Copper Crown

The Story

This powerful tale, rich with cadences of the South, is a dazzling debut novel that has been compared to the works of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. At its heart is the story of Cass and Allie, two young women -- one white, one black-- sharing a friendship amid the divisive and violent racism of rural 1913 Texas. But when a murder turns the town of Copper Crown into an inferno of lynchings and riots, Cass and Allie make a startling decision -- to strike out on their own in search of a life where a person's heart, not race, is what counts. Lane von Herzen draws upon actual occurrences and family history passed down from her Texan mother and grandmother to spin this moving, courageous tale of racial hatred and the redemptive power of love.