"Kentucky Pride" is a 1956 novel by Gene Markey who for many years was the husband of Lucille Markey Wright, the owner of famed Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Before he married the widow Wright, Markey was a Navy Reserve Admiral, a Hollywood screen writer, and a well known Hollywood ladies man. But he became a devoted student of Kentucky history and produced several novels which were set in Kentucky, most of which were actually set in Lexington, Kentucky. This novel is best described as a Civil War/Reconstruction novel whose protagonist, Aidan Kensal, is former Confederate Major who owns a Lexington thoroughbred farm. His two associates who figure heavily into the novel are a jockey from the mountains of Kentucky, and a second Lexington Confederate both of whom have served with Kensal in the Confederate unit commanded by John Morgan. The three are attempting to return to Central Kentucky after the Civil War has ended, and the novel seems to be somewhat sympathetic to the Lost Cause. The primary villian is a Union Major Veach Doucain who has grown up near Aidan and has always hated him because of his families wealth, large farm, and outstanding Thoroughbred breeding program. Doucain is assisted by several lesser villians, four of whom form the other members of what is known as The Counsel of Evil which is a committee which has been sanctioned by the Union government to run the affairs of the area from an anonymous shield of power and silence. The other key member of The Council of Evil is a banker, Bowen Slaidrick, who is both a member of the council and the legal guardian of his neice Lacey who is the legitimate owner of another large farm which adjoins Aidan's. Doucain is obsessed with owning Aidan's property and destroying him at any cost. Lacey would have been called a tomboy in today's parlance and the opening of the novel involves an attempted stage coach robbery which is foiled by Aidan, Link, and Fid, the jockey, along with Lacey who is riding beside the driver atop the stage coach. When the driver is wounded, Lacey takes the rains, uses a whip to lash at least one of the highwaymen, and drives the stage away in a gallop as Aidan and his friends send the robbers packing. Action like this pops up in almost ever chapter of the novel and is offset by one after another action by The Council of Evil to rob Aidan of all he owns. If you can accept the fact that the good guys in this novel are returning Confederal soldiers and a few other Confederate sympathizers who are friends of Aidan in Lexington, it is well worth reading. It is loaded with good or better character development, a strong plot which flows smoothly, great conflict and conflict resolution, and a story which I am certain happened several times in the years immediately after the Civil War, especially in the Confederate states and border states. Gene Markey could write or he would never have been a major Hollywood script writer. Yes, I know it isn't popular in today's world to write novels about protagonists who are Confederate soldiers being pilloried by Union officers and supporters. But this novel is well worth reading if you can set your prejudices aside.
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