# A Conversation on Burn Down Master’s House in Ashland, Virginia w/ Eva McKend

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Podcast: [Clay Cane Extended!](https://stenobird.com/podcast/clay-cane-extended-6903160)
Published: 2026-04-09T22:09:04+00:00
Episode link: https://clay-cane-extended.simplecast.com/episodes/a-conversation-on-burn-down-masters-house-in-ashland-virginia-w-eva-mckend-Wyuiz4or
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Duration seconds: 1062

## Resource

Author Eva McKend discusses her novel 'Burn Down Master’s House,' a fictionalized account of resistance against American chattel slavery. She explores the use of historical figures to challenge modern disinformation and the complexities of racial allyship.

## Highlights
- Main idea: The novel serves as a literary protest against the modern erasure and censorship of Black history
- Historical nuance: McKend uses the real-life legal battles of Thaddeus Stevens to illustrate the complicated and often contradictory nature of white allyship
- Practical takeaway: Fiction can be used to resurrect historical figures, like Charity Butler, who have been erased from the official historical record
- Failure mode: The danger of viewing historical figures through a purely heroic lens without acknowledging their complicity in systemic harm
- Thematic core: The book utilizes graphic imagery of resistance as a ritualistic 'burning down' of demonic, oppressive structures

## Topics

Historical Fiction, American Slavery, Black History, Thaddeus Stevens, Resistance, Censorship, Ancestry, Literature

## Chapters
- 1:00 — Ancestral Connections: McKend discusses how readers find their own family histories reflected in the characters based on her ancestors from Goochland, Virginia.
- 3:00 — Literature as Protest: The motivation for writing the book as a response to modern political rhetoric and the censorship of educational curricula.
- 8:00 — The Complexity of Allyship: An examination of Thaddeus Stevens and how his historical legacy is complicated by his role in the enslavement of free Black individuals.
- 13:00 — Resurrecting the Erased: McKend explains her process of using fiction to give a voice to individuals who vanished from the historical record.
- 15:00 — Violence as Ritual: A discussion on the use of graphic violence in the novel as a symbolic release and a way to confront 'demonic' spirits.
- 17:00 — Writing Through Mortality: McKend reflects on how her personal experiences with illness and loss influenced the themes of the book.

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## Transcript

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