Talmadge Farm

It's 1957, and tobacco is king. Wealthy landowner Gordon Talmadge enjoys the lavish lifestyle he inherited but doesn't like getting his hands dirty; he leaves that to the two sharecroppers - one white, one Black - who farm his tobacco but have bigger dreams for their own children. While Gordon takes no interest in the lives of his tenant farmers, a brutal attack between his son and the sharecropper children sets off a chain of events that leaves no one unscathed. Over the span of a decade, Gordon struggles to hold on to his family's legacy as the old order makes way for a New South.

TALMADGE FARM is a sweeping drama that follows three unforgettable families navigating the changing culture of North Carolina at a pivotal moment in history. A love letter to the American South, the historical novel is a story of resilience, hope, and family - both lost and found. 

About the author:  Leo Daughtry writes with creative authority. A son of North Carolina, he is a well known lawyer and served in the North Carolina House and Senate for more than 20 years. 

What some critics/readers say:

“An earnest historical novel…a thoughtful meditation on the inexorability of change and what happens when justice results in a redistribution of success.  Kirkus Review

Daughtry debuts with an expansive panorama of the 1950s and 60s American South, when tobafco ruled the land and desegregation was in its infancy…Gordon Talmadge and society’s treatment of the shareruppers is painful to read ut Daughtry capably evokes harsh historical truths of the era particularly the generational abuse that wealthy landowners inflicted on the descendants of enslaved peoples. Book Life Reviews

Talmadge Farm is a classic.  This is a story of triumph and tragedy, of good and evil, and finally reconciliation.  A true morality play.   Gene Hoots, Former tobacco executive and author of Going Down Tobacco Road.

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