Charley's Novel

eBook - Including 89 illustrations with classic paintings and 19th century photographs. For just over 140 years, this southern tale has been preserved by the Peck family. Rediscovered in 2021, photographed and transcribed, this epic novel written by Charles Talbot Peck is now made available to the public by editor Andy Peck. With themes of chivalry, integrity, honor, faith, and providence, Charley's Novel reveals a window into the world of East Tennessee and surrounding states just...
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eBook - Including 89 illustrations with classic paintings and 19th century photographs. For just over 140 years, this southern tale has been preserved by the Peck family. Rediscovered in 2021, photographed and transcribed, this epic novel written by Charles Talbot Peck is now made available to the public by editor Andy Peck. With themes of chivalry, integrity, honor, faith, and providence, Charley's Novel reveals a window into the world of East Tennessee and surrounding states just after the period of Reconstruction following the Civil War. In Charley's Novel, we learn about the patterns of courtship for wealthy families. We see the meanness of and spousal abuse by "ruffians" as Charley calls them. We learn of the fortitude of women who bore up under such abuse, and were rewarded in the end for their strength, grace, and determination. Difficult subjects are covered as well in this time period novel including greed (the lust for gold and wealth), threats and coercion by the Ku Klux Klan, and the simple but difficult life of mountain people-with limited opportunities for education.The pages here include a love story, and lessons for all of us to learn from. They also contain signposts to the history of Mossy Creek (modern day Jefferson City, TN), and to the Peck family itself. Charley inserts family names and history throughout the novel. What treasures can YOU find, that teach us about life in 1879?