Dark Clouds Over Alabama: A Story of Struggles and Triumph in the Old South

The year is 1853. The place is Twin Oaks Plantation, Autauga County, Alabama. Twenty-one-year-old Obadiah Bradford's life is transformed forever when he accompanies his father to purchase a new household servant in nearby Selma. Obadiah is deeply affected by his immediate attraction and intense feelings for Penelope, the beautiful mulatto daughter of his family's new servant. These feelings will eventually present some of the greatest challenges of his and Penelope's lives. With the threat of civil war looming on the horizon, Dark Clouds Over Alabama is the heart-wrenching story of Obadiah, his forbidden love for Penelope, his struggles with the immorality of slavery, his service in the Confederate Army's medical corps, and how he overcomes every challenge by adhering to his traditional values, Christian beliefs, and deep faith in God. It is a story of love, life, hope, commitment, politics, tragedy, and triumph in the Old South that is quite simply a must read for anyone interested in this fascinating chapter in American history.

Carl J. Barger grew up in the Ozark Mountains of Cleburne County, Arkansas, one of eleven children of migrant workers. After graduation from college, he coached high school basketball for five years then thirty-three years as a public school superintendent. He has authored three books: Swords and Plowshares, Mamie: An Ozark Mountain Girl of Courage, and Cleburne County and its People. Carl is now retired and resides in Conway, Arkansas, with Lena, his wife of forty-eight years.