I received this copy of the book from the author of Bill Hope, His Story [see the July 26, 2017, entry], I reviewed favorably in the past. This in no way influenced my review.
Set in the years after the Civil War in New York City this book focuses on the Harmony family--a family who earned their money both from Captaining and from shipping itself. Chris Harmony is a history student who is interested in writing a history of the family, his grandfather Caleb Harmony, in particular. His grandfather was a legend and told him many tales when he was growing up about his exploits. When he died his chest of documents went to Chris's father who never got around to going through them and now he has just died leaving the task to Chris and his sister Sal.
But his uncle Jacob wants the chest when he finds out about it and Chris's interest in digging around in the past. He and his son Dwight try to sneak it out of the house when they come over for Sunday dinner but Chris catches them and the chest stays in the house. What is worth all this trouble to hide from? Chris soon finds out his answer when Jacob's other son Rick comes back from his voyage at sea as a sailor to help him and Sal with the contents of the chest. It looks as though Grandpa Caleb might have owned slaver ships and sold slaves in Brazil and Cuba where it was still legal and possibly even New York where it was illegal. Also, that Jacob was involved too and that their dad owned a part of a slaver ship for a while and that he knew what they were up to and looked the other way.
Dwight, under the guise of helping him, introduces him to the mysterious and charming Mrs. Louise Rivington who entertains men in a kind of salon for those in shipping. Her father was big in the industry and taught her much about shipping and investing. Chris hopes to get answers from her about some of the people whose names have come up in his investigations as well as the names of some ships. The help she gives him is interesting.
This was an excellent book. I really enjoyed reading about the history of the American illegal slave trade. I learned quite a bit about that horrid practice right along with the characters of the book. Chris is quite innocent and a bit of a babe in the woods, but he is not a complete fool as he does not completely trust his cousin or uncle. His sister Sal is a delight to read as she is smart, fresh, sassy, and progressive for her times like taking up shooting lessons. Cousin Rick was another delightful character. He would breeze in shake things up and then sweep back out to sea again. Overall this novel is worth reading and I highly recommend it.
Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Knowledge-Clifford-Browder/dp/1681143674/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1517408998&sr=1-2&keywords=dark+knowledge
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