The History Lesson

Book excerpt: Liz Truman is in trouble. She's an untenured faculty member at Littleton College whose future is in the hands of a college vice president with a grudge. Her mother, teetering on emotional collapse since the death of Liz's beloved father and college president, is a constant source of irritation to Liz whom her mother calls "the last living single woman" in Hattaloochee, Alabama. Liz is developing a growing list of detractors. As anonymous hate letters begin to arrive to her office, Liz unleashes a series of events that exposes the ironies of academia, small towns and southern traditions. Brimming with humor and intrigue with a vivid cast of characters, The History Lesson frames universal lessons of grief, loyalty, and perseverance into one history professor's endeavor to reconcile the past with her future.