Darktown (novel) facts for kids
First edition hardback cover
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| Author | Thomas Mullen |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Set in | Darktown Atlanta |
| Publisher | Atria |
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Publication date
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2016 |
| Media type | Print, ebook, audiobook |
| Pages | 373 pages |
| ISBN | 1501133861 First edition hardcover |
| Followed by | Lightning Men |
Darktown, published in 2016, is the fourth novel by American author Thomas Mullen. Its sequel, Lightning Men, was published in September 2017.
This novel, based in 1948 Atlanta, blends elements of historical fiction and crime fiction to tell the story of Lucius Boggs and Tommy Smith, fictional characters who serve as two of Atlanta's first eight African-American police officers. The pair is tasked with investigating the murder of a young African-American woman and the injustices surrounding her murder, despite the many obstacles and restrictions placed upon them.
Author's background
Thomas Mullen lived in several cities before moving to Decatur, Georgia. Mullen likes how Decatur has a "real community of writers and readers." The city also "felt like a comfortable place for me to be". Mullen was inspired to write Darktown after reading Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn: A Saga of Race and Family by Gary Pomerantz. He finished his first draft after Michael Brown was shot. parallels between past and present "issues of race and police violence" drove Mullen to continue Darktown so he can remind readers "that nothing that is happening today is completely without precedent".
Historical Context
Atlanta experienced tremendous growth in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The city prospered from new businesses and new employees. However, the city became divided from "social, political, and racial tensions". Thus, city officials segregated Atlanta into two districts: "Great White Way" for white Atlantans and "Sweet Auburn" for African-American Atlantans. The division allowed Atlantans to live separately without racial mixing. Sweet Auburn allowed African-Americans to "acquire property and live comfortably in modest to wealthy homes".
Although Sweet Auburn was home to upper-class African-Americans, sections of Atlanta still had shanties for poor African-Americans. White people used derogatory slang names for these impoverished sections: Darktown and Shermantown. With the city's growing population, the Atlanta Police Department strove for "greater efficiency" by employing more policemen and establishing the Central Headquarters Building. The African-American communities advocated for their own officers. In 1948, Mayor William B. Hartfield negotiated with African-American leaders to hire eight African-American police officers in return for their votes. However, the eight police officers had "many restrictions": they only patrolled African-American neighborhoods, could not arrest white people, and while they were given guns, it was understood that they could not fire the guns. The African-American police officers also had different headquarters, a "basement of the local 'colored' YMCA". The mayor and police chief wanted to separate the African-American officers for their own protection from the white officers. Their headquarters, known as Butler Street YMCA, is known as the "Black City Hall of Atlanta".
Plot
Darktown, set in 1940s Atlanta, follows the story of Lucius Boggs and Tommy Smith, two of Atlanta's first African-American police officers. The novel begins when Boggs and Smith are patrolling in a predominantly African-American neighborhood when they witness a white man hit and knock over a lamppost and slowly flee the scene. The pair, on foot, order the man to pull over and notice an African-American woman in a yellow dress with a bruise on her face in the passenger seat. The cops are unable to convict the white man, later identified as Brian Underhill, due to his race, so they call in white police officers for backup. Officer Lionel Dunlow and his partner, Dennis "Rake" Rakestraw, show up as backup and let the man off without penalty.
While patrolling, Boggs and Smith find the dead body of the woman they had previously seen in Brian Underhill's vehicle. They notice a bullet hole in her chest and no blood near the scene, implying that her body has been moved. The pair return to their headquarters, where they fill out a report on the findings. Boggs calls to get information from records, and he discovers that Brian Underhill was fired from the police force in 1945.
The woman in the yellow dress is believed to be the daughter of Otis Ellsworth, a farmer from a fictional town, Peacedale. Ellsworth identifies the woman's body as his stepdaughter, Lily Ellsworth. Boggs questions the farmer and discovers that she worked as a maid for Senator Prescott. Boggs visits the Prescott's house and uncovers that Lily had left this job months ago.
Meanwhile, Rake stakes out Brian Underhill's apartment in Mechanicsville, until he sees his partner, Dunlow, enter into the apartment. Rake eavesdrops on the two and his suspicion increases.
Rake tails Underhill and is caught. The pair fight and Rake tries to get Underhill to answer questions about Lily's murder. Unsuccessful, he leaves and hears shots behind him. He then finds Underhill dead. Rake leaves the scene as to not incriminate himself of the murder.
Rake visits Silas Prescott, Senator Prescott's son, to ask him some questions about Lily. Silas tells Rake that Lily was fired because she stole something from their family. Rake is tipped off on the phone to meet an unknown caller at a park for information on the murder. When Rake arrives, he is sabotaged by ex-cops that reveal Underhill was part of the "Rust Division," a group that cleans up after murders and crimes committed by high profile individuals
Smith and Boggs go to Peacedale to try and find answers about Lily's murder from her family; and the local officers run the pair out of town. They try to warn the Ellsworth family of the danger they are in, but it is too late. Smith and Boggs are told that the family's house is on fire. Officer Boggs later calls Rake and reveals to him that Lily's mother was previously an employee for the Prescott's and she was taken advantage of by young Senator Prescott in the 20s, resulting in her pregnancy with Lily.
Still unsure of who actually murdered Lily, Rake confronts Silas Prescott and Silas reveals that he had a relation with Lily, and when he found out she was his sister, he murdered her. Before Rake can arrest him, Silas shoots himself in the head in front of Rake and dies. Meanwhile, Dunlow attempts to murder Boggs by running him over. Boggs gets out of the way, but not before Dunlow knocks him unconscious with his car door. Dunlow takes Boggs's body and puts him in the trunk of his car to bury Boggs. When they arrive at their destination, Boggs overpowers Dunlow instead and kills him. He buries him with the help of Smith. The story ends with the light post on Auburn Avenue finally being repaired.
Publication
- (2016). Darktown (softcover, 1st print ed.) New York: 37Ink. 978-1-50113-835-5
- (2016). Darktown (hardcover, 1st print ed.) New York: 37Ink/Atria Books. 978-1-50113-386-2
- (2016). Darktown (hardcover, large print ed.) Michigan: Wheeler Publishing Large Print. 978-1-41049-377-4
- (2016). Darktown (ebook, reprint ed.) New York: Simon & Schuster. 978-1-50113-388-6
- (2016). Darktown (audiobook ed.) New York: Simon & Schuster Audio. 978-1-44239-949-5
- (2016). Darktown (audio ed.) New York: Simon & Schuster Audio. 978-1-4423-9948-8
- (2017). Darktown (softcover, reprint ed.) New York: 37 Ink. 978-1-50113-387-9
