William Heffernan, a solid craftsman when it comes to the thriller genre (Red Angel, The Dinosaur Club), changes pace with this thoughtful, beautifully detailed novel about race relations in Depression-era Vermont. Beulah Hill is better known as Nigger Hill, and its patriarch, Jehiel Flood, is a proud black farmer whose daughter Elizabeth, the local schoolteacher, has been loved since childhood by Samuel Bradley, now constable of Jerusalem's Landing. When the murdered body of Royal Firman turns up on Nigger Hill, Samuel is called to investigate. He may look white, but the victim's family and friends still taunt him with the epithet that denotes the result of three generations of miscegenation; "bleached" he may be, but according to Vermont law Samuel is as white as the Firmans, and tracking the killer of a white man on property owned by the last black family in the town is an uphill battle. Heffernan limns Samuel's inner conflicts with the same hard- edged clarity he brings to his portrayal of the icy landscape of Vermont in winter as his protagonist grapples with a truth he cannot bear to bring to light. This moody meditation on a little-known piece of history is hardly a thriller, but that shouldn't deter Heffernan's regular readers from discovering what else he can do besides spin a well-paced yarn: tell a small story with style, grace, and a decidedly literary talent. --Jane Adams


From Publishers Weekly
An obscure state racial law decreeing that third-generation offspring of mixed marriages are white (commonly called "bleached") is the springboard for this mesmerizing tale of murder and malice in a hardscrabble Vermont community during the Depression. Heffernan's perfectly timed plotting steels the reader for the tragic clash of white townies and the proud black family living on Beulah Hill in the small town of Jerusalem's Landing. When die-hard racist Preserved Firman's 25-year-old son, Royal, is found pitchforked and gutted in Jehiel Flood's woods on Beulah Hill (also known as Nigger Hill), the black patriarch is accused of the murder. Torn by racial loyalties and self-doubt, young constable Samuel Bradley, a bleached descendant of slaves once owned by Firman's family, finds himself with few allies as the townies side with Preserved. The seasoned county deputy, sheriff Frenchy LeMay, suspects everyone, including Samuel, and pushes racial buttons to get at the truth. Samuel, in love with Jehiel's daughter Elizabeth since childhood, takes steps to turn suspicion away from the Floods, but Frenchy sees through him and goads the constable into an uneasy alliance. They discover that Royal had sex with a black woman shortly before his death, a situation that could have incited Preserved to kill his own son, and that Royal's best friend, Abel Turner, was with him that evening. A jittery undercurrent pervades the hypnotic cadence of the dialogue as Heffernan (Tarnished Blue; The Dinosaur Club) weaves a richly detailed period setting with an acute awareness of character, creating a suspenseful tale that gains depth and clarity from its social context. Veteran thriller writer Heffernan surpasses himself with this moving story. Agent, Gloria Loomis. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


New York Times Book Review
"Whispered revelations that come spilling out of Beulah Hill are like ghostly voices you sometimes hear in the attic . . ."


London Free Press
"Breathtaking and thought-provoking."


Publisher's Weekly
"Mesmerizing."


Martin Cruz Smith
"William Heffernan is one of the rare mystery writers who cares about soul."


Review
New York Daily News Heffernan promises action and delivers.


Book Description
"The whispered revelations that come spilling out of -Beulah Hill are like ghostly voices you sometimes hear in the attic -- soft, sad and disturbingly urgent." -- New York Times Book Review"Mesmerizing." -- Publishers WeeklyA novel of rare literary distinction -- an erotic thriller combined with a true mystery, and a look back at a little-known part of the American societal patchwork -- Beulah Hill, by bestselling author William Heffernan, is a brilliant and deeply original work of fiction. Set in the 1930s, the story follows the investigation of a racially motivated murder in a rural Vermont town and the shocking ramifications it has on that backwoods community, which had once served as a stopping place for runaway slaves. Having made new lives for themselves there, many of these former slaves married interracially, and their progeny became what was known as "bleached." The result was an atmosphere of tension and distrust that -- as so vividly rendered in this novel -- occasionally exploded in acts of violence . . . and even murder. At a time when the Great Depression had created widespread fear and Hitler was just beginning his reign in Germany, Beulah Hill tells the story of a white man who was murdered in an almost ritualistic manner on land owned by the only remaining black family in that small town. Heading the investigation is a young con-stable who is himself a deeply conflicted member of the "bleached" underclass and who is intimately involved with the proud and headstrong black woman at the center of the killing. William Heffernan, a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, is the author of 15 novels, including such bestsellers as The Corsican, The Dinosaur Club (a New York Times bestseller), Tarnished Blue (Edgar Award winner) and Cityside (forthcoming from Akashic in trade paperback in fall 2003). He lives in Vermont with his wife and three sons.


Download Description
When looking for a house in Vermont, author William Heffernan grew intrigued by the region's fascinating racial history. Drawing on that history, he delivers a literary thriller involving the murder of a local racist in a town with a partly assimilated, but deeply resentful, black minority descended from slaves. By the 1930s, interracial marriages in a few communities had continued over several generations until succeeding progeny of original black families literally lost their color and, in the eyes of their neighbors, became white. Set against this vivid back-drop -- a time when the Great Depression had created an atmosphere of fear and bitterness and Adolph Hitler was just beginning his reign in Germany -- Beulah Hill tells the story of a white man who was murdered on land owned by the last remaining black family in a small town. Featuring the constable investigating the crime -- himself a conflicted member of the "bleached" underclass and intimately involved with the black woman at the center of the killing -- it is a gripping story. Depicting larger-than-life characters, including a black patriarch who rules "Beulah Hill" with an iron fist, Heffernan paints a startlingly authentic portrait of a town in the grip of prejudice, forbidden eroticism, and hard times.


About the Author
WILLIAM HEFFERNAN, a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, is the author of fifteen novels, including such bestsellers as The Corsican, The Dinosaur Club (a New York Times bestseller), Tarnished Blue (Edgar Award winner), and Cityside (forthcoming from Akashic in trade paperback in fall 2003). He lives in Vermont with his wife and three sons.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A novel of rare literary distinction -- an erotic thriller combined with a true mystery, and a look back at a little-known part of the American societal patchwork -- Beulah Hill, by bestselling author William Heffernan, is a brilliant and deeply original work of fiction.

Set in the 1930s, the story follows the investigation of a racially motivated murder in a rural Vermont town and the shocking ramifications it has on that backwoods community, which had once served as a stopping place for runaway slaves. Having made new lives for themselves there, many of these former slaves married interracially, and their progeny became what was known as "bleached." The result was an atmosphere of tension and distrust that -- as so vividly rendered in this novel -- occasionally exploded in acts of violence . . . and even murder.

At a time when the Great Depression had created widespread fear and Hitler was just beginning his reign in Germany, Beulah Hill tells the story of a white man who was murdered in an almost ritualistic manner on land owned by the only remaining black family in that small town. Heading the investigation is a young con-stable who is himself a deeply conflicted member of the "bleached" underclass and who is intimately involved with the proud and headstrong black woman at the center of the killing.

William Heffernan, a three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, is the author of 15 novels, including such bestsellers as The Corsican, The Dinosaur Club (a New York Times bestseller), Tarnished Blue (Edgar Award winner) and Cityside (forthcoming from Akashic in trade paperback in fall 2003). He lives in Vermont with his wife and three sons.

SYNOPSIS