Five Smooth Stones

Overview

Romance, violence, and injustice in the South during the Civil Rights era

David Champlin is a black man born into poverty in Depression-era New Orleans who achieves great success and then sacrifices everything to lead his people in the difficult, day-by-day struggle of the civil rights movement. Sara Kent is the beloved and vital white girl who loved David from the moment she first saw him, but they struggled over David's belief that a marriage for them would not be right in the violent world he had to confront. Likening the struggle of black Americans to the “five smooth stones†the biblical David carried against Goliath in lieu of arms, this novel’s range encompasses decades and continents—but that range is insignificant compared with the intimate picture of its hero’s irresistible warmth and inner conflicts. First published in 1966, this epic has become one of the most loved American bestsellers.

Reviews

"A courageous novel . . . David is a marvelously well-done character." —Library Journal

“A long and richly realized novel . . . Ann Fairbairn renders her scenes so skillfully and reveals her hero so fully that [his] qualities are transformed from desirable abstractions to a memorable identity. . . The numerous people characterized so clearly in this novel are ‘mortal humans.’ That is rare enough in any fiction dealing with one of the bone-deep issues of our time.†—The New York Times Book Review

"No matter how large Ann Fairbairn’s audience is, it won’t be large enough . . . Technically Miss Fairbairn is flawless . . . David Champlin is a great tragic hero in a memorable story." —Denver Post

“Every so often along comes the big book that defies categorization . . . It has real size, stature . . . Above all, it rings true . . . You may put it down, but you can’t forget it. You have to come back. Such is the case with Five Smooth Stones.†—Springfield Daily News

Author Biography

Ann Fairbairn is the pseudonym of Dorothy Tait, who was the author of Call Him George and That Man Cartwright.