Now Everyone Can Get Their Forty Acres! Forty Acres, A Novel by Phyllis R. Dixon

Forty Acres tells the story of a family's struggle to maintain their ties to the land and to each other. Appendix includes history lesson about the promise of 'forty acres and a mule.'

(PRWEB) September 8, 2004 -- FORTY ACRES is a family saga, love story and history lesson rolled into one. No one gave the Washington family forty acres or a mule. C.W. Washington toiled for years to rise from a sharecroppers son to one of the largest black landowners in Dwight County, Arkansas. But a stroke has forced him to retire from farming. Now he must decide what happens to his land. His children are coming home for the family reunion. Each has a suggestion, unfortunately, none of them agree. Is an equal distribution fair? Should he distribute based on need? Should the land stay in the family at all cost? Will old secrets and new lies end their ties to their home place?

While FORTY ACRES is a fiction novel, the subject matter is a real. African American land ownership declined by ninety-five percent in the twentieth century. Migration, infighting, discriminatory lending practices and lack of estate planning have all contributed to this decline. Can the Washington family avert their attention from their individual dramas of infidelity, gambling and jealousy long enough to keep their land from vanishing?    

The title, FORTY ACRES is based on the broken promise of forty acres and a mule". But was there really a promise? Who made the promise and why was it not fulfilled? These questions are answered in the Appendix, which contains a history lesson and the facts about forty acres and a mule". This is a book that entertains and informs.

Advance Praise for FORTY ACRES:

"I loved this book! Dixon has poignantly captured the heart and soul of what family means."
---Evelyn Palfrey, Essence Magazine Best-selling Author

"Educational, thought provoking and captivating..."
---Brenda Lisbond of the RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

"...It is a family story that transcends race. Once I began reading the novel, I could not put it down. I was at home with the story, and being a priest, I could relate to all the characters in the novel."

---Fr. Thomas A. Mullally SVD, Notre Dame Catholic Church, St. Martinville, LA

About the Author
Phyllis R. Dixon is the author of Let the Brother Go If... which was published by Pines One Publications of Los Angeles, California. The book appeared on the Emerge magazine Best Seller list. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. She has been employed by the U.S. Treasury Department for twenty years. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and currently resides in Memphis, Tennessee.

Forty Acres/New Generation Press
ISBN 0-9749540-5-5/ $16.00

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