The Ravanels of Barbados

About the Book

This is a captivating story of life on a Barbados sugar plantation in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It questions the commonly held ideas on race, religion and loyalty and holds the interest of the reader until the last page.” Betty Culler Jackson, The Happy Bookseller, Columbia, South Carolina “Harris Parker writes with a heart for the dignity of all human beings.” Terry Ward Tucker, South Carolinian and writer of novels about the South “This novel is a testimony to the triumph of love over hate, hope over despair and joy over adversity. It is a celebration of the power of trust, good will and mutual respect to transform people and society.” Jack Meadors, Jr., Bishop (retired), United Methodist Church “In swift-moving vignettes (worthy of a movie screenplay), Parker details the life of a Charleston lawyer/abolitionist whose fortuitous experience leads ultimately to possession of a major sugar cane plantation on the Island of Barbados.” Randy Akers, Executive Director, South Carolina Humanities Council

About the Author

Although a native South Carolinian, Harris Parker is restive within the confines of inherited cultural norms and religious orthodoxy. He shares much with Jonathan, the central character in this novel. Parker has taught for nearly five decades on the Religion faculty of Columbia College, a four-year liberal arts college for women, in Columbia, South Carolina. He has taught courses in biblical interpretation, Christian ethics, human sexuality, death studies, and Christian education. He holds degrees from Wofford College, Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and Teachers College of Columbia University. Across the years of his academic career, he has traveled in Ireland, England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and Scotland. In Scotland he was enrolled in the American Summer Institute held on the campus of the University of St. Andrews.