Creatures Here Below

by Oscar H. Bennett

This powerful new novel by O. H. Bennett tells the story of a makeshift family struggling to stay together as life wears away at their bonds of blood and love. At the center of the family is Gail Neighbors, the hardworking single mother of two sons, Mason and Tyler. Mason, the older, grew up without knowing his father, a feckless gambler and womanizer. Tyler, the younger, sings in the church choir and enjoys a close relationship with his father, Dan, who left Gail a few years before still spends plenty of time at the house. To make ends meet, Gail has taken in two Annie, an elderly woman with a diminishing grip on reality, and Jackie, the 20-year-old single mother of baby Cole, who can't fully accept her overwhelming new responsibilities. Creatures Here Below renders with tremendous richness and care the realities of a black teenaged male whose life is taking a turn toward the worse.

Genres: African American, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Andre(Read-A-Lot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the title does a disservice to this particular book and may be holding back readers from embracing the novel. The title indicates something science-fiction, some kind of creatures, and this may you give you pause. Well let me assure you, it is not science fiction and has nothing to do with creatures.

It is a slice of life story that centers on a woman named Gail. Gail is the mother of Mason and Tyler, and owns a boarding house where Jackie and Annie reside. These are the central personalities of this novel. If Gail is the main character, then Mason is 1A. She has suffered a traumatic event that impacted her adult life and her communication with her two sons. The novel doesn't have a particular focus, rather it seems to say that events tend to build on each other, and decisions early in life can have effects later on. "She'd wanted to tell him everything that happened had a reason, everything connected to something else and could be traced back from one event to the next." This passage seems to epitomize the book.

The story is told in the third person, but the chapters are divided by the names of the different characters who are the focus of that current chapter. This helps to give the characters some depth as each get turns at being the focal point. In little ways it is a coming of age tale, especially the Mason chapters. He is certainly a different guy by the books end, then he was at the start. It really is just a solid tale of the trials and tribulations of life and the characters are drawn with a nod towards reality. It is very easy to identify with the plainness of it all. I don't mean plainness as a negative, but really as an asset to a book that borders on the literary fence. Pretty good.

[Sarah Weathersby · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Praise God from Whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below." That reference may be lost on people who don't spend much time in church, particularly of the Methodist variety.

I really wanted to love this book. When the publisher offered a free Kindle special for a few days in February, I jumped on it, but didn't get around to reading it until last week. I liked the writing, but I can't love a book if I can't connect with any of the characters.

The story is about the residents of a boarding house, all but one of whom live a depressing existence, living in the past, angry almost psychotic, hopeless, demented and delusional. Not even the baby shows signs of happiness. I was ready to give up at about half-way through the story, and then changes started to occur in their lives. I began to see a reason to turn the page, and there was hope for something better in their lives. First one person brought a new sense of hope, then another, and so on, until I stopped expecting a disastrous outcome.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, it was an interesting read...kept my attention. Didn't like the ending.

[January Reign · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished this one ....disappointed....probably because Daniel Black's Perfect Peace was everything this book was not. Maybe I would have felt better about this one if I'd read it first? These character's were flat to me....their motivations thin and obvious. Their development was minimal at best. 😒

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story illustrates how individual healing promotes collective healing.

[Mary]

At the center of the family is Gail Neighbors, the hardworking single mother of two sons, Mason and Tyler. Mason, the older, grew up without knowing his father, a feckless gambler and womanizer. Tyler, the younger, sings in the church choir and enjoys a close relationship with his father, Dan, who left Gail a few years before still spends plenty of time at the house. To make ends meet, Gail has taken in two boarders: Annie, an elderly woman with a diminishing grip on reality, and Jackie, the 20-year-old single mother of baby Cole,

[Nicole C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a kindle freebie a while back, and the title at first made me think of a horror novel, but i guess it's actually from a hymn. However, it's the story of a group of people who live in a boarding house, and even though they are not all related to each other, how they become like family. The tale is told in third person, but the chapters focus on different characters. There are parts that were pretty depressing, but I think that there's hope at the end.

[Malcaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.50
This book turned out to be really good. It dragged in the middle which made it hard for me to care about the characters at one point and there were a few parts that I thought the author could have left out but overall I loved how all the different storylines intertwined and I understood the ending.

[Trease · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't an awesome read but it wasn't terrible either. It was very well written but tended to drag on. I was NOT at all pleased with the ending; I could only assume that the boy returned home, as there was no real indication that he did.

[Cheryl Amazeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Especially good

Not many books about black family lives, and this is honest. This flawed wonderful mess of people learning the hard way how to love and accept each other gave me hope. Hope for us all. I highly recommend this one and hope Bennett writes many more.

[Michelle Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started off slow but got better as we progressed. At the conclusion of the book we definitely wanted more / to know more. Overall it was a good message about finding oneself, being careful of the choices we make, and the the dangers of harboring family hurt.

-Shadyz Uv Color Book Club

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good writer.

[Amyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty good book. story line was official, and the characters were amazing. most def a good read.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bittersweet...

At times it dragged on a bit but eventually sucked me in. I would have liked the ending to be more conclusive but a little suspense never hurt anyone.