Introduction

The time is 1931. The three places we first visit are Iowa, South Africa, and Alabama. The characters finally end up as neighbors in Alabama and the story is about three young men whose growing up years were typical for that place and that era.

The Characters and Setting

What makes it different is that rather than be in a culture that accepted racial bias as a way of life, these three young men simply did not accept the status quo. One of the young men was the son of the local minister who had originally come from the Midwest and moved to Birmingham when his father became a minister there. The second friend was a native South African and arrived in Birmingham when his mother, who was a nanny, accompanied a family that had immigrated to the South. The third, whose father had been an alcoholic causing his mother to divorce him and who was raising her two children alone.

The boys met and eventually became close friends and classmates. Each family has a fascinating history in its own right, but after the boys meet, the story becomes more about them as a trio.

Friendship and Education

The boys became fast friends. The first two boys became star athletes and entered the University of Alabama on football scholarships. They all entered the University together, pledged the same fraternity, and continued their lives together.

Early Friendships and Society

In their early teen years, the boys had become friends with some young Black men their own age living nearby, and that friendship has something to do with later developments in the story. That part of the story is intriguing.

The Themes and Reflection

Each character has a story of their own, but the story of the three helps explain who they were and what they became. It is reflective of the times more than some would want to remember. You will enjoy the journey into their lives and perhaps better understand the tensions of a society which had not yet faced the dark side of its culture. It is truly reflective of those times in the South, times that in some places might still be trying to exist.