One Maryland Family: A Microcosm of America's History

COLUMBIA, Md. - March 22, 2023 - PRLog -- In 1695 a family of English colonists acquired the rights to 110 acres of land near the Port of Joppa, on the Chesapeake Bay, and established Good Endeavour farm. The farm remained in the family for three centuries. Ned Tillman's just-released novel is the story of the members of that family. But it is far more than a multigenerational family saga, it is also a window into the evolution of the nation we live in today.

Good Endeavour: A Maryland Family's Turbulent History, 1695-2002 offers "… a historical insight into the critical issues of our time," said Tillman. "It reveals how hard it has always been to make and maintain progress in a politically, socially, economically, and morally diverse society."

Drawing upon in-depth research Tillman documents dramatic moments in America's history including wars, the abolition of slavery, the struggle for women's rights, the rise of the industry with the labor conflicts and environmental destruction it produced, the Great Depression, and the activism of the 1960s and 70s. But he does it in a uniquely personal way.

We watch a woman struggle to manage Good Endeavour in a world where men insult and abuse her while her husband marches to Yorktown for the decisive battle of the Revolution. We see the family face down a lynch mob. Another character challenges existing racism when he ends the use of slave labor in the ironworks he manages. Still, another manages a copper smelting company in nearby Baltimore where he must confront the potential explosiveness of a long strike. Finally, a family member marches against the Vietnam War and faces the violence of a group of counter-protestors who trigger a riot. There is plenty of historical drama, but throughout it all Tillman examines the lives, loves, and losses of the strong men and women of Good Endeavour.

"My goal was to humanize our collective ancestors and to bring life to the stories of the past," said Tillman.

In that, he succeeds admirably. Good Endeavour offers us a lens through which we can view the ongoing struggles of our own times to address the issues of race, gender, economic inequality, and environmental destruction which have always been at the heart of the American experiment.

Good Endeavour: A Maryland Family's Turbulent History 1695-2002
ISBN    978-1732484122
Paperback
404 Pages
$19.99

Available at:
Amazon   https://bit.ly/3TuJqst
The American Booksellers Association's Bookshop.org   https://bit.ly/3JyN1RR

For information or review copies contact Biff Barnes of Stories To Tell