History

The overall thematic thrust of the novel places much emphasis on the importance of truth in history, for as the protagonist discovers, history can often be altered or obscured based on the whims of a few influential people. As the protagonist performs research regarding the town’s history, the most readily available historical source is A History of the Town of Winthrop by Gertrude Sanders. The book was commissioned by the Winthrop family, and so its reliability is suspect. It venerates the Winthrop family and focuses very little on the original African-American settlers. Beverley eventually finds the original draft of the book and gives it to the protagonist, saying, “Her first draft wasn’t ass-kissy enough, so they made her change a lot of it. The one they published was the happy-face version” (133-134). Thus, the Winthrop family suppressed important parts of the town’s history...