The full title of today's selection is Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo." In it, Zora Neale Hurston chronicles the story of Cudjo Lewis, who in 1927 was the only person alive who could tell the story of the last slave ship known to have made the transatlantic journey, 50 years after the slave trade was outlawed. Hurston tells of the many times she visited Lewis, and not only allows the story to be told mostly in his own words, but also makes note of his behavior, his sometimes standoffish nature, and his ultimate desire to be back in Africa.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a nonfiction title in which Hurston interviewed Cudjo Lewis (African name Oluale Kossola) on several occasions beginning in 1927. At the time Lewis was 86 years old, but as Hurston notes, he had a remarkable memory. Having been taken from his home in Africa at the age of 19, Lewis could still recall details of his capture, as well as his journey across the Atlantic in the Clotilda, the last known slaver to have made the journey to Africa and back with the explicit purpose of trading slaves. And once Lewis' narrative moves past the journey, he then talks about his time as a slave in a strange land, being granted freedom, and then managing to build a life for himself in Africatown (Plateau), Alabama. What makes Lewis' story different from many slave narratives is the fact that it begins in Africa, and does not include any political agenda. Hurston interjects here and there to set up the scene of each interview, making note of what Lewis was doing that day, what his mood was like, what they were eating, and how he would often not say much, but instead go about his day or stare off thoughtfully in the distance. Using his own words as well as his vernacular, Hurston lets Lewis speak for himself. Also, something else that separates this story from many others is the important detail that Lewis was sold to slave traders by other Africans, something that many African-Americans have a hard time reconciling, including many of Hurston's contemporaries of the Harlem Renaissance. Original and thoughtful, Barracoon is another book to add to Hurston's already impressive body of work.
My Verdict: Slave narratives can often be hard to get through, but mercifully, that was not the case with Barracoon. Maybe it is something to do with how short it is (clocking in at under 200 pages, and this includes the foreword, afterword, and appendix), or how little Hurston inserted herself into the story, but it ended up being a surprisingly quick read. Even with Lewis' vernacular dominating the pages, his knack for storytelling makes it more interesting than diffuclt. Of course, it is still a story about slavery and the slave trade, and perhaps even more upsetting is the fact that it is about slave traders who successfully completed a trip across the Middle Passage 50 years after it was outlawed. And what upsets Lewis the most is how he was sold by his own people in Africa, a land that he had a desire to return to. The book jacket asserts that this story is an important contribution to history and culture, and it is absolutely right. It may be nearly a century since Hurston began her interviews of Lewis, but the story is finally here and readily accessible to anyone who wishes to explore it.
Favorite Moment: When Lewis successfully sues a railroad company, though he never saw any of the settlement money.
Favorite Quote: "The white people had held my people in slavery in America. They had bought us, it is true and exploited us. But the inescapable fact that stuck in my craw, was: my people had sold me and the white people had bought me. That did away with the folklore I had been brought up on - that the white people had gone to Africa, waved a red handkerchief at the Africans and lured them aboard ship and sailed away." - Hurston after three months of association with Lewis.
Recommended Reading: The work Hurston is most known for is perhaps Their Eyes Were Watching God. I also recommend The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward.
It has been awhile since I ventured into pre-1900 English fiction. It has also been awhile since I chose a book specifically because of its size. Picking Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now was an easy decision as I had been wanting to read a Trollope book for years, but as you can imagine, finding the time to fit an 800 page classic novel in between the many shorter modern ones I also want to read can be quite difficult. In any case, here we are, and I am ready to talk about this scathing look at 1870s England.
The Situation: There are several characters throughout the novel that take their turn in the spotlight, but the main focus of everyone's attention seems to Augustus Melmotte. Though nearly everyone seems to agree that Melmotte has not exactly come about his money honestly, and they are also almost unanimous in that the man is a brute and uncouth, these same people still seem to desire his company as well as his business. Men are eager to be appointed to Melmotte's board for a railway that is to be built in America; everyone is clamoring for an invitation to a dinner he will be putting on for foreign royalty; and several eligible men are looking for ways to attain his daughter's hand in marriage. Melmotte's character may push people away, but his money - or rather the rumors about his money - keeps drawing them in.
The Problem: If Melmotte has earned his money by doing anything false, and evidence is brought against him, there are several people who, though they may not be ruined, will definitely suffer significant losses when it comes to money and reputation. Even so, while such a thing would prove terrible for some, many still hope to see the pompous and rude man fall. Beyond Melmotte, there is Lady Carbury, whose life's mission is to make sure her son Felix is settled comfortably, and her daughter is married. Unfortunately for her, Felix cares little for anyone else's comfort other than his own, and her daughter is insistent on not marrying the man her mother wants for her, a man with romantic troubles of his own. Melmotte's own daughter also desires to marry against her father's wishes, and only manages to secure the affection of Felix on the basis that she is to receive a large inheritance. Add in a few more romantic entanglements, some instances of fraud, and a beating or two, and you have a complicated tale of late 19th century England.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a fiction novel set in and around London, England in the late 1800s. It has been labeled as a satire, with adjectives such as "scathing," "relentless," "unflinching," and "brutal" often attached to it. Trollope does not pull any punches when talking about the pervasive greed and hypocrisy of the "important people" in English high society. But it is not only the people that come under scrutiny, but also many of the laws, customs, and manners of the time. The matter of daughters having little agency of their own and often being subject to whatever their parents desire is a constant issue throughout the story. And Trollope manages to paint several of the single young men as idle gamblers with little more to recommend them than the salary they will make. Felix serves as the primary example of this as his only talent seems to be that of taking money from his mother and quickly losing it playing cards at the club. The author even goes so far as to have the main villain of Melmotte be elected to an important position in the English government, which can only come off as an indictment against that office. However, despite his rough representation of his own country, he does give most of the characters surprisingly satisfactory endings.
My Verdict: Yes, this book is long. Like Bleak House long. But also like Bleak House, it is worth it. The issue with many door stops is that there tends to be long moments of drawn out description (Les Miserables, I am looking in your direction), or equally long moments of contemplation or reflection (anything by Fyodor Dostoevsky would fit for this description). While The Way We Live Now is surprisingly light on the former, there is a good amount of the latter, especially near the end of the book. Overall, the action and general flow of the novel was effective in holding my interest, while leaving me thoroughly entertained as well as concerned as to what happens to several of the characters. And the characters he has created are not just greedy, or just selfish, or just hypocritical. Almost all of them have complex personalities and issues that make them fun to follow. If I had one bone to pick with the story, it is that some of the endings feel forced or generally not believable. I mean, if you've already gone on for 800 pages, why not spend a few more giving a little more attention to the ending?
Favorite Moment: *spoiler alert* When Felix has his butt handed to him by the fiancee of the woman he has been running around with.
Favorite Character: Roger Carbury is the cousin of Sir Lady Carbury's. He may be rigid and unyielding in many ways, but most of them are noble, and he is often the voice of reason when it comes to Lady Carbury's affairs.
Recommended Reading: If you are ever in the mood for a long classic novel that may take you months to read, my favorite always will be Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. But if you want to stick with English literature, then I suggest Bleak House by Charles Dickens.
I was asked to consider reading and reviewing Jordan Antonacci's The Killed Conscience due to having reviewed similar titles on this blog. While I love free books as much as the next book nerd, I actually end up passing on quite a few for whatever reason. Usually it is because they fall too much in the thriller category for my taste, or they are just a little more chick-lit or romance than I care for. But The Killed Conscience caught my attention with an interesting synopsis and the tag line "Nothing is as it seems."
The Situation: Emilee Weathers is a journalist in Texas who longs for the story that will finally get her away from writing about restaurant safety hazards. She wants the story that will crack a case wide open, bring justice, and perhaps put a serious criminal behind bars forever. She even has her own blog where she writes about cold cases; it is the kind of writing she wishes she could do at work, for a living. It is because of the blog and her proven ability to do the research that she receives a call from a Detective Nichols in Knoxville, Tennessee. He wants to offer her the chance to interview the Valentine's Day Killer, a serial killer who brutally murdered several women and was now serving a life sentence. It also does not hurt that Emilee is originally from the area where the murders took place. Now that the man convicted has been granted an appeal, Detective Nichols wants Emily to talk with him, and maybe use her skills to find something that would guarantee he stays in jail. It is the opportunity she has been waiting for, and the chance for her to reconnect with a childhood friend.
The Problem: The interview with the VDK does not go quite as Emilee thought it would, and now that she is looking closer at the case, things are not adding up. The more she looks at the details, the less it seems like the man who is currently in jail is the real killer. Plus, while Emilee is grateful for the reunion with Sebastian, her childhood best friend, and the chance to hang out with him in his family's cabin in Pigeon Forge, the situation is actually less than ideal. For one, Emilee had to drag along her worthless boyfriend James, who was not all that excited about his girlfriend leaving town to visit an old, male, friend. Sebastian has his own girlfriend, Morgan, who seems impossibly perfect, and also a little wary of Emilee. And then there is the cold climate that is the Tennessee mountains in December. And finally, there is the dead body that Emilee stumbles across one day while walking through the mountains. The more Emilee finds out about the murders, the less she is sure of, and now it seems there is a killer on the loose in the area.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a suspense/thriller novel set in present day Tennessee. At the center of it is journalist Emilee Weathers and her desire for her big break. The opportunity is practically handed to her by Detective Nichols, when he picks her out as the person to interview the man currently serving a life sentence as the Valentine's Day Killer. For the most part, the story follows Emilee and her thoughts through a third-person narrator, but there are also a few jumps into the past that show Emilee and Sebastian's childhood together before Emilee's family moved away. Even after having spent years away from each other, the two manage to reconnect seamlessly. Having her return to a familiar place may have been enough to set the scene for a suspense thriller, but Antonacci ups the anti by having Emilee and her friends go to a cabin in the woods for a few days, and then the snow begins to fall in earnest. With voluntary, and then forced, isolation and seclusion, and mounting tensions inside of the cabin, everything is set for an uneasy and often eerie atmosphere. Mistrust, unanswered questions, and potential danger just outside of the door make this the suspenseful thriller that readers have labeled it as.
My Verdict: The characters are solid. The setting is well chosen and described with incredible detail. The plot is interesting. And perhaps most important for a suspense thriller, the tension is there and continues to grow right through to the final scene. This novel has everything going for it; my only wish is that it was a little more put together. There are connections that are made that are eventually forgotten or fade away, and there are moments when the other characters are pushed to the side to the point that they become invisible, so when they show up again it is somewhat surprising and a little jarring. There are also a few loose ends that are left hanging by the end. But the thing is, the ending and the journey getting there are good enough to where most of this can be forgiven, and the overall story is still compelling enough to make this a good story. I look forward to seeing other stories Antonacci comes up with.
Favorite Moment: When Casey wakes up Emilee by jumping on her bed while wearing an adult reindeer onesie.
Favorite Character: Casey is Sebastian's best friend, and while he may appear to only be the good-time-useless-party-guy, he is also a decent friend who does what he can to make sure everyone has a good time and things do not get too crazy.
Recommended Reading: I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara is the true account of one woman's obsession with the Golden State Killer, who was arrested for his crimes two years after the author herself passed away.
The full title of today's selection is I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, by Michelle McNamara. It chronicles not only the extensive history and search for one of California's more prolific, but not commonly well-known, serial rapists/killers, but also McNamara's obsession with finding this man and bringing him to justice. Unfortunately, McNamara, who was the wife of comedian Patton Oswalt, passed away in April of 2016, two years before both the publication of this book and the eventual arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, the man who would be charged with the crimes that had been attributed to the Golden State Killer.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a nonfiction book that falls under the second category of true crime. Both the foreword by Gillian Flynn as well as the afterword by McNamara's husband show her to not only be interested in true crime and serial killers, but people in general. And 'interest' probably is not the right word as McNamara was known for her incredible attention to detail, and also her extreme commitment to the case. She sometimes feared that she was overstepping her bounds by some of the actions she took, but she did them anyway. And she often asked authorities questions she felt they would not like or would not answer, but she asked them anyway. As for the Golden State Killer, who was mostly known by law enforcement as either the East Area Rapist or the Original Night Stalker, he was active for ten years between 1976 and 1986, committing over 50 sexual assaults and 10 murders. Having successfully eluded police he seemingly disappeared, with some believing he had died, and others saying he had been arrested on some other charge and was languishing in jail. McNamara either was not convinced or did not care; she wanted to know the guy's identity and be sure he was caught, whether she was the one who broke the case or not. It also did not help that the Golden State Killer was active right before major advancements had been made in using DNA to find criminals; however, such advancements are what would lead to authorities eventually finding him in 2018. With a mix of details about the crime scenes, stories about the life and times of the victims, and personal memoir, McNamara takes us through a scary time in California's history, as well as her own obsession with it.
My Verdict: Any lover of true crime will love McNamara's book as she shares with us her obsession over the Golden State Killer. Being one of the lesser known serial rapists/killers, it adds to the intrigue as these are stories and details many people have never heard before, making them a new discovery for lovers of the genre. Many may be drawn to the book due to the recent capture of the Golden State Killer, or the fact that McNamara died before completing her research, or even simply the fact that she was the wife of Patton Oswalt. Whatever the reason, they will not be disappointed and will be as interested in solving the mystery as anyone else. And while she gives the hard facts about the case, she also manages to weave humanity throughout the story, something many of her colleagues, as well as her husband, praised her for.
Favorite Moment: Since the Golden State Killer was caught after this book was published, I cannot point to that as my favorite moment. So instead I will say when McNamara was going on a tour of sorts of places where the Golden State Killer committed a lot of his crimes with Paul Holes, a criminalist with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.
Recommended Reading: My experience with true crime is limited, but there is always In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Also, there is Skip Hollandsworth's The Midnight Assassin, which tells the story of a serial killer that terrorized Austin, Texas in the late 1800s but was never caught.
The full title of today's selection is Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo." In it, Zora Neale Hurston chronicles the story of Cudjo Lewis, who in 1927 was the only person alive who could tell the story of the last slave ship known to have made the transatlantic journey, 50 years after the slave trade was outlawed. Hurston tells of the many times she visited Lewis, and not only allows the story to be told mostly in his own words, but also makes note of his behavior, his sometimes standoffish nature, and his ultimate desire to be back in Africa.
