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2 Works 56 Membros 1 Review

Obras de Katherine R. Bateman

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The Clays and Cecils are important families in Kentucky history (and no one is more aware of this than the Clay and Cecil families). In this work, eleven generations of the family are traced, with stops at each generation to focus on the influential family members and their stories. There is love, action, betrayal, affairs, etc. every step of the way. The author intertwines the tales she was repeatedly told while growing up with information supported by historical documentation. The most interesting question addressed in this work is not what happened, but rather why her family history is preserved as it was - what stories are exaggerated, which are invented? Which stories are left out altogether and why? Some of this editing is for obvious reason - being related to generals is always good, as is fighting in the revolutionary war. And its easy to see why a relative's kidnapping venture is not passed down to future generations. But what about the story of a woman in the family running her young children to safety after watching her three oldest killed in an attack by Native Americans? The author's analysis of her family's storytelling choices is just as interesting as the stories themselves.

Quote: "It would been such an unfortunate precedent for the clay girl-children, who were repeatedly and emphatically informed that 'no one in our family has ever had a baby out of wedlock."

At first I was concerned about reading a book that is first a genealogy - reading about someone else's family tree. Sure, my aunt Sue's stories about great grandma are interesting to me, but would anyone else want to read about them? Perhaps not, but a combination of Katherine Bateman's writing style and the interesting lives of her forebearers make Kentucky Clay work in a big way. Yes, she does occasionally get judgmental of her ancestors (judging 17th century by 21st century standards), but it seems to come from a place of trying internally to reconcile the actions of people in her past with the idealized version she had of early family members.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
mhleigh | Dec 11, 2008 |

Estatísticas

Obras
2
Membros
56
Popularidade
#291,557
Avaliação
½ 3.4
Resenhas
1
ISBNs
11

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