The Committee bookcover

The Committee

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Description

The 2021 Southern Literary Review Book of the Year

"A captivating read and an absorbing tale about the abuses that can arise from intolerance and prejudice. It carries a warning from the past to the siloed, fractured communities of today." --Historical Novel Society

In the late 1950s, Gainesville, Florida, seems to be a sleepy university town. Its residents live, by outward appearances, ordinary lives. And yet the town is far from ordinary. The most private acts of professors, students, townspeople rich and poor, and politicians are under the close scrutiny of a shadowy group of men--the Committee--who use the powers of government and the police to investigate, threaten, and control this increasingly fearful community.

The Committee pits friends against friends and threatens careers and lives in a struggle for the soul of a town, a university, and an ideal. Based on actual historical events and set against the backdrop of political, cultural, and class turmoil, this is a story of love--both licit and hidden--war, friendship, betrayal, compromise, and finally the necessity to stand firm against the encroachments upon freedom by men who believe they are doing God's and the government's righteous work.

Product Details

PublisherAkashic Books, Ltd.
Publish DateJanuary 07, 2020
Pages420
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconPaperback / softback
EAN/UPC9781617757686
Dimensions9.0 X 6.0 X 1.1 inches | 0.9 pounds

About the Author

STERLING WATSON is the author of nine novels, including Sweet Dream Baby, Fighting in the Shade, Suitcase City, and The Committee, which was the 2021 Southern Literary Review book of the year. Watson's short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Prairie Schooner, the Georgia Review, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, the Michigan Quarterly Review, and the Southern Review. He was director of the creative writing program at Eckerd College for twenty years and now teaches at Lasell University in Newton, Massachusetts. Of his sixth novel, Suitcase City, Tom Franklin said, "If this taut literary crime novel doesn't center Sterling Watson on the map, we should change maps." Watson lives in Gulfport, Florida. Night Letter is his latest work.

Reviews

The Committee is a triumph of historical fiction--and a warning from our past. Sterling Watson swiftly and elegantly anchors the reader in an era that many would love to forget, and then reminds us of the humanity within the history. Watson is the rare writer who can address the big ideas--politics and power, love and hate, fear and freedom--without ever losing sight of the characters at the story's heart.--Michael Koryta, New York Times best-selling author of How It Happened
[Watson] does an excellent job of portraying a time, place, and culture without assigning contemporary values where they didn't exist . . . The dialogue is realistic, and the pacing, especially toward the end, is quick and intense. Any reader wanting a history lesson wrapped in a compelling, believable novel will find much to contemplate here.-- "Kirkus Reviews"
In this sharply crafted novel, his seventh, [Watson] re-creates the era with rich detail and a creeping sense of dread . . . The Committee is the kind of story that makes you hope it can't happen here--but reminds you that it already has.-- "Tampa Bay Times"
Watson has written a fine, eloquent, powerful book and its message will remain timely. Let us heed its warning even as we savor the story so well told in its pages.-- "Southern Literary Review"
Whether he's stoking his narrative or letting his mind wander, Watson writes crisp, beautiful prose.-- "Booklist"

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