This is historical fiction, an "accurate portrayal of the everyday details and social habits" of Jewish people, American Indians, and black people, beginning in 1828 North Carolina. The main character is a traveling peddler, so the areas covered extend beyond North Carolina and, through his eyes, the reader witnesses the injustices of the Indian Removal Act.

While this novel deserves high marks for its obviously careful research, the depiction of the Jewish peddler's life on the road is often silly enough that I suspected while I was reading that Mary Glickman, the author, was being sarcastic. I was never sure whether this was deliberate or my misunderstanding. I would like to have cared more for him and the other characters, but only their historical details interested me, not their personal stories.

If you read AN UNDISTURBED PEACE, start with the "Author's Note." Although this is at the end of the book, I wish I had read it first.