The World of Patience Gromes

Book excerpt: In 1970, Patience Gromes was an 83 year old widow who lived on State Street in Fulton, one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Richmond, Virginia. This non-fiction narrative traces the life of Patience Gromes, her family, her neighbours from the War between the States to the War on Poverty. Meet Patience's grandfather who escaped slavery 14 years before the Civil War. Experience the hard years of Reconstruction, the cruelty of De Jure Segregation, the triumph of Civil Rights. Probe the complexities and ironies of neighbourhood life under urban renewal and the War on Poverty.