Dan Barnwell

The Goldenrod Dan Barnwell

Born into poverty, marked by a pirate's curse, Rodney Hollander would have had enough of a struggle just surviving through childhood. But bad luck was the curse he would have to endure. Rodney's mother dies when he is only four years old. That same week, he meets another child, Benjamin Boozer, who would become his lifelong enemy. So Rodney begins his life under the worst of circumstances, half-orphaned and wearing a well known mark which has been passed down through the generations of his family. There is, however, a courage and an honor in the "old blood" of this family. The Hollander family is one of the original founders of Ladiga, Alabama. Their blood has been in the area a long, long time and Hollanders do not lose easily, nor do they give up quickly, nor do they feel inferior to any person regardless of social station. To Benjamin Boozer, all that matters is social status and wealth. He knows he is better than Rodney and he bases his entire way of thinking on that one fact. Behold, a bitter struggle between the "upper class" and the "lower class", played out in the Deep South where the lines between the aristocracy and the poor are so clearly drawn and so firmly established. This is a story about America's greatest freedom, the right to believe in one's self, to try hard, and to go as far as one is able. This is also the most concealed of our rights, and maybe the least desired. The reader will soon learn that escaping poverty is much more difficult than riding a bicycle.