Dawson's Fall on Washington Post's The 10 books to read in May

Historical fact: Englishman Frank Dawson moved to South Carolina to fight for the Confederacy, believing the Civil War was a conflict over states' rights. Later, launching his career as a newspaper publisher, Dawson attempted to live by principles of equal rights and nonviolence. Things didn't go his way, but in his letters and journals, his great-granddaughter, novelist Robinson, has discovered a story with as much to do with America's present as America's past.