Lovecraft Country

Montrose and Atticus drive across the state together. Caleb Braithwhite has offered to leave the Turner family alone forever if they locate Hiram Winthrop’s son, Henry, as well as the books he stole from his father when he ran away from home. Caleb explains that Henry Winthrop changed his name to Henry Narrow and moved to Aken, Illinois. Given that Henry married an African American enslaved woman, Caleb reasons, he might be more pre-disposed to selling the book to Montrose and Atticus. Montrose accepted the offer because he fears that members of the Order such as Lancaster harbor vendettas against Atticus. He wants to protect his son.

Montrose and Atticus arrive in Aken and find Henry’s house. The walls are graffitied with racist slurs. Inside, however, is a white man named David Landsdowne, a lawyer who led the trial for racial integration in the school system. Ever since, the community has violently turned against him. He invites Montrose and Atticus into the house which never belonged to Henry Narrow. Henry and his family, Landsdowne explains, were murdered in 1945 at a similar address on the other side of town. The murders were covered up by the authorities, including the mayor and the police chief.