PositiveNPRMcBride adds a darkly comic plot twist that is admittedly hard to wrap your head around: What if Old John Brown spent his last four years tending a prepubescent transvestite who became the only one to escape the raid unscathed? This is a story that popular culture doesn't often visit, and it takes a daring writer to tackle a decidedly unflattering pre-Civil War story. Yet, in McBride's capable hands, the indelicate matter of a befuddled tween from the mid-19th century provides a new perspective on one of the most decisive periods in the history of this country.
