Thomas B. Hargrave

Twenty Miles from Yesterday: the Saga of Anthony Bowen Thomas B. Hargrave

Twenty Miles from Yesterday is the epic story of Anthony Bowen, a young slave who came of age in Prince Georges County, Maryland during the turbulent decades 1810-1830. It is author's imaginative retelling of a remarkable youth's quest for freedom, based on the oral history of Bowen's grandson, Arminius M. Hayes and his great-grand-daughter, Etta Scott Moran. The novel follows the maturing of Anthony after he is granted permission from his charitable master to work during his spare time to earn money toward his freedom. His quest is threatened when he falls in love with Catharine Miles, a beautiful slave girl living under brutal conditions on a nearby farm. In this turbulent setting, lovers of historical novels will meet a colorful mix of characters, whose lives converge and intertwine, producing the laughter, loves, tragedies and triumphs that will leave readers rejoicing, astonished and hopeful. Anthony Bowen gained his freedom in 1830, and rose to become one of Washington's outstanding leaders.