'The Heart of Happy Hollow' is a collection of short stories written by Paul Laurence Dunbar. A total of sixteen stories can be found within the pages of this book, all weaved together under the same needlepoint—what life was like as an African American after the American Civil War. Featured titles include 'The Scapegoat', 'One Christmas at Shiloh', and 'The Mission of Mr. Scatters'.

The Life of the African-Americans after the Civil War “Gordon Fairfax’s library held but three men, but the air was dense with clouds of smoke. The talk had drifted from one topic to another much as the smoke wreaths had puffed, floated, and thinned away. Then Handon Gay, who was an ambitious young reporter, spoke of a lynching story in a recent magazine, and the matter of punishment without trial put new life into the conversation.” - Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Lynching of Jube Benson The Heart of Happy Hollow is a collection of 16 short stories that revolve around a small southern community named Sleepy Hollow. Witness the tense relationship between the former slaves and their masters, the young free African-American’s struggles and the way they see the leading white class. Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes

Book Excerpt: The Scapegoat - One Christmas at Shiloh - The Mission of Mr. Scatters - A Matter of Doctrine - Old Abe's Conversion - The Race Question - A Defender Of The Faith - Cahoots - The Promoter - The Wisdom of Silence - The Triumph of Ol' Mis' Pease - The Lynching of Jube Benson - Schwalliger's Philanthropy - The Interference of Patsy Ann - The Home-Coming of 'Rastus Smith - The Boy and the Bayonet

A historic collection of perceptive tales from a luminary of nineteenth-century literature First published in 1904, The Heart of Happy Hollow features sixteen short stories that provide rare glimpses into the lives of African Americans after the Civil War. Through characters ranging from schemers to preachers, Paul Laurence Dunbar crafted a rare snapshot of long-lost communities and their poignant sensibilities. An author who achieved remarkable versatility, he draws on language that is by turns folksy and formal, putting forth controversial vernacular dialects as easily as he delivers a hauntingly poetic scene. In this collection, readers meet an influential entrepreneur who must navigate a treacherous political landscape; a Southern spiritual leader who must learn to accept the mores of his son, who was educated in the North; a reporter who restores hope in Santa Claus to a group of destitute siblings; and a host of other unique men and women giving voice to timeless themes.Dunbar’s work has deservingly experienced a recent revival among commercial and scholarly audiences alike, and noted scholar Eleanor Alexander, author of the critically acclaimed biography Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow: The Courtship and Marriage of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Ruth Moore further contextualizes Dunbar’s contributions to American letters. A captivating read, The Heart of Happy Hollow will introduce more book lovers to this revered storyteller and visionary.