ROSEWOOD

 

          How can a whole town disappear? Ask the survivors...

          Rose Winter, fifteen, is sent to the African-American town of Rosewood, Florida, 

after her father dies and her mother remarries. She moves in with the Carriers, a large 

prosperous family who are as close as kin to her parents. She soon becomes close to the 

family members, especially Carrier cousin Queen Goins and her brother Daniel, and 

feels at home in Rosewood.

         Life in this community is often idyllic, but racial tensions are an ever-present part

of life in 1920s Florida and Rosewood is not exempt from the Jim Crow restrictions of

the times. Rose has already suffered greatly from the insanity of racism in her life.

However, the prosperity of the Carriers, the Goins and the other families of Rosewood

minimizes many of these problems and help her to feel safe and happy in her new 

home.

         The man of the house, Sylvester, only son of his widowed mother Sarah, has 

grown a reputation among the white people of the next town over, Sumner, as 

something of a troublemaker and a rebel. Despite the restrictions put on him by society

Sylvester fights to live his life as an educated, dignified man, and takes action when he 

needs to in defense of his family and their prosperity. Sarah Carrier leads her family by 

the guiding principles of hard work, education and economic success as the keys to 

survival in a harsh world. She tempers Sylvester’s anger with her experience and love.

         All the Carriers- Beauty and Happy, Sylvester’s hard working (and often 

bickering) sisters; their cousins, Daniel and Queen Goins, and all the children and

grandchildren in the house- live and prosper under Sarah’s strong guidance and love. 

But they are all threatened when an incident in Sumner, witnessed by the some of the

Carriers, brings the racial tensions of the times to a boil. A neighbor is murdered, family

members are assaulted and imprisoned, and a misunderstanding brings the mob looking

for Sylvester, who refuses to leave his family. In an awful midnight battle Sylvester 

fights to defend his family but at a terrible cost, and the peace, prosperity and security 

of the Carrier family is forever changed.

         Rosewood is based on the true story of a race riot in 1920s Florida. 

I hope you'll be as affected by this tale of Jim Crow-era America as I've been.