High Cotton Elsa: A family's incredible journey from Spring Island S.C to Chicago Illinois and back.

by Don Gwaltney

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0963959174
• ISBN13: 9780963959171
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Apple Core Press
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.8" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Incredible is just the beginning...

This was a great read! I enjoyed following Elsa and her family through the many different aspects of her life. I actually felt as though I was experiencing the trials and successes with Elsa and couldn't wait to experience more. You will love this lady and all the facets this book takes you through! Get the book, you won't be sorry!

Woman in Full

This is a really-feel-good story about success. It is definitely not a ROOTS retread. Instead of several generations, this novel is about eight short years of spectacular success -- before, during and after the Civil War itself. It is about a black lady who was born a slave on Spring Island in South Carolina and gains her freedom in 1859 when her owner dies. Elsa and her husband outsmart white overseers and appraisers and make a fortune selling a couple of King Cotton crops while the deceased's plantation languishes in limbo awaiting new owners. When the war breaks out, Elsa moves her family to Chicago, where she makes another fortune. An upbeat, enlightened book!

Unique blend of local history with tale of indefatigable Elsa

This novel, set in the period just before and after the Civil War, relates historical events of the time -- the Union occupation of Beaufort and Port Royal, the battle of Honey Hill -- accurately and interestingly, but these serve merely as a shifting background for the rise of Elsa, born a slave on Spring Island (SC), whose wit, resourcefulness, and grit are the real story. Elsa sees opportunity on every side (finding the ideal husband is one such opportunity), and outwits her sharp white competitors in the booming cotton business. She then returns to Spring Island (a real place described with love by the author, who lives there) and celebrates her final triumph -- to say more would give the story away! Humorous, instructive, this is a page turner.