Outbound from Virginia: A Novel

Twenty-year old Will Porter, along with his brother, is thrown out of the houseand disinherited after confronting his father over the fathers mistreatment ofWills mother.

Th eir college education cut short, they strike out on their own,traveling through the South during the 1890s.

Th e sudden and unexpecteddeath of his brother leaves Will to manage by himself as he ponders the futurea future that has him heading west to seek his fortune.

His western odysseytakes him from Seattle to Chicagoalways in search of the next big opportunity. A member of one of the more prominent families of historic Virginia,Will trades on his gentlemanly Southern manners and his sense of entitlementto carve out a living and start a family of his own.

But despite his pedigree, heturns egalitarian and populist as the Great Depression takes its toll.

Off endedby what he sees around him, he uses satirical, muckraking poetry to targetthose with economic and political infl uence.

Regardless of the hardships hefaces, however, Will maintains a deep sense of optimism, symbolic of a generationthat confronted a rapidly changing America.