishment can affect several generations of families.

The action takes place in Virginia five years before the Civil War. The story shows the impact of slavery on Saphira Colbert, a woman of spirit and common sense who is frighteningly capricious in dealing with the people she „owns”. The heroine Sapphira lacks moral qualities, she does not cause sympathy. However, the book was critically acclaimed and was a commercial success.

The singing of the swords was a deathly clamor in the brain of Godric de Villehard. Blood and sweat veiled his eyes and in the instant of blindness he felt a keen point pierce a joint of his hauberk and sting deep into his ribs. Smiting blindly, he felt the jarring impact that meant his sword had gone home, and snatching an instant’s grace, he flung back his vizor and wiped the redness from his ey...