Mac Griswold's The Manor is the biography of a uniquely American place that has endured through wars great and small; through fortunes won and lost; through histories bright and sinister―and of the family that has lived there since its founding as a Colonial New England slave plantation three and a half centuries ago. In 1984; the landscape historian Mac Griswold was rowing along a Long Island creek when she came upon a stately yellow house and a garden guarded by looming boxwoods. She instantly knew that boxwoods that large―twelve feet tall; fifteen feet wide―had to be hundreds of years old. So; as it happened; was the house: Sylvester Manor had been held in the same family for eleven generations. Formerly encompassing all of Shelter Island; New York; a pearl of 8;000 acres caught between the North and South Forks of Long Island; the manor had dwindled to 243 acres. Still; its hidden vault proved to be full of revelations and treasures; including the 1666 charter for the land; and correspondence from Thomas Jefferson. Most notable was the short and steep flight of steps the family had called the "slave staircase;" which would provide clues to the extensive but little-known story of Northern slavery. Alongside a team of archaeologists; Griswold began a dig that would uncover a landscape bursting with stories. Based on years of archival and field research; as well as voyages to Africa; the West Indies; and Europe; The Manor is at once an investigation into forgotten lives and a sweeping drama that captures our history in all its richness and suffering. It is a monumental achievement.
#292881 in Books Carl Hiaasen 2014-01-28 2014-01-28Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x .90 x 5.20l; .70 #File Name: 0345807022416 pagesDance of the Reptiles
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Like other books of Hiassen's columnsBy Those Darn Donkeys!This one is not a novel; probably a collection of columns. I'm sure the description says this. Like other books of Hiassen's columns; I am amazed he gets in the paper as he exposes so much; names names. But it also ages quickly as it's related to news. Maybe we couldn't take a book of 500 pages that tracked just one issue like draining the swamps.It reminds me a lot of Hawaii. Always selling paradise and turning it into a parking lot..With no good mitigation of runoff; ruining watershed; allowing septic tanks near the ocean. Fight! Fight! Fight! We have to fight every little battle; we have to. Everyone read this; think of your community; and keep on fighting; exposing; testifying; and if you have Hiassen's talent; keep writing.It's such a downer; so if you want an upper; feel good thing; not for you. If you want to be informed; it's for you.I'd say I loved it; but I will say I have set it aside for a while to come back to.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I enjoyed his other detective madcap murder mystery novels quite a ...By Jennifer G. Wyman-clemonsSome of the columns have a bitterness to them which made it hard to sustain. I enjoyed his other detective madcap murder mystery novels quite a bit. His main theme; warranted; is the heartbreak of seeing environmental destruction for superficial glamour. perhaps it will become "too expensive". Our immediate future is certainly grim as protections and previous legal pathways to impede development are being gutted. Have no doubts that much of the swamp can restore itself; in time.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. If you like Carl Hiaasen Novels don't read this book!By OH DiverVery disappointed! I enjoy a Carl Hiaasen story every once in a while. I've read Bad Monkey; Skinny Dip; Skink; etc. But this is not a typical Carl Hiaasen story. It's a book of his newspaper articles. They are very uninteresting; politically left wing slanted and many have nothing to do with Florida; his normal theme location. I'm afraid since reading this I'll not purchase another Hiaasen book. His quirky ways are entertaining in a novel but sad in real life.
