The Last Paradise

Second Edition

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Pub Date 15 Aug 2020 | Archive Date 11 Dec 2020

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Description

Galveston, Texas, where slaves were once auctioned. The Last Paradise follows the freed slaves and laborers through injustice and bigotry in post-Civil War America.

The novel artfully weaves a tapestry of vivid and historic detail in this inspiring story of strength and survival. The alley people in Galveston band together against racism and poverty hidden within the hypocrisy of civic and corporate corruption. Men and women such as Fanny, Maxwell, Newt, Bishop, Elma, the nuns of St. Mary’s, and the puckish poor who hang out at Bleach’s Tavern journey through self-discovery to find their places in the changing landscape of a modernizing world.

The alley people refuse to capitulate to the rich and privileged, drawing upon their strength and character, to be the free men and women demanded by their courageous spirits, even in the midst of turmoil.

Rich with stunning depictions of turn-of-the-century Galveston and the devastation wrought by the Great Hurricane of 1900, The Last Paradise illuminates resilience and fortitude of the great city itself, brought about by the same strengths held by its common citizens. Humorous, evocative, and sobering, this breathtaking novel is an adventure that encompasses the human soul.

Galveston, Texas, where slaves were once auctioned. The Last Paradise follows the freed slaves and laborers through injustice and bigotry in post-Civil War America.

The novel artfully weaves a...


Advance Praise

"""The wind and sea kept him company and nothing more. No voices, silhouettes; no gaslights or steam engines; only the hypnotic breath of nature, the rhythm of forever.""

If you’re lucky, every now and then, you find a book that has it all: great story, haunting atmosphere, unforgettable characters, and writing that frequently stops you in your tracks with the impact of its truth, or beauty, or profoundness. This is such a book. It begins with a ribald grandeur that puts you in mind of Pete Dexter’s Deadwood. Before it’s finished, however, the rough-hewn humor has been surpassed by a humanist eloquence more akin to the best of Steinbeck. 

The locale is Galveston, Texas, in 1900, a city that rivals any in the country for its headlong leap into the twentieth century. Wealth abounds fueled by the international business done in its port as well as the cotton piled to rooftops in its warehouses. Of course, where there’s the rich, there’s always the poor. Both populate the pages of this novel. Maxwell is the protagonist—an untamed individualist who is seemingly just passing through. But to the denizens of the poverty-stricken neighborhood he inhabits, he becomes protector, defender, avenger, and perhaps even savior. 

Author Kasenow chronicles a spectacle of love both lost and found, violence both awful and cathartic, and glimmers of hope both lighted and dashed. His depictions of racist atrocities that occurred at the time are brutally honest. He keeps you guessing as to just what Maxwell’s mysterious mission really is, and his prose plunges you head-over-heels into the maelstrom that was the deadliest national disaster America has ever known. Romance, murder mystery, sweeping saga—this is one for the ages. Kasenow has penned a towering achievement that lovers of history and novels should not miss. 

Joe Kilgore: US Reviews - 2020

"

"""The wind and sea kept him company and nothing more. No voices, silhouettes; no gaslights or steam engines; only the hypnotic breath of nature, the rhythm of forever.""

If you’re lucky, every now...


Available Editions

ISBN 9781734955347
PRICE $2.99 (USD)

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Featured Reviews

Terrific book with engaging characters that had hope and ambition in a tumultuous time of change. Full of humor and history.

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What a wonderful read. Very well written. You really get to know the colourful characters’ (there were many).
Parts were very funny and parts were gut wrenchingly sad.
A historical fiction story that takes place in Galveston Texas when it truly was the Wild West.
Definitely recommend this book. Truly enjoyed it! 5 stars

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This is a tale not often told but should be. Well written. Very good development. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher!

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All aspects of the history of slavery must be told - we must continue to reflect and learn from this shameful part of our shared history and learn from it. There were parts of this which were genuinely positive and even amusing but the heart wrenching foundation of the ownership and mistreatment of peoples is what stayed in my mind,

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This was a very hard yet compelling book to read. Full of history about the enslaved persons which should be shared so much more that it already is

There were parts of this which were genuinely positive and even amusing but the parts where this book was heartbreaking, stayed in my mind for a long time

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I thought The Last Paradise was a pretty good read. I was intrigued by the story right from the start. Five stars.

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