Book summary

Based on the subject's very extensive diary, this biography of an 18th-century Virginia landowner (and slaveholder) reveals much about Landon Carter the man, his relations with slaves, and the world he lived in. Rhys Isaac considers the diary to be both document and literature, and he stays close to the events as recorded by Carter: weather, crops, family troubles, business troubles, troubles with slaves, and reflections on God. Carter's diary unabashedly recounts Carter's own horrific treatment of his slaves; Isaac's biography places Carter within the world the slaveholder's made. True to the biographer's craft, Isaac presents man and milieu, and draws a well-rounded psychological portrait of a wealthy and powerful patriarch who was also troubled, flawed, weak, and ultimately defeated.

Media reviews

"[A] very personal and intimate portrait of a Virginia patriarch for whom Isaac seems to have real affection."