{"product_id":"deep-roots-broken-branches-a-history-and-memoir-willie-morris-books-in-memoir-and-biography-3","title":"Deep Roots, Broken Branches: A History and Memoir (Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography)","description":"Best known for her award-winning book The Free State of Jones: Mississippi’s Longest Civil War, historian Victoria Bynum turns now to her own history in this multigenerational American saga spanning from 1840 to 1979. Through meticulous historical research, personal letters, diaries, and the unpublished memoir of Mary Daniel Huckenpoehler, the author’s maternal grandmother, Bynum examines five generations within the broader context of the nation’s history, navigating pivotal events such as First Wave immigration, the Civil War, the Gilded Age, the Great Depression, two world wars, the Cold War, and beyond.\n\nChild of a mother from Waconia, Minnesota, and father from Jones County, Mississippi, Bynum blends a historian’s voice with personal experiences, intertwining her grandmother’s unpublished memoir and letters with her own role as a diarist and historian. She explores class, race, ethnicity, and gender dynamics. From the rise of Welsh immigrant ancestors in the Upper Midwest and the Gilded Age privileges of her grandmother’s upbringing to Bynum’s own tumultuous childhood in the 1950s and early 1960s as she is shuttled between Georgia, Mississippi, Minnesota, Florida, and California, Bynum grapples with numerous dangers of being raised in a volatile environment marked by alcohol-fueled violence, sexual degradation, and neglect. Against the backdrop of racial segregation, civil rights movements, and the Cold War, Deep Roots, Broken Branches traces the author’s coming-of-age journey, and the profound influence of her grandmother.\n\nRevealed through the lens and tensions of an Air Force family, Deep Roots, Broken Branches explores Bynum’s intellectual curiosity, voracious reading habits, and turbulent path through early motherhood, divorce, and higher education in California. Throughout, her grandmother remains a stabilizing force, offering inspiration and guidance. This book paints a vivid portrait of a southern identity’s growth amid personal challenges and broader societal shifts.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 1496855612\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: RDV.1496855612.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Bynum, Victoria\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: This book is in good condition with very minimal damage. Pages may have minimal notes or highlighting. Cover image on the book may vary from photo. Ships out quickly in a secure plastic mailer.  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Reliant Bookstore","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46736738681009,"sku":"RDV.1496855612.G","price":6.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0544\/8872\/7729\/files\/1496855612-0_5badeede-60a8-4dac-877f-da6613484e03.jpg?v=1774811238","url":"https:\/\/www.reliantbookstore.com\/products\/deep-roots-broken-branches-a-history-and-memoir-willie-morris-books-in-memoir-and-biography-3","provider":"Reliant Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}