The Traitor


Read by Michele Fry

(4 stars; 8 reviews)

Dixon lived through Reconstruction, and believed it ranked with the French Revolution in brutality and criminal acts. The Traitor (1907), the final book in his trilogy which also includes The Leopard’s Spots (1902), and The Clansman (1905), spans a two-year period just after Reconstruction (1870-1872), and covers the decline of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina. Dixon, whose father was an early Klan leader, maintained that the original Klan, the “reconstruction Klan” was morally formed in desperation to protect the people from lawlessness, address Yankee brutality, and save southern civilization. Now, in this final installment, he portrays how and why the later Klan falls into disrepute. The story includes folk legends, haunted houses, secret passageways, and spectral apparitions as part of its complicated story, weaving fact, fiction and romance in typical Dixon style.

While defamed as a white supremacist by today’s multi-cultural society, thus falling far out of favor, Dixon was one of the most popular American writers of the period, faithfully depicting the wide range of racial/cultural opinions of 19th century America. (Summary by Michele Fry) (6 hr 45 min)

Chapters

1.1 The Threat 32:17 Read by Michele Fry
1.2 Mr. Hoyle Receives a Shock 10:32 Read by Michele Fry
1.3 A Blow is Struck 24:08 Read by Michele Fry
1.4 The Old Code 4:24 Read by Michele Fry
1.5 Graham vs. Butler 15:58 Read by Michele Fry
1.6 Scalawag and Carpetbagger 27:23 Read by Michele Fry
1.7 The Reign of Folly..... 4:33 Read by Michele Fry
1.8 The Masqueraders 7:41 Read by Michele Fry
1.9 A Counter Stroke 6:03 Read by Michele Fry
1.10 The Strength of the Weak 13:55 Read by Michele Fry
1.11 Through the Secret Panel 15:33 Read by Michele Fry
2.1 Stella's Resolution 8:21 Read by Michele Fry
2.2 Weighed and Found Wanting 8:34 Read by Michele Fry
2.3 The Trap is Set 14:26 Read by Michele Fry
2.4 Ackerman Secures a Pledge 2:44 Read by Michele Fry
2.5 In the Toils 8:23 Read by Michele Fry
2.6 The Train for the North 3:35 Read by Michele Fry
2.7 The Daughter of Eve 22:36 Read by Michele Fry
2.8 The Tracks at the Door 4:03 Read by Michele Fry
2.9 A Test of Strength 13:03 Read by Michele Fry
2.10 Behind Bolted Doors 8:59 Read by Michele Fry
2.11 A Voice in Warning 10:19 Read by Michele Fry
2.12 The Trap is Sprung 14:46 Read by Michele Fry
2.13 For Love's Sake 5:35 Read by Michele Fry
2.14 The Judgment Hall of Fate 19:02 Read by Michele Fry
3.1 The Arrest 18:08 Read by Michele Fry
3.2 Through Prison Bars 8:29 Read by Michele Fry
3.3 A Woman's Way 9:43 Read by Michele Fry
3.4 The Hon. Stephen Hoyle 8:23 Read by Michele Fry
3.5 Ackerman Cornered 6:34 Read by Michele Fry
3.6 Through Deep Waters 12:21 Read by Michele Fry
3.7 The Prisoner at the Bar 17:54 Read by Michele Fry
3.8 The Ministry of Angels 8:17 Read by Michele Fry
3.9 The Day of Atonement 5:46 Read by Michele Fry
3.10 Under Bright Skies 2:41 Read by Michele Fry

Reviews

Reader’s review


(5 stars)

Listening to my own amateur narration of this trilogy since recording it 8 years ago, I would have done some things differently. I confess that I didn’t like spoiled brat Stella then and don’t like her now, which showed in my overdramatizing her snotty personality. She gets on my nerves yet. If I could do it again I would tone her hysteria down by half, even tho Dixon did write her that way. How John could love her I found hard to believe, too. Otherwise I found this book fun to narrate and being a Yankee transplanted to the Deep South, learned to enjoy both cultures, and appreciate both points of view. Dixon bravely told his side, and did it well.


(2 stars)

In the third volume of this trilogy, William Dixon does not repeat his extended diatribes on bigotry that filled the first two volumes, but simply relies on continued caricatures of blacks as unintelligent and indolent while continuing to weave his myth of chivalric medieval knights reincarnated as leaders of the Ku Klux Klan. This third volume is even more of a mystery and romance than the first two volumes. Of course you know how it will turn out (if you’ve read the first two), the only question is how. The story moves briskly until its final part, which is quite overdone and, unfortunately, Ms. Frey, who has captured the spirit of the trilogy in her readings, gets carried away at the end into a histrionic characterization of Stella. In conclusion, to understand the historic significance of Dixon’s trilogy of racist propaganda, it suffices to listen to the first two volumes well read by Ms. Frey. This quick listen won’t add much.

injustice, corruption and the like can be defeated


(5 stars)

well overall the trilogy shed light on an ugly period in our nations history. tough to say I enjoyed this book about vengeance, injustice, greed and bribery. but guess what? good overcomes evil. always refreshing to remember that. well read.

Last of the three


(4.5 stars)

An ending that nicely rounds our the story as seen from the author’s perspective. The reader continues for all three volumes, and he is very good.