Title: Tangled Branches
Author: William Bailey
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ASIN: B0BVVF8Z23
Pages: 471
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewed by: Jack Chambers

Read Book Review

If someone were to choose one of the most divisive and heated topics of discussion in
the United States in today’s day and age, it would be racism and the combative nature
of race relations between white and black Americans. When this issue comes up, it
inevitably turns to the history of this conflict in the United States, and many people can
trace those problems to the era of slavery in the country. With so much controversy
surrounding politics and certain politicians trying to stop the education surrounding this
topic, it is more important now than ever to get personal insight and experiences into
this history to help pave a brighter future together.

In author William Bailey’s Tangled Branches, the author takes an honest and heartfelt
direction into the causes and effects of Southern Race relations, albeit a far different
approach than other books on this topic. The book is the culmination of a week-long
discussion between the author and a young man who is the grandson of his mother’s
African American maid. Through the difficult sharing of their shared history, the author
relays to the young man how, what began as a white slave-owning family and the Black
slave family forced together through this awful practice, became a history of two families
working together through the bad times and the good to not only survive but thrive.
Ending the slavery after three decades, the author’s family and the young man’s family
would start a centuries’ long partnership which saw the end of the Civil War, the white
family’s farm being used as an Underground Railroad station, the families working
together to supply Al Capone whiskey, and becoming pioneers in the 70s.

The balance the author found between history and storytelling was amazing to see
come through in the writing and the author’s voice overall. The interview which took
place between the author and this young man was not only insightful from a historical
standpoint, but captured the raw emotion and fears of both the author and this young
man in today’s day and age. The fear of being labeled a racist or the fear of being seen
through a negative lens ran strong between the two men, and the shared need to
understand and know their family history was strongly felt in each and every chapter.
The way the author was able to share his understanding of the young man’s family and
their shared history through his own family’s paperwork and research was insightful,
and kept the reader engaged as the emotional weight of the author’s history could be
felt in this highly charged climate.

This is the perfect read for those who enjoy history and non-fiction storytelling. The
passionate way the author shared these stories and the deep need for Kaylan to
understand his family’s past and how their story evolved beyond the days of Slavery
was felt greatly in this book. The shocking revelation of both of their family’s being tied
to the days of Al Capone when the gangster would travel through Tennessee from
Chicago to Florida was a huge turning point in the story, and really added a depth to the
connection between the author’s family and Kaylan’s family.

Memorable, engaging, and insightful, author William Bailey’s Tangled Branches is a
must-read book. The honesty and depth of the conversation between these two men
and the way their shared history reflects on the social and political climate the country is
currently in, made this a shocking yet heartfelt read. The drama and history the story
touches upon and the almost narrative approach to the interview between these two
men will keep readers enthralled with their shared story until the book’s final pages.