Vanessa
05-21-2009, 07:56 AM
Synopsis:
When Henry McAllan moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta in 1946, she finds herself in a place both foreign and frightening. Henry's love of rural life is not shared by Laura, who struggles to raise their two young children in an isolated shotgun shack under the eye of her hateful, racist father-in-law. When it rains, the waters rise up and swallow the bridge to town, stranding the family in a sea of mud. As the Second World War shudders to an end, two young men return from Europe to help work the farm. Jamie McAllan is everything his older brother Henry is not and is sensitive to Laura's plight, but also haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the farm, comes home from war with the shine of a hero, only to face far more dangerous battles against the ingrained bigotry of his own countrymen. These two unlikely friends become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale.
My Thoughts:
I found this a compelling, thought provoking and moving story. An excellent debut novel.
It is told in the form of multiple narratives and I really got a feel for each individual personality, that of two brothers, a wife, and three farm tenants. I also got a good sense of how evil and bigoted the grandfather, 'Pappy', was even though he was not one of the narrators. The author has portrayed the characters so very well.
This is a book about love, hate, racism and small-mindedness. It gives a fantastic insight into life on the Mississippi Delta in the 1940s and vividly describes the racism which occurred at that time. In fact, I was quite horrified even though I was aware of what happened back then.
I was totally gripped by this book and found it hard to put down. It's a page turner with a shocking, powerful and poignant conclusion.
Highly recommended.
Rating: 5/5
When Henry McAllan moves his city-bred wife, Laura, to a cotton farm in the Mississippi Delta in 1946, she finds herself in a place both foreign and frightening. Henry's love of rural life is not shared by Laura, who struggles to raise their two young children in an isolated shotgun shack under the eye of her hateful, racist father-in-law. When it rains, the waters rise up and swallow the bridge to town, stranding the family in a sea of mud. As the Second World War shudders to an end, two young men return from Europe to help work the farm. Jamie McAllan is everything his older brother Henry is not and is sensitive to Laura's plight, but also haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the farm, comes home from war with the shine of a hero, only to face far more dangerous battles against the ingrained bigotry of his own countrymen. These two unlikely friends become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale.
My Thoughts:
I found this a compelling, thought provoking and moving story. An excellent debut novel.
It is told in the form of multiple narratives and I really got a feel for each individual personality, that of two brothers, a wife, and three farm tenants. I also got a good sense of how evil and bigoted the grandfather, 'Pappy', was even though he was not one of the narrators. The author has portrayed the characters so very well.
This is a book about love, hate, racism and small-mindedness. It gives a fantastic insight into life on the Mississippi Delta in the 1940s and vividly describes the racism which occurred at that time. In fact, I was quite horrified even though I was aware of what happened back then.
I was totally gripped by this book and found it hard to put down. It's a page turner with a shocking, powerful and poignant conclusion.
Highly recommended.
Rating: 5/5