A tremendous accomplishment by an African-American
writer, this is history never before told; an epic novel of four generations
African-American women, a work based on one family's actual meticulously
researched past-and a book with enormous implications for us all.
Lalita Tademy had always been interested in her family's stories,
especially the ones about her great-grandmother Emily, a formidable figure who
died with her life's savings hidden in her mattress. Probing deeper for her
family's roots, Tademy soon found herself swept up in an obsessive two-year
old odyssey-and leaving her corporate career for the little Louisiana farming
community where, on a medium-sized plantation, she found her family's roots
and the stories of four astonishing women who battled vast injustices to create
a legacy of hope and achievement. In
this masterly novel that combines painstaking historical reconstruction with
unforgettable storytelling, Lalita Tademy presents an all too rarely seen part
of American history, complete with a provocative portrayal of the complex,
unspoken bonds between slaves and slave owners.
Most of all, she gives us the saga of real, flesh-and-blood women making
hard choices in the face of unimaginable loss, securing their identity and
independence in order to face any obstacle, and inspiring generations to come.
Cane
River
