Return To Dixie

By the early twenty-first century, the Confederate and United States have bitterly co-existed for over 150 years. When the South's boxing champ shocks the world by defecting to the North, just as idealistic Union collegian Mateo and Dixie rugby star Micah unexpectedly fall in love, it unleashes a whirlwind of race, class and prejudice threatening more than the physical border that divides them all.

Return to Dixie follows five complicated protagonists on journeys of perseverance, all of them seeking to overcome adversity in a world beset by intolerance. It is a fast-paced thriller speaking to the central challenge of our time: surviving the relentless forces of repression that threaten to suffocate decency and respect.

In a present-day America where the Civil War never happened, Lincoln surviving his election by mere days, title-holder Ignatius Johnson is ready to fight outside the ring, defying the Fugitive Subjects Law and sacrificing significant personal privilege, all for the freedom of his people. But the diabolical Sheriff of Shelby County is hell-bent on stopping him to preserve the South's brutal caste system, an unyielding segregation called "Apartness."

Meanwhile, as student activist Mateo, who opposes everything symbolized by the Confederacy, is drawn to Micah, Confederate football superstar and the notorious sheriff's son, each must conquer culture, pride and mutual suspicions if their forbidden love is to survive.

It is up to a dueling pair of powerful women - the South's First Lady and the Union's preeminent history scholar - to confront not only one another, but sinister forces back home as they strive to overcome these twin threats and kindle a new era of dignity and justice.

Whether engaging students in a diverse public school, or persuading judges and juries in the courtroom, Truscott Jones long ago learned that creative storytelling is a necessity. Return to Dixie is the product of that backdrop, drawing from his experience inside the grimy gears of law and politics, and exposure to the fears and optimism of our next generation's classrooms. This novel blends literary fiction and alternative history as it aims for the angst of Fredrik Backman's Beartown trilogy and the cultural exactitude of John Grisham's A Painted House. It explores the thin margins upon which history turns - painting a distinctive view of our modern American condition.