A Different Drummer: the extraordinary rediscovered classic

 
The month is June 1957. The setting is Sutton, a backwater town in a southern US state. One afternoon, a young black farmer by the name of Tucker Caliban matter-of-factly throws salt on his field, shoots his horse and livestock, sets fire to his house and departs the state; and thereafter the entire African-American population leave with him. The reaction that follows is told across a dozen chapters, each from the perspective of a white townsperson. These range from boys, girls, men, women; who are either liberal, conservative, bigoted or sympathetic - yet who are all grappling with this spontaneous, collective rejection of subordination. 'A Different Drummer' is an exploration of what it is like to live in a white-dominated society. It's a transparent, brutally honest portrayal of the impact and repercussions of systematised oppression.