Sunday Salon ~ more books

The Indigo Girl ~ by Natasha Boyd, 2017, historical fiction (South Carolina), 329 pages

The year is 1739.  Eliza Lucas is sixteen years old when her father leaves her in charge of their family's three plantations in rural South Carolina and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry in pursuit of his military ambitions.  Tensions with the British, and with the Spanish in Florida, just a short way down the coast, are rising, and slaves are starting to become restless.  Her mother wants nothing more than for their South Carolina endeavor to fail so they can go back to England.  Soon her family is in danger of losing everything.

Upon hearing how much the French pay for indigo dye, Eliza believes it's the key to their salvation.  But everyone tells her it's impossible, and no one will share the secret to making it.  Thwarted at nearly every turn, even by her own family, Eliza finds that her only allies are an aging horticulturalist, an older and married gentleman lawyer, and a slave with whom she strikes a dangerous deal:  teach her the intricate thousand-year-old secret process of making indigo dye and in return — against the laws of the day — she will teach the slaves to read.

Based on historical documents, including Eliza's letters, this is a historical fiction account of how a teenage girl produced indigo dye, which became one of the largest exports out of South Carolina, an export that laid the foundation for the incredible wealth of several Southern families who still live on today.  Although largely overlooked by historians, the accomplishments of Eliza Lucas influenced the course of US history.  When she passed away in 1793, President George Washington served as a pallbearer at her funeral.

Lost Laysen ~ by Margaret Mitchell, 1996, novella (South Pacific), 128 pages

Courtenay Ross is a feisty, independent-minded woman with two young men courting her.  This novella was written in 1916, but was not published until 1996.  Mitchell, who is best known as the author of Gone with the Wind, wrote Lost Laysen when she was 15.

The Value of Honesty: The Story of Confucius ~ by Spencer Johnson, illustrated by Steve Pileggi, 1979, children's picture book, 64 pages, 10/10

The life and teachings of the Chinese philosopher are presented as a paradigm of integrity and dedication for young readers following his successes and failures.  An online reviewer wrote:  "It is easy enough to read while still getting the message across, teaching both good life lessons and establishing a broader context for learning by incorporating history and a far away place and making it relevant."

In the back of the book are historical facts about Confucius, who lived from 551 B.C. to 478 B.C.  His name was K'ung, and K'ung fu-tze means "the philosopher K'ung."  Confucius is the way it was translated into Latin and later into English.  My favorite sentences end the book:

"Although he was not religious, his ideas about morality became a religion — called Confucianism — which has been the only state religion of China.  And this man, who never claimed to be more than an imperfect human, has been regarded almost as a god.  Certainly he would be proud to know that his teachings have been so widely respected; but probably he would not at all like the idea of himself as a god" (p. 63).

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.