Lifeline

Perhaps it was divine providence and not chance that Beaufort, South Carolina, was to witness the onset of the Civil War-occupation of the Union Army, and unlike its southern counterparts, spared the kindle torches of Sherman's determination to destroy the Confederacy. As a result, it preserved its natural beauty of live oak trees, picturesque homes, and cultural beliefs and customs generic to the Sea Islands. The plantation lifestyle was serene, ornate, and beautiful for the white slave master, but laborers on them did not enjoy the same fate. A midwife on the Rices' plantation delivered a black slave baby through uncanny and unconventional techniques. The child grew up to challenge the prescribed norms and expectations of a slave, subsequently transcending outmoded ideas. He became the administration officer of farming affairs during reconstruction. Other short stories depict and describe the West African influence in customary beliefs and social norms, delineating the flavor of the low-country Southern lifestyle.