Novelist, Bennett prof Linda Beatrice Brown to speak at Asheboro library

Writer, educator, historian and now author of a Civil War novel for teens, Linda Beatrice Brown will speak at a Friends of the Library program, 7 p.m. Thursday, March 18, at the Asheboro Public Library.

The program is free and all ages are welcome.

Brown, who holds the Willa B. Player Chair in the Humanities at Bennett College for Women, released Black Angels in September.

The novel, about the impact of the Civil War on three children, is being compared to the Revolutionary War youth classic Johnny Tremain, and the central character, Luke, to Huckleberry Finn. It was named one of the Chicago Public Library’s Best Books of 2009.

Brown is author of two novels for adults, a chapbook of poetry for adults and children, and a history of Bennett College. A longtime professor of African American literature, she says her experience teaching inspired her to write about the Civil War period in a novel for young people.

Brown, who lives in Greensboro, has two adult children and six grandchildren. She is the sister of Asheboro resident Barbara Tazewell.