New Book, Ain’t No Grave, Tackles Antisemitism, Racism, Yellow Journalism, and Forbidden Love in the Deep South
With global antisemitism on the rise, Ain’t No Grave, a new historical fiction novel by Mary Glickman, draws attention to the fact that garden variety antisemitism can be stoked by bad actors and quickly explode into violence. Sometimes, the media plays a role.
Set in 1913, her latest book – the sixth by Glickman that addresses antisemitism and racism in the Deep South – is a compelling love story centered around the trial and lynching of Leo Frank and the role played by the news media in the tragedy, as well as the events that led to the necessary creation of the Anti-Defamation League.
Summary – 1913. The year heart-sick Max travels to Atlanta to find Ruby, his lost love and childhood friend. And the year New York Jew, Leo Frank, is charged with the murder of a child laborer at the National Pencil Factory. Max is Jewish and Ruby is Black. Their reunion takes place just as Frank is arrested, a racially charged event that sparks an explosion of antisemitism across the city of Atlanta.
Max lands a job as a cub working under the Atlanta Journal’s star reporter, Harold Ross, who would later found the New Yorker. Ruby worked at the National Pencil Factory since she was 13. Although reunited, the lovers’ road to happiness is in doubt after each becomes intimately involved in Frank’s trial, one that pits Blacks and Jews against each other.
Both Max and Harold love Ruby and when she is called to testify by the prosecution, they work to protect her. She is required to protect herself. Together, the three bear witness from the murder of Mary Phagan to the trial and lynching of Leo Frank and the founding of the ADL.
Anticipated to be her most successful release to date, Ain’t No Grave is already getting noticed with accolades by some of the leaders in the industry.
“Mary Glickman vividly captures milestones in the Leo Frank saga through sympathetic characters as real as the events surrounding them. She deftly intertwines Leo Frank’s trial and lynching with the founding of the ADL, the rebirth of a moribund KKK, and an interracial love story. Meticulously researched, fast-paced, and thoroughly original, Ain’t No Grave is a moving, satisfying read.” – Sandra Brett, Board Member of Southeast ADL
“Right from page one, you’ll want to follow Max and Ruby to the ends of the earth, come what may. This epic journey for love feels like an instant classic.” – Steve Anderson, author of the Kaspar Brothers series
“The outcome of the tragic story of Leo Frank and the very real flamboyant reporter, Harold Ross, makes for a setting handled with the touching sensibilities Glickman always displays in her writings about the South she loves. Added to the passion of two young people in love amidst the turmoil of a real tragic event is the passion that Glickman brings to her writing. Love winning out over hate is a strong theme. It is what the world needs.” – PatZi Gil, host of the syndicated radio show, “Joy on Paper”
“I am humbled by the response I’ve gotten so far to Ain’t No Grave,” Glickman said. “Its content and characters have new relevance today, regrettably, as the world seems to be falling back into a pattern of antisemitism that we all thought was behind us. I wrote this book because I want people to remember that only a loving heart can defeat hate.”
Ain’t No Grave is currently available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.