Oleander City

A Novel Based on a True Story

De: Matt Bondurant

Narrado por: Julia Atwood, Chris Henry Coffey

In the wake of the 1900 Galveston hurricane, three lives converge despite persecution from the Ku Klux Klan, a bare-knuckle boxing match gone wrong, and the recovery efforts of the American Red Cross.

Based on a true story

The hurricane of 1900, America’s worst natural disaster, left the island city of Galveston in ruins. Thousands perished, including all 93 children at the Sisters of the Incarnate Word orphanage—except six-year-old Hester, who miraculously survived. Oleander City is the tale of this little girl and the volatile collision between the American Red Cross, the Ku Klux Klan, and one of the most famous boxing matches in American history. The bout, organized to raise money for the recovery effort, featured the enigmatic veteran “Chrysanthemum Joe” Choynski, the most successful Jewish boxer in America, and Jack Johnson, a young hometown hero known as “the Galveston Giant”. The storied battle forged a bond between the two legendary fighters and put Johnson on the path to become the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time.

Meanwhile, Clara Barton and the Red Cross minister to the sick and hungry as mounted vigilantes use the chaotic situation to settle old scores. After witnessing a terrible crime, Hester finds sanctuary with the ladies of the Red Cross, in a heartrending convergence of these historic figures.

©2022 Matt Bondurant (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Awesome book

Awesome readers both of them. Love the feeling of immersion I felt into Galveston and to This time period. Amazing use of the English lexicon.

A Gripping Read

The author has done an astounding job of bringing to life a mountain of dusty old historical facts
and figures. The reader is on the grizzly scene of one of our country''s greatest disasters and exposed to the best and the worst of humanity . I gained a new respect for the role of the Red Cross and a reluctant appreciation of boxing history. I raged at the self-serving politics and the cruelty human beings are capable of and applauded the courage and tenacity of others. I was deeply moved and totally involved. Bravo!
As a reader with many interruptions, I would have appreciated numbering the chapters as well as the names when I lost my place. But the re-reading e ntailed was revealing and worthwhile; I would, and probably shall, read the whole book again.