- Hardcover: 432 pages
- Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (Jan 3 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0446578983
- ISBN-13: 978-0446578981
- Product Dimensions: 15.5 x 10.4 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 567 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #726,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Four generations of African-American Southerners claw their way up from the ruins of Reconstruction in this engrossing family saga by the author of the bestselling Cane River. Tademy begins with a harrowing recreation of the notorious 1873 massacre at Colfax, La., where 150 blacks, gathered in defense of local Republican officials—and their own citizenship—were killed by white supremacists. Her narrative continues into the 1930s with a fictionalized chronicle of her forebears in the Tademy and Smith clans as they struggle against poverty, buy land and pursue their dream of starting a school for African-American children, their progress challenged by floods, hunting accidents and the Ku Klux Klan. It's an unabashed story of racial uplift (sample dialogue: " 'We getting old, and it up to us to move the race forward'"), but there's plenty of drama and grit to keep it from becoming cloying. Through her characters, the author paints an indelible portrait of rural life under Jim Crow, built around backbreaking farm labor, blood ties that bind and chafe, and the omnipresent fear of a capricious white racism that can undo in a moment the work of a lifetime. Combining family anecdotes with historical research and a rich imagination, Tademy crafts another American epic. Photos. (Jan. 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Tademy, author of the highly acclaimed Cane River (2001), revisits her fascinating family history in this fictionalized account of the family's survival of a riot in 1873. Colfax, Louisiana, was the site of a massacre of more than 100 black men by white supremacists determined that the voting rights of former slaves not be honored, keeping in place political officials who upheld the racial hierarchy of slavery even during Reconstruction. Tademy family legend credits Sam Tademy with reclaiming the closest phonetic pronunciation of his original African name following the Civil War, and passing it along in the family. Sam is a major figure in this recollection of the events leading up to the massacre and the struggle thereafter. Tademy draws on family legend, official documents, and newspaper accounts to chronicle the determination of the Tademys, the Smiths, and other black families to take a stand against rising racial brutality in the years following slavery. The Tademys were among the black families who sought to make a place for themselves in the town, buying land, opening a store, starting a school, braving continued attacks by racists, marrying, and continuing their family lines. Tademy brings drama and pathos to an epic account of her family history and a shameful account of our nation's history. Tademy is establishing herself as a compelling chronicler of the complex history of slavery and race in America. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
'This is not a story to go down easy,',
By J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Red River (Hardcover)
It is a story of inequality, of racially motivated violence and inequity. At the same time, it is a story of resilience, of faith, of courage, and of hope for a better future.Ms Tademy shows us history through the eyes of her family members. The events of Easter Sunday April 13 1873 in Colfax Louisiana, identified by some as 'the bloodiest single act of carnage in all of Reconstruction' saw 153 people lose their lives. The first part of the novel leads us up to these events. The second part deals with life beyond and of the continuing struggle to establish a 'coloured school', and the battles of people to reconcile the idealism of equality with the reality of survival. For some this is reinforced by the strong belief in the power of the 'written word to help you flesh out those things you know and those you don't'. I do not know much about this period of American history, and I will be attempting to redress this. This is a story worth reading and I recommend it highly. I suspect that this will be one of my outstanding reads for 2007. Jennifer Cameron-Smith
1.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing like the author's "Cane River",
By The Mad Hatter "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Red River (Hardcover)
I became completely absorbed in the author's previous four generation family saga, "Cane River" and was hoping for the same dramatic reading from this book. Alas, I was greatly disappointed. While Cane River centred on family life, this one focused primarily on civil unrest, battles and endless fighting, particularly during the first half of the book.The book lacked a plot of any great nature. Character development was poor, if it existed at all, and the reader did not really have the opportunity to know any of the primary characters well enough to take an interest. The book seemed to lack purpose and made for a very long, drawn-out, extremely dry, boring read.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Red River Letdown,
By longdogmom (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Red River (Paperback)
Lalita Tademy's first book, Cane River, was one of my all time favourite reads. I was expecting the same character development and flowing story line. I was disappointed. The first third of the book is spent waiting for the battle to begin, supplemented with some thin character background.I want to be invested in the key players but somehow I just can't be. The transition from generation to generation is choppy at best. It isn't bad...it just isn't great. Maybe a third book can recreate the magic of Cane River but Red River sinks to the bottom for me.
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