MICHAEL A. ALMOND
Author
Welcome !
Join me as I venture into the world of writing with my debut novel The Tannery, a work of historical fiction set in the turbulent turn-of-the century life and times of Wilkes County, North Carolina in 1900.
The Tannery was officially released on October 19. Order NOW through any of the links below! Sign up for more information and updates.
Courtesy Wilkes Heritage Museum
Wilkes County, North Carolina, 1900
ABOUT THE TANNERY
Accused of brutally murdering the beautiful daughter of local tannery owner Jakob Schumann, Virgil Wade, a young mixed-race boy, faces a relentless local prosecutor determined to hang him—if the lynch mob doesn’t get to him first.
Virgil’s fate rests in the hands of local lawyer Ben Waterman, who must convince an all-white, all male jury that things are not as they seem in his crusade for justice in the turbulent Post-Reconstruction South.
Praise for The Tannery
Riveting.... In his debut novel, Michael Almond has given us a page-turner. Far more than a legal thriller, though it is that, The Tannery is historical fiction at its finest - a story set near the turn of the 20th Century in North Carolina. Some of this tale will sound disturbingly familiar to readers in the 21st Century, all the more reason to consider its lessons. History can come alive in a great work of fiction. This is one of those times.
- Frye Gaillard, civil rights historian, author of A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s
The Tannery is tough to put down because the storytelling is so compelling. . . . This book is timely, in that we can reflect on how far we have come today and see the tangible progress we have made. But it also glaringly reminds us that the issues of racism, voter suppression, and economic inequality are still with us, and indeed, to paraphrase a famous author…the past is not yet passed, it is still with us today.
-Harvey B. Gantt, former mayor of Charlotte, first African American student accepted by Clemson University, inspiration for the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture
With the heart of a storyteller and the mind of a historian, Michael Almond has written a passionate novel about murder, race, and justice (or lack thereof) in the early days of the Jim Crow South. This is a vexing tale, vivid and haunting. You’ll be transported far beyond your reading chair. - Judy Goldman, author of Together: A Memoir of a Marriage and a Medical Mishap and the forthcoming memoir, Child
For fans of historical fiction, The Tannery mixes solid research with powerful and suspenseful storytelling in this look back at early 20th century North Carolina and the Post-Reconstruction South. First-time author Michael Almond faithfully recreates a sense of time and place where memorable characters struggle with murder, bigotry, and injustice in the turbulent early days of Jim Crow. - James Caughman, author of Addison Mizner: The Architect Whose Genius Defined Palm Beach.
This fast-paced courtroom drama is laced with the truth of an early 1900's past gone backward. The Tannery will have readers wondering until the very end whether there is any hope for a sixteen-year-old Black boy on trial for murder and the young White lawyer who represents him. - Landis Wade, trial lawyer, host of Charlotte Readers Podcast, and author of The Christmas Courtroom Trilogy.
It might not seem fair to compare The Tannery to [Harper] Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird since Lee’s novel is recognized as one of the most important novels in the history of Southern literature, but The Tannery stands up to the comparison. Michael has created a riveting novel that combines the excitement of a legal thriller with the complexities of a well-researched work of historical fiction. Michael’s depiction of North Carolina’s bigoted past is unflinching and disturbing, but his portrait of his native state is not entirely negative. His story has its bigots, but it also has its heroes.
- Mark I. West, Ph.D., Bonnie E. Cone Professor in Civic Engagement, Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Michael Almond has produced a stunning, significant, page-turning masterpiece of historical fiction. Though The Tannery is Almond’s debut novel, the reader falls immediately under the spell of this consummate storyteller. Almond weaves the rich detail of the Post-Reconstruction South with delicious character development and gut-wrenching plot twists. Though set in the past, this novel is a must read for a country combatting the enduring racism and voter suppression of the present. - Frederick Kempe, best selling author of Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev and the World's Most Dangerous Place, Pulitzer Prize-nominated Wall Street Journal editor and reporter, and Atlantic Council president and CEO
Michael Almond’s The Tannery is a remarkably drawn and richly detailed whodunnit. A uniquely American tale of the quest for justice, this search takes place at the crossroads of a nation’s struggle for equal protection under the law. Full of beguiling and captivating characters, exciting plot twists and turns, The Tannery is a literary gem for lovers of mystery and historical fiction. - Jeffrey Blount, author of The Emancipation of Evan Walls
The Tannery will not disappoint you. Michael Almond has fleshed out a cast of thoroughly believable characters and placed them in the history of the Blue Ridge Mountains on a quest that will engage the reader's interest to the very last page. - Bob Bamberg, Editor, The Alleghany News
Michael Almond has created a fascinating and timely historical whodunit that evokes the era and ethos of Jim Crow North Carolina at the turn of the 20th Century as lawyer Ben Waterman confronts the scars of racism and white supremacy in Post-reconstruction Wilkes County. Almond's research is solid, and rich historical detail runs throughout this impressive debut novel. - Dr. William Thompson, Emeritus Professor of History, Queens University
In his debut novel, Michael Almond turns a penetrating and sympathetic eye to one of the darker, less-known chapters in North Carolina history. You’ll feel like you’re in the courtroom with youngVirgil Wade as his attorney Ben Waterman fights for justice against seemingly impossible odds. - Kim Wright, author of Last Ride to Graceland, winner of the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction
The Tannery has so many wonderful characters. Not just people and relationships, but also challenging dilemmas and little details of time and place that stay with you. Woven together, the story sweeps through so many questions about early Jim Crow North Carolina, but also about now. From time to time, I stopped reading to ponder today’s world and the challenges facing us. The Tannery is a rich and thoughtful journey. And a fun read too!
-Vincent LoVoi, publisher This Land Press and board member of Oxford American and Texas Observer
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Biography
Michael A. Almond, a retired international business attorney, was raised in the small town of Pilot Mountain in the Piedmont foothills of North Carolina. He received his undergraduate and law degrees (Morehead Scholar) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was a Fulbright Scholar in political science at the University of Mannheim, Germany. An avid reader of Southern history and literature, Michael and his wife Helen Ruth live at Almond Springs Farm in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with one horse, three donkeys, and their canine companion Emma. The Tannery is his debut novel.
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