A Wolf by the Ears
Logline
A Wolf by the Ears focuses on the rebellion of enslaved people who rallied to the British after receiving promises of freedom during the War of 1812, a conflict personalized through the love triangle of three people, two of them enslaved and the third the man who once held them in bondage..
Genre
Drama,War,Historical Fiction,Epic
Short Summary
Towerhill sneaks off to a liaison with British officers to arrange for his fellow enslaved people to rebel and join them, as Jacob, an "enlightened" plantation owner dallies with Sarai, his black mistress and makes plans to sell off many of his slaves to meet his debts.
Towerhill, in an act of justice and mercy, kills Jacob who, with Sarai, is chained in the belly of a prisoner of war ship during the siege of Baltimore where the vision of freedom seen through ”the rockets’ red glare” is not one that would be shared by Towerhill and his people for centuries.
Setting
The Tidewater area of Maryland and Virginia, 1814
Based on a True Story
No
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth
Plot - Other Elements
Other
Mature Audience Themes
Extreme Violence,Nudity, Language/Profanity,Sexual Abuse
Main Character Details
Name: Towerhill
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Aspiring,Badass,Masculine,Aggressive,Decisive,Desperate,Educated,Honorable,Sexy,Outspoken,Skillful
Additional Character Details
Name: Sarai
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Aspiring,Complex,Badass,Desperate,Empathetic,Heroic,Heartthrob,Visionary,Outspoken,Sexy,Underdog,Strong Moral Code
Additional Character Details
Name: Jacob Hallam
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Role: protagonist
Key Traits: Charming,Clumsy,Complex,Desperate,Empathetic,Faithful,Heartthrob,Educated,Insecure,Visionary,Patriotic,Sexy,Narcisstic
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Development Pitch
A Wolf by the Ears focuses on the rebellion of thousands of enslaved people from American plantations in the Tidewater region of Maryland and Virginia who rallied to the British after receiving promises of freedom. The novel’s title is from the famous quote from Thomas Jefferson regarding his concern over the institute of slavery: "We have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go." The three main characters are two enslaved people, Towerhill and Sarai, and their master, Jacob Hallam, the three unequally entwined in love, hate and sex. At a time when America is still struggling with the relationships between the races, I became fascinated by the way the War of 1812 clarifies how the fraught and unequal historical linkage of white and black Americans underscored how differently each defined what it meant to fight for freedom. What we are taught about that war—if we are taught at all—usually centers on the courage of the defenders of Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key’s glimpse of the colors symbolizing “the land of the free” through the “rockets’ red glare.” But the way that thousands of slaves ran away or rose against their owners and joined the other side speaks powerfully of the essential conflict that existed between the ideals articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the reality of people owning other people—a legacy that still affects us deeply.