Historical fiction exploring a forgotten event. The Mississippi River flooded in 1927 and caused the greatest natural disaster in United States history. One More River twines its story around this epic disaster, exploring the flood's impact on the level of the individual, the family, the community, and the region. For any student of Southern history, this fictional tale is a must-read companion piece. From the author, Mary Glickman: "In 1927, the Mississippi River flooded from Cairo, Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico, overflowing as much as 50 miles on either bank of the river. The banks of the river were the center of all commerce, so the first economic calamity was the devastation of much of the South's resources that lay along the shores of the Delta. Businesses, ports, farmland all went under water. The homes of nearly one million people were wiped out.

After the flood, there was no livelihood for the persons who worked that land and in Greenville, Mississippi--a hub of the Delta economy--and up to 45 percent of the African-American labor force left, going North or West to find work. It was said that so many people were leaving that crowds would gather at the station to see who was getting on the trains as it was more entertaining than the picture show. This was not an easy migration. In many cases, African Americans were conscripted for the labor of reconstruction, forced to in work camps under armed guards and in unsanitary, horrific conditions, sleeping on the mud of the levees and sharing that space with thousands of livestock. Common laborers, sharecroppers, and professional African Americans were plucked out of what was left of their homes--regardless of class--and forced into this dirty, miserable work. They were paid in chits for meager amounts and types of food if they were lucky. Initially, there were no tents or eating utensils for them. They ate with the fingers, crouched in the mud.

Meanwhile, white citizens enjoyed ample rations of food sent by the federal government and a thriving black market in luxury items. On a federal level, it was acknowledged by the Corps of Civil Engineers that a levee system alone could not prevent the Mississippi from periodic ravagement of the countryside. A new system of flood plains and catch basins was devised and implemented while--for the first time in American history--massive federal funds were devoted to the rebuilding of the flood zone. In fact, more federal funds were used to aid the flood victims and lands than the government had ever expended before, except in wartime.".