The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones Author:Jesse Hill Ford It is the summer of 1960 and in the town of Somerton, Tennessee, segregation is enforced by law in spite of federal orders, racism on both sides is passed along with mother's milk, and women are possessions or temporary playthings. The town comes to a kindling point when George Gordon Lord Byron Jones, an undertaker and Somerton's richest man, a... more »sks for something that African Americans in Somerton don't get: a divorce, a real divorce, in court. Somerton's best lawyer, Oman Hedgepath, agrees to handle the case at the urging of his nephew. Lord Byron's wife Emma is a stubborn, insatiable slut. The already dubious reputation of a white policeman is involved. The witnesses for Lord Byron are associated with a well-known cafe and inn where the rooms upstairs are used for more than overnight guests.
Lord Byron's actions are simple and dignified; their terrible consequences involve dozens of characters, from the mayor to the blind junkman Cucumber. Jesse Hill Ford takes us under the surface of the small Southern town and gives life and breath to the men and women the headlines and television reports of the civil rights revolution have failed to make us understand.« less