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The Secret of Magic
In 1946, a young female attorney from New York City attempts the impossible: attaining justice for a black man in the Deep South.
Regina Robichard works for Thurgood Marshall, who receives an unusual letter asking the NAACP to investigate the murder of a returning black war hero. It is signed by M. P. Calhoun, the most reclusive author in the country.
As a child, Regina was captivated by Calhoun’s The Secret of Magic, a novel in which white and black children played together in a magical forest.
Once down in Mississippi, Regina finds that nothing in the South is as it seems. She must navigate the muddy waters of racism, relationships, and her own tragic past. The Secret of Magic brilliantly explores the power of stories and those who tell them.
Regina Robichard works for Thurgood Marshall, who receives an unusual letter asking the NAACP to investigate the murder of a returning black war hero. It is signed by M. P. Calhoun, the most reclusive author in the country.
As a child, Regina was captivated by Calhoun’s The Secret of Magic, a novel in which white and black children played together in a magical forest.
Once down in Mississippi, Regina finds that nothing in the South is as it seems. She must navigate the muddy waters of racism, relationships, and her own tragic past. The Secret of Magic brilliantly explores the power of stories and those who tell them.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
128 people are currently reading
5066 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Johnson
79 books71 followersDeborah Johnson was born below the Mason-Dixon Line, in Missouri, but grew up in Omaha, Nebraska.
After college, she lived in San Francisco and then for many years in Rome, Italy where she worked as a translator and editor of doctoral theses and at Vatican Radio.
Deborah Johnson is the author of The Air Between Us, which received the Mississippi Library Association Award for fiction. She now lives in Columbus, Mississippi, and is working on her next novel.
After college, she lived in San Francisco and then for many years in Rome, Italy where she worked as a translator and editor of doctoral theses and at Vatican Radio.
Deborah Johnson is the author of The Air Between Us, which received the Mississippi Library Association Award for fiction. She now lives in Columbus, Mississippi, and is working on her next novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 403 reviews
August 9, 2016
3.5 1946, the war is over and a young black man, a decorated veteran, is returning home by bus, to Alabama and his waiting father. He never makes it and his body is found several days later and his father wants justice for the murder of his son.
This is the beginning of the Civil Rights era, but it has not yet reached the deep South, where a white man can brag about killing a black man, without fear of repercussions, especially a young, wealthy white man from a prominent family.
The tangled lives of whites and black in the Deep South are wonderfully portrayed.A young Thurgood Marshall, sends a black young woman lawyer, his first hire, to try to acquire justice for the grieving father. The father even though black is loved by many, again tangled lives. The atmosphere of the deep south, the formal manners hidden beneath churning emotions of hate or goodwill, the drawl, all are meticulously stated.
The beginning of the NAACP, and its effort to provide justice for the blacks in the country made interesting reading. The character Peach, a black lady with a tragic past of her own was my favorite. My only little criticism is the character of Regina, the young black lawyer, she seemed to me to be awfully naïve in her understanding of the race relations in the South, many of her actions I found questionable. All in all though a very good read from an author in which I expect great things in the future.
This is the beginning of the Civil Rights era, but it has not yet reached the deep South, where a white man can brag about killing a black man, without fear of repercussions, especially a young, wealthy white man from a prominent family.
The tangled lives of whites and black in the Deep South are wonderfully portrayed.A young Thurgood Marshall, sends a black young woman lawyer, his first hire, to try to acquire justice for the grieving father. The father even though black is loved by many, again tangled lives. The atmosphere of the deep south, the formal manners hidden beneath churning emotions of hate or goodwill, the drawl, all are meticulously stated.
The beginning of the NAACP, and its effort to provide justice for the blacks in the country made interesting reading. The character Peach, a black lady with a tragic past of her own was my favorite. My only little criticism is the character of Regina, the young black lawyer, she seemed to me to be awfully naïve in her understanding of the race relations in the South, many of her actions I found questionable. All in all though a very good read from an author in which I expect great things in the future.
March 13, 2024
Lt. Joe Howard Wilson, a decorated black soldier returning home to Revere, Mississippi from the war, had been hauled off his bus by a white mob in October 1945 and disappeared until his mangled body was pulled from the Tombigbee River weeks later, but a local grand jury ruled his death accidental. Now a year later, Regina Robichard, a young NAACP attorney, is sent by Thurgood Marshall to investigate, in response to a letter from M.P. Calhoun, a white resident of Revere and author years earlier of a famous children's book.
Don't expect a legal thriller like those of fellow Mississippi author John Grisham. An attorney is the main character and the investigation of a suspected murder provides the plot, but not a moment is spent in a courtroom. Instead, the focus is on the complicated relations of blacks and whites in the postwar South.
Don't expect a legal thriller like those of fellow Mississippi author John Grisham. An attorney is the main character and the investigation of a suspected murder provides the plot, but not a moment is spent in a courtroom. Instead, the focus is on the complicated relations of blacks and whites in the postwar South.
January 24, 2014
In the Secret of Magic, the authenticity of historical fact blends seamlessly with fiction to explore the tragic murder of a young man and a woman's determination to bring those responsible to justice.
In 1946 a young African American serviceman, Joe Howard Wilson, recently returned from the fighting in Italy, is beaten to death on his way home to Revere, Mississippi. A year later, his death having been ruled an accident, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in New York receives a letter asking them to investigate and lawyer Regina Mary Robichard travels to Revere to assess the case. What she discovers is a small town steeped in secrets, corruption and racism, and finding justice for Joe Howard may be asking the impossible.
As Johnson notes in the afterword, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund was founded by Thurgood Marshall and was America's first civil and human rights law firm. The plot is in part based on the cases the Fund investigated, particularly the case of Issac Woodward, a returned African American serviceman who was on his way home to see his mother after his honourable discharge when he was dragged off an interstate bus by white police officers and beaten, blinded and jailed.
Johnsons character, Joe Howard, is beaten to death, and his murder is met with little more than a token investigation. Regina quickly discovers that every one in Revere knows who is responsible, but the few willing to speak up were ignored. As she gathers evidence, hampered by disinterest and intimidation, she uncovers more than just the secret of Joe's murder.
The character of Regina Mary Robichard was inspired by Constance Baker Montley, the first woman lawyer hired by Thurgood at the legal Defense Fund. Johnsons' Regina is a young African American lawyer, the daughter of a man lynched before her birth and a woman who subsequently became a rights activist. She can't help but connect personally to Joe Howard Wilson's case, and puts herself at risk in her quest for justice. I liked Regina a lot, admiring her courage and her sense of justice, though there were moments where the author couldn't let Regina put certain things together for the purpose of the plot, which meant her skills were sometimes questionable.
I actually found the threads involving M.P.Calhoun's novel 'The Secret of Magic' largely distracting though it is included in a way that makes it necessary to the plot. I did however appreciate Johnson's complex characterisation of Mary Pickett, a white woman who is torn between doing the expected thing, doing the right thing and doing nothing.
Bigotry is the core theme of this novel, exposing the reprehensible attitudes of the times, that unfortunately still linger more than half a century later. And though the bittersweet ending edges closer to vengeance, rather than justice, it is also a story that demonstrates the possibility of change.
Thoughtful and moving, The Secret of Magic is a reminder of both how far we have come, and how far we still have to go.
July 21, 2016
Three and a half stars
The time is October 1945 and Joe Howard Wilson, a young Negro soldier is on his way back home to Mississippi and his father. But he never makes it home. Then his body is found. The law classifies his death as an accident. But there are those who know it was not. Move forward twelve months and the NAACP Legal Defense receives a letter from well-known author M.P. Calhoun asking for the death of Joe Howard Wilson and the court’s ruling to be investigated. Thurgood Marshall allows Regina Robichard to go and investigate. Regina is a big fan of the only book published by M.P. Calhoun, titled The Secret of Magic, about a group of white and Negro children who played together in a magical forest.
In Joe Howard Wilson’s home town of Revere in Mississippi, Robina Robichard finds the extent of racism that still exits with herself at times its target. Add to that town secrets and you have what sounds like a compelling plot. For someone from outside the USA this book is interesting and it presents characters that come alive as they are well depicted. It clearly shows the injustice, pain and horror, racism and prejudice causes. While I enjoyed it and found my emotions stirred many times throughout the story, it didn’t quite work for me on all levels. A few times I found the writing style a bit awkward and confusing and the inclusion of the fictional book jarred. All in all, a good book worth reading and one that will tug at the heartstrings. I did like reading the author’s notes at the end as to the real life events that had inspired her book. I’d be interested to read another by this author.
The time is October 1945 and Joe Howard Wilson, a young Negro soldier is on his way back home to Mississippi and his father. But he never makes it home. Then his body is found. The law classifies his death as an accident. But there are those who know it was not. Move forward twelve months and the NAACP Legal Defense receives a letter from well-known author M.P. Calhoun asking for the death of Joe Howard Wilson and the court’s ruling to be investigated. Thurgood Marshall allows Regina Robichard to go and investigate. Regina is a big fan of the only book published by M.P. Calhoun, titled The Secret of Magic, about a group of white and Negro children who played together in a magical forest.
In Joe Howard Wilson’s home town of Revere in Mississippi, Robina Robichard finds the extent of racism that still exits with herself at times its target. Add to that town secrets and you have what sounds like a compelling plot. For someone from outside the USA this book is interesting and it presents characters that come alive as they are well depicted. It clearly shows the injustice, pain and horror, racism and prejudice causes. While I enjoyed it and found my emotions stirred many times throughout the story, it didn’t quite work for me on all levels. A few times I found the writing style a bit awkward and confusing and the inclusion of the fictional book jarred. All in all, a good book worth reading and one that will tug at the heartstrings. I did like reading the author’s notes at the end as to the real life events that had inspired her book. I’d be interested to read another by this author.
March 23, 2014
I downloaded this book as an E-Book and also purchased a hard copy, but I want to give an opinion about this book as a book-on-tape. Finished "reading" this book yesterday. The narrator's voice was familiar; I "googled" his name on Audible.com and discovered this was the same individual who had narrated "The Emperor of Ocean Park." He has a marvelous voice and really brought the book to life for me. Another delight of this book was the explanation at the end -- in the author's voice -- explaining her inspiration for writing the book.
January 22, 2016
The secret of incorporating literary magic into a novel obviously eluded Ms. Johnson.
Joe Howard Wilson is returning home to Mississippi after fighting in WW2. He is looking forward to seeing his father Willie Willie but knows that the war has changed how he views race relations in the South. When he turns up dead, Ms. Mary Pickett Calhoun writes the legendary Thurgood Marshall to come down from New York to help sort things out. But, Mr. Marshall sends Ms. Regina Robihcaud instead and she gets her first glimpse of how law works for black men in the south.
Interwoven with this is the story of M.P. Calhoun, a writer of a famous young adult book The Secret of Magic that Regina loved as a young girl and enthralled many young black readers. When Regina gets to Ms. Mary Pickett's estate, she realizes that more of that book is fact than fiction.
The premise of this book really pulled me in. It is partially based the real characters of Thurgood Marshall and the first black female lawyer he hired. Even the story of Joe Howard is based on fact and was a case that Mr. Marshall got involved with. But, I never felt like Ms. Johnson pulled it all together. Parts of the story that should have been emotionally poignant were told with detachment, and it seemed like she was trying to be subtle with some of the underlying connections in order to let the reader piece them together on his own but she was too vague and I missed it entirely.
The aspect I did enjoy was how race relations were depicted. I felt like they were painted a little rosy for 1940's Mississippi even though this was far from a feel good story. Also, I heard a saying a long time ago about how whites viewed black by someone who grew up in the south during desegregation and then moved North shortly thereafter: In the South, they hate the race but love the man. In the North, they love the race but hate the man. I thought that the voice of Regina really strengthened that view. She was surprised at how intermingled everyone was in the south despite the famous hatred and violence, while in New York City everyone gave lip service to improving race relations and the black man's plight but she really never saw white people. It was just a little something to think about.
Overall, I don't know that I will be rushing out to get Ms. Johnson's other books but, if nothing else, this book gave me a little something to think about.
Joe Howard Wilson is returning home to Mississippi after fighting in WW2. He is looking forward to seeing his father Willie Willie but knows that the war has changed how he views race relations in the South. When he turns up dead, Ms. Mary Pickett Calhoun writes the legendary Thurgood Marshall to come down from New York to help sort things out. But, Mr. Marshall sends Ms. Regina Robihcaud instead and she gets her first glimpse of how law works for black men in the south.
Interwoven with this is the story of M.P. Calhoun, a writer of a famous young adult book The Secret of Magic that Regina loved as a young girl and enthralled many young black readers. When Regina gets to Ms. Mary Pickett's estate, she realizes that more of that book is fact than fiction.
The premise of this book really pulled me in. It is partially based the real characters of Thurgood Marshall and the first black female lawyer he hired. Even the story of Joe Howard is based on fact and was a case that Mr. Marshall got involved with. But, I never felt like Ms. Johnson pulled it all together. Parts of the story that should have been emotionally poignant were told with detachment, and it seemed like she was trying to be subtle with some of the underlying connections in order to let the reader piece them together on his own but she was too vague and I missed it entirely.
The aspect I did enjoy was how race relations were depicted. I felt like they were painted a little rosy for 1940's Mississippi even though this was far from a feel good story. Also, I heard a saying a long time ago about how whites viewed black by someone who grew up in the south during desegregation and then moved North shortly thereafter: In the South, they hate the race but love the man. In the North, they love the race but hate the man. I thought that the voice of Regina really strengthened that view. She was surprised at how intermingled everyone was in the south despite the famous hatred and violence, while in New York City everyone gave lip service to improving race relations and the black man's plight but she really never saw white people. It was just a little something to think about.
Overall, I don't know that I will be rushing out to get Ms. Johnson's other books but, if nothing else, this book gave me a little something to think about.
September 7, 2016
4-1/2 Stars
When I finished this book… all I could say was “Wow”! An incredible story that led me to experience a wide range of emotions from beginning to end. When I first picked up this book and read the back cover, I had second thoughts about reading it. It just didn’t sound as appealing as the blurb must have when I first requested a copy. But I dove in anyway…. a little slow at first…. but it soon sucked me deep into the story within the story. This is a must read for anyone interested in the South and the racism & bigotry of the times immediately after WWII.
For me, being far removed both in location and in age from the setting of the book , it was hard to fathom the depth of hatred, unfairness and violence of this time. Ms. Johnson brought it all to life exquisitely in her storytelling and left me feeling like I had just found a rare treasure.
There are both real and fictional characters portrayed in this story. The fictional account of Joe Howard Wilson was inspired by the true story of African-American WWII veteran, Isaac Woodard. The fictional female lawyer, Regina, was inspired by Constance Baker Motley… a remarkable woman for the times. The real historical character was legendary NAACP lawyer, Thurgood Marshall.
The blurb doesn’t do this book justice……
I received a free copy from LibraryThing for an honest review. My review is my own honest opinion not influenced by the publisher or the author.
When I finished this book… all I could say was “Wow”! An incredible story that led me to experience a wide range of emotions from beginning to end. When I first picked up this book and read the back cover, I had second thoughts about reading it. It just didn’t sound as appealing as the blurb must have when I first requested a copy. But I dove in anyway…. a little slow at first…. but it soon sucked me deep into the story within the story. This is a must read for anyone interested in the South and the racism & bigotry of the times immediately after WWII.
For me, being far removed both in location and in age from the setting of the book , it was hard to fathom the depth of hatred, unfairness and violence of this time. Ms. Johnson brought it all to life exquisitely in her storytelling and left me feeling like I had just found a rare treasure.
There are both real and fictional characters portrayed in this story. The fictional account of Joe Howard Wilson was inspired by the true story of African-American WWII veteran, Isaac Woodard. The fictional female lawyer, Regina, was inspired by Constance Baker Motley… a remarkable woman for the times. The real historical character was legendary NAACP lawyer, Thurgood Marshall.
“In 1946, a young female attorney from New York City attempts the impossible: attaining justice for a black man in the Deep South.
Regina Robichard works for Thurgood Marshall, who receives an unusual letter asking the NAACP to investigate the murder of a returning black war hero. It is signed by M. P. Calhoun, the most reclusive author in the country.
As a child, Regina was captivated by Calhoun’s The Secret of Magic, a novel in which white and black children played together in a magical forest.
Once down in Mississippi, Regina finds that nothing in the South is as it seems. She must navigate the muddy waters of racism, relationships, and her own tragic past.”
The blurb doesn’t do this book justice……
I received a free copy from LibraryThing for an honest review. My review is my own honest opinion not influenced by the publisher or the author.
February 16, 2014
I really wanted to like this book but it just wasn't that interesting. It had all the makings of a great read - historical fiction loosely based on real people, advent of the civil rights movement post WWII, one of the first african american female attorneys, the newish NAACP and appearances by a young Thurgood Marshall. Plus, the other story line was a fictional beloved children's book. But, something was off about the story and writing style. The underlying description of mistreatment of the returning WWII vet set up the premise well but the follow through was weak. What also didn't help was that the fictional children's book didn't even sound all that interesting and I couldn't see why it was popular other then that it was banned in the southern states. A disappointment overall.
April 28, 2018
I absolutely loved this. The mystery element of the story isn't really important - it's not actually a mystery, because a white man did it and boasted about it. That was the point - a white man could murder a black man with impunity, literally. The evil injustice of it all is laid bare. Beautifully written, careful plotting and fully rounded characters make this a wonderful and very important read. Highly recommended.
January 19, 2015
"The Secret of Magic" takes place in the mid-1940s. It's just after World War II and the United States is starting to put itself back together again as its young men come home. In the South, a young black man comes home as a decorated soldier and he hopes that his life and that of his family will be able to be better than it was before the war. It's not to be though and he is murdered, which will set off the main events of this book.
Regina is our main character in this book. She is a young lawyer who leaves New York to come South after her law firm receives a letter from a reclusive author who just happens to have written on of Regina's favorite childhood stories. Regina is a fascinating character. She starts out wanting to take on this case due to personal interest. Eventually she realizes that her help could help so many other people throughout the story. I did wish that we had more concrete things to go on with regard to Regina. So many of the things that Regina did seemed to hinge on a feeling that Regina had and perhaps not on what was there. It made it hard to find common ground with her in some parts of the book for me.
I was really excited about the premise of the book. It was interesting to see what life was like for the characters. So many of them had hopes that World War II would be able to change American society and were unpleasantly surprised when it did not work out. Overall, I did enjoy the story. There were a couple places in the story that dragged for me and pulled me out of the story.
Regina is our main character in this book. She is a young lawyer who leaves New York to come South after her law firm receives a letter from a reclusive author who just happens to have written on of Regina's favorite childhood stories. Regina is a fascinating character. She starts out wanting to take on this case due to personal interest. Eventually she realizes that her help could help so many other people throughout the story. I did wish that we had more concrete things to go on with regard to Regina. So many of the things that Regina did seemed to hinge on a feeling that Regina had and perhaps not on what was there. It made it hard to find common ground with her in some parts of the book for me.
I was really excited about the premise of the book. It was interesting to see what life was like for the characters. So many of them had hopes that World War II would be able to change American society and were unpleasantly surprised when it did not work out. Overall, I did enjoy the story. There were a couple places in the story that dragged for me and pulled me out of the story.
February 2, 2014
This is a wonderful book, beautifully written. If you are reading, teaching, learning about Black History Month, make time for this book. Set in Mississippi and New York in the late 1940s, it centers around a young, female African-American lawyer for the NAACP Negro Defense Fund who is sent by Thurgood Marshall to investigate the murder of a returning black soldier.
December 25, 2014
Lieutenant Joe Howard Wilson is returning home via bus after being honorably discharged from the Army for his service in WW2. He ends up being brutally murdered before he can make it all the way home to Mississippi. Regina Robichard is a rookie lawyer from New York who works under the tutelage of Thurgood Marshall at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She feels that she can prove herself to her male coworkers by helping to solve this case and getting justice for Joe Howard's father, Willie Willie. Regina is also drawn in by the fact that her favorite author, M.P. Calhoun, is connected to Joe Howard and is the one who has asked for help.
"The Secret of Magic" begins with Joe Howard's last moments before he is murdered. Anticipation builds quickly since we all know what will ultimately happen but not why. The rest of the story focuses mainly of Regina's experiences in the South while trying to build a case. I felt the middle sagged a little even while there subtle things were happening that would all add up eventually. There were a lot of run-on sentences that I had to re-read to understand what was being said, and the phrase "at least" was used to the point of distraction. Regina's thoughts got a little repetitious. The middle and the writing style kept me from thinking of it as a 5 star book although the overarching story is 5 stars.
What I appreciate most about this book is the fact that it provides a realistic sense of race relations in the South and the rampant terrorist acts that were occurring at that time against African-Americans. I liked that the main characters aren't cut and dried, especially Willie Willie and Mary Calhoun. You can't just guess what they're all about. While "The Secret of Magic" has been compared to "The Help" (and both books were published by the same house), they are not very similar. "The Secret of Magic" has a more serious vibe, a slower pace, no caricaturistic humor, and more believable characters. I enjoyed certain aspects of both but they are very different stories.
"The Secret of Magic" begins with Joe Howard's last moments before he is murdered. Anticipation builds quickly since we all know what will ultimately happen but not why. The rest of the story focuses mainly of Regina's experiences in the South while trying to build a case. I felt the middle sagged a little even while there subtle things were happening that would all add up eventually. There were a lot of run-on sentences that I had to re-read to understand what was being said, and the phrase "at least" was used to the point of distraction. Regina's thoughts got a little repetitious. The middle and the writing style kept me from thinking of it as a 5 star book although the overarching story is 5 stars.
What I appreciate most about this book is the fact that it provides a realistic sense of race relations in the South and the rampant terrorist acts that were occurring at that time against African-Americans. I liked that the main characters aren't cut and dried, especially Willie Willie and Mary Calhoun. You can't just guess what they're all about. While "The Secret of Magic" has been compared to "The Help" (and both books were published by the same house), they are not very similar. "The Secret of Magic" has a more serious vibe, a slower pace, no caricaturistic humor, and more believable characters. I enjoyed certain aspects of both but they are very different stories.
November 27, 2015
The Secret of Magic is a book within a book. Although my initial thoughts were that such a stylistic choice would be hard to follow or confusing, my initial impression was wrong.
First, the pros:
The author’s voice and style. Much of her prose is poetic. The flow and delivery of the story is smooth and melodic.
The setting. The author sets up 1946 rural Mississippi well enough to take us there without an overload of detail to take away from the story.
I enjoyed the fact that the read and the book within ran parallel, not too much of the book within the book to become daunting. Johnson flawlessly shared the pages of her novel between a whimsical land and the harsh realities of 1940’s rural south.
Characters. My favorite part of the book was its characters. They depict the true south, the way it was during that period. It was a time when white and blacks alike knew their place, and obeyed the unwritten rules on the surface, but held each other in regard on the inside. Racial issues have always been a source of contention and the author successfully portrays the issues of that period.
Now, the cons:
Everything seemed to tie up too neatly. The guilty parties admit to their crimes almost without provocation. Granted, during that period they never dreamed they’d have to pay for what they’d done, but for a white man to tell a black, female attorney from New York just for the sake of telling her – not very believable. Another example, Peach knows to give the jail key to Regina and Regina just happens to need it. I also thought it was a bit predictable, but still enjoyable.
The Secret of Magic was definitely worth the investment of time and the pros far outweighed the cons. If for no other reason, read it for the author’s style and the characters. They won’t disappoint.
First, the pros:
The author’s voice and style. Much of her prose is poetic. The flow and delivery of the story is smooth and melodic.
The setting. The author sets up 1946 rural Mississippi well enough to take us there without an overload of detail to take away from the story.
I enjoyed the fact that the read and the book within ran parallel, not too much of the book within the book to become daunting. Johnson flawlessly shared the pages of her novel between a whimsical land and the harsh realities of 1940’s rural south.
Characters. My favorite part of the book was its characters. They depict the true south, the way it was during that period. It was a time when white and blacks alike knew their place, and obeyed the unwritten rules on the surface, but held each other in regard on the inside. Racial issues have always been a source of contention and the author successfully portrays the issues of that period.
Now, the cons:
Everything seemed to tie up too neatly. The guilty parties admit to their crimes almost without provocation. Granted, during that period they never dreamed they’d have to pay for what they’d done, but for a white man to tell a black, female attorney from New York just for the sake of telling her – not very believable. Another example, Peach knows to give the jail key to Regina and Regina just happens to need it. I also thought it was a bit predictable, but still enjoyable.
The Secret of Magic was definitely worth the investment of time and the pros far outweighed the cons. If for no other reason, read it for the author’s style and the characters. They won’t disappoint.
March 27, 2015
After a long library que wait, finally I sat down to begin a much anticipated read. Inside this beautifully designed cover is the story of four people who are determined to challenge the "way things have always been done" in Revere, Mississippi. Its 1945, the war is over. First leutenant John Howard is going home. He quietly rides the Bonnie Blue Bus line sitting in the colored section until he is asked to give up his seat to German POW's. And there it begins, the fight for dignity and justice for all.
The Secret of Magic is a book about a book written by a white female author and inspired by a true story. The magic comes from Willie Willie and M.P. Calhoun two of the four main players, Here is where the real story simmers. I found the book to be flat. I didn't dislike it, I just find it difficult to sing it's praises. It just didn't do it for me. The story moves as slow as the Bonnie Blue Bus. I wanted to give up my seat but rode my ticket to page 394, the final stop, hopped off leaving my disappointment behind in search of a new title.
The Secret of Magic is a book about a book written by a white female author and inspired by a true story. The magic comes from Willie Willie and M.P. Calhoun two of the four main players, Here is where the real story simmers. I found the book to be flat. I didn't dislike it, I just find it difficult to sing it's praises. It just didn't do it for me. The story moves as slow as the Bonnie Blue Bus. I wanted to give up my seat but rode my ticket to page 394, the final stop, hopped off leaving my disappointment behind in search of a new title.
September 15, 2014
I'm not big on historical fiction, but The Secret of Magic won me over almost instantly. Loosely based on a number of historical figures (Thurgood Marshall, Constance Baker Motley), as well as incidents and institutions during the 1940s (the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the lynchings of returning black WW II servicemen in the South) the actual story is all the invention of the author. And it's a really compelling story. Regina Robichard, the first woman to be hired by Marshall at the NAACP, goes south to Mississippi to investigate the murder of Joe Howard Wilson, who was coming home after his service in WW II. She has been summoned to Revere, Mississippi by a reclusive author, Mary Pickett Calhoun, whose family had employed Joe Howard's father (and indeed whose grandparents had owned Joe Howard's own forebears).
It's not a mystery, per se; Regina discovers that in small town Revere, pretty much everyone knows who killed Joe Howard. But it's still plenty suspenseful, always leaving the reader wanting to know more, not just about what happened that fateful night, but also about what's going to happen to Regina. In the realm of history, it also really succeeds, and in two ways particularly. Regina comes from New York and she thinks she knows about the South, especially about race relations in the South. Coming to Revere is an education for her, not just in the ways that she must interact with southern whites (the first scenes with Regina and Mary Pickett are worth the jacket price alone), but also in the ways that she interacts with Revere's black population. She realizes early on that she just doesn't get it, and her figuring "it" out is a fascinating part of the book: how racial hatred and animosity can coexist, indeed have had to do so, with everyday life for generations, with blacks and whites "getting along" because they had no other choice. I also appreciate that this was a tale of civil rights that does not end with a pat happy ending, and that does not make a white character the hero. Mary Pickett may have her good side, but the real movers here are Regina and Peach and Willie Willie (and everyone back at the NAACP in New York). Unlike the wildly overhyped The Help, it's black people who worked on behalf of justice for black people, just as it was during the actual Civil Rights movement, especially in the 1940s before northern white college students became involved in SNCC and Freedom Summer and so forth. Finally, I loved the way Johnson highlighted the gendered dynamics of Regina's role as a black "lady lawyer," and all the ways that this doubly screwed with the racial-sexual hierarchy of Revere.
In sum, the book manages to be about racial politics in overt ways but also in the subtlety of the characters' fine-grained interactions with one another. It demonstrates in a really visceral way how frustrating it must have been for northern organizers sent South, but also precisely why southern blacks were in the sorts of situations they were vis-a-vis their white neighbors, employers, and occasionally, friends. It was a real pleasure to read.
It's not a mystery, per se; Regina discovers that in small town Revere, pretty much everyone knows who killed Joe Howard. But it's still plenty suspenseful, always leaving the reader wanting to know more, not just about what happened that fateful night, but also about what's going to happen to Regina. In the realm of history, it also really succeeds, and in two ways particularly. Regina comes from New York and she thinks she knows about the South, especially about race relations in the South. Coming to Revere is an education for her, not just in the ways that she must interact with southern whites (the first scenes with Regina and Mary Pickett are worth the jacket price alone), but also in the ways that she interacts with Revere's black population. She realizes early on that she just doesn't get it, and her figuring "it" out is a fascinating part of the book: how racial hatred and animosity can coexist, indeed have had to do so, with everyday life for generations, with blacks and whites "getting along" because they had no other choice. I also appreciate that this was a tale of civil rights that does not end with a pat happy ending, and that does not make a white character the hero. Mary Pickett may have her good side, but the real movers here are Regina and Peach and Willie Willie (and everyone back at the NAACP in New York). Unlike the wildly overhyped The Help, it's black people who worked on behalf of justice for black people, just as it was during the actual Civil Rights movement, especially in the 1940s before northern white college students became involved in SNCC and Freedom Summer and so forth. Finally, I loved the way Johnson highlighted the gendered dynamics of Regina's role as a black "lady lawyer," and all the ways that this doubly screwed with the racial-sexual hierarchy of Revere.
In sum, the book manages to be about racial politics in overt ways but also in the subtlety of the characters' fine-grained interactions with one another. It demonstrates in a really visceral way how frustrating it must have been for northern organizers sent South, but also precisely why southern blacks were in the sorts of situations they were vis-a-vis their white neighbors, employers, and occasionally, friends. It was a real pleasure to read.
February 28, 2015
This is a story within a story that held me tightly until the last page. In fact, I went on to read the author's acknowledgments and note; I didn't want it to end. In the main story, it is 1946 (incidentally, the year I was born), and the main character, Regina Robichard, works for Thurgood Marshall, the leader of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in New York. She is sent to Mississippi to investigate the death of a black war hero who had been heading home. In the secondary story, woven beautifully and expertly into the main, is another novel, "The Secret of Magic," by a reclusive white female author in Revere, Mississippi, also the home town of the slain black soldier. That second story, about two white children and one black child in the 1920's, also has the mixture of races, child's play and murder in the old south, but it also has magic. M.P. Calhoun, the notoriously reclusive author of The Secret of Magic, who is from the same town as Joe Howard, the murdered soldier, writes to the NAACP. And so it is to Revere that Regina goes to find justice for Jo Howard and his father, Willie Willie. She stays in a cottage behind the main house where her host, M.P. Calhoun resides. I was transfixed by Regina's doggedness and frightened for her and the allies she makes along the way. I cheered for her and cried with her. I'm an older white woman from New Jersey and it never fails to shock me when I learn more about the people in the same country but still a world away from what I knew and took for granted. This author, Deborah Johnson, draws her characters with such skill and passion, that they come alive on the page, and we cannot help but understand and love them (or hate them). It was everything I expected and so much more.
January 13, 2015
A year-old murder, a book paralleling events and characters, and the South in the 1940's after WWII.
The charm of the South as well as its deep-seated prejudices comes forth in THE SECRET OF MAGIC as Regina Robichard travels from New York City to Revere, Mississippi, to investigate the murder of a young black man just returning from the war.
Regina hits brick walls right from the start even though she was invited by M. P. Calhoun, a powerful woman and author of a book also titled The Secret of Magic, to investigate the murder.
THE SECRET OF MAGIC has characters that are authentic and very likeable...well most of them are likeable. Some of them are down right mean and hateful. You will LOVE Willie, Willie because of his strength and determination.
THE SECRET OF MAGIC was a bit slow at first, but once Regina got to Mississippi and started her investigation, the interest picked up as we follow her through her investigation. You will become part of her activities and part of the laws of Post-WWII South.
You will become part of finding out the ways of and the secrets of the South, the secrets of how the town of Revere, Mississippi, is run, and the secrets of powerful Southern families. They will be secrets that aren’t pleasant.
You will melt into the pages and the comfort of Southern living, but you will also need to be prepared to shed some tears and feel fear for some of the characters.
THE SECRET OF MAGIC has beautiful, descriptive writing that pulls you in and keeps you turning the pages. Ms. Johnson is a master with words.
If you like Southern fiction, you won’t want to miss THE SECRET OF MAGIC. It is a marvelous read. 4/5
December 6, 2020
Wow! All I have to say is WOW. By the end of "The Secret of Magic" I was shedding tears-- BIG, ugly cry tears.
Do not believe the review that compare this to "The Help." While I loved "The Help," the only two things these books have in common is the setting, Jim Crow South, and that they both received the Oprah stamp of approval. Not all books about the Jim Crow south are the same, and it is insulting to imply that.
"The Secret of Magic" is magical with characters the readers will be completely charmed with. Others
will make you want to stretch your arms through the pages of the book and wrap yourself lovingly around some of the characters, while others will make you want to reach through and strangle them because of their vile hatred. I highly recommend this book to those who want to read more about the humanity behind Jim Crow-- those who suffered and endured life under laws that robbed freedom from so many.
Throughout the novel, the author alludes to the Great Migration several times. During this time blacks fled from the North in hopes of finding better lives and freedoms not allotted in the south. Many found out rather quickly that the north was not the haven of freedom they thought. A great follow-up read to "The Secret of Magic" is the "Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson which recounts the true stories of three people who made the move north, and it really shed some light on our history.
Do not believe the review that compare this to "The Help." While I loved "The Help," the only two things these books have in common is the setting, Jim Crow South, and that they both received the Oprah stamp of approval. Not all books about the Jim Crow south are the same, and it is insulting to imply that.
"The Secret of Magic" is magical with characters the readers will be completely charmed with. Others
will make you want to stretch your arms through the pages of the book and wrap yourself lovingly around some of the characters, while others will make you want to reach through and strangle them because of their vile hatred. I highly recommend this book to those who want to read more about the humanity behind Jim Crow-- those who suffered and endured life under laws that robbed freedom from so many.
Throughout the novel, the author alludes to the Great Migration several times. During this time blacks fled from the North in hopes of finding better lives and freedoms not allotted in the south. Many found out rather quickly that the north was not the haven of freedom they thought. A great follow-up read to "The Secret of Magic" is the "Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson which recounts the true stories of three people who made the move north, and it really shed some light on our history.
June 23, 2016
A very enjoyable book about a young black female civil rights lawyer in 1946. Regina Mary Robichard is inspired to travel to Mississippi to help in solving the murder case of a young black soldier when the author of her favorite book writes to her office for help. When Regina gets to Revere, she finds out that the case is going to be a lot more difficult than she believed. She is deep in Jim Crow laws, lynching is very common and the white men and women who take part in the racist acts are not imprisoned or charged for their crimes.
This book gave a real sense of the deep southern town Regina visited - from the customs, to those laws you just didn't break and the secrets you didn't talk about. All through the book, I felt a deep fear imprinted in the words that followed Regina around and it made me so afraid for her. I wasn't sure if something would happen because of her investigations.
This book would be great for anyone that's a fan of The Help or even anyone who grew up reading Mildred D Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. I would have liked the ending to be slightly more fleshed out, it fell rather flat for me and left me asking more questions than I would have liked and a slight sense of disappointment in basic human nature. But overall, a very good read!
This book gave a real sense of the deep southern town Regina visited - from the customs, to those laws you just didn't break and the secrets you didn't talk about. All through the book, I felt a deep fear imprinted in the words that followed Regina around and it made me so afraid for her. I wasn't sure if something would happen because of her investigations.
This book would be great for anyone that's a fan of The Help or even anyone who grew up reading Mildred D Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. I would have liked the ending to be slightly more fleshed out, it fell rather flat for me and left me asking more questions than I would have liked and a slight sense of disappointment in basic human nature. But overall, a very good read!
October 14, 2016
A magical,yet haunting novel about a returning black WW2 veteran on his way home to a small town in Mississippi,and is killed. A young female attorney goes down and investigate for the NAACP. What she finds is secrets,mystery and a book and forest in the middle.Update: This timeless story about a young black WW2 Veteran coming home and fighting for the right of not giving up his seat to German POWs is at the root of the thing. Another point is a childhood book written by a local author who fights to get the justice that her employee seeks.Within the book is the forest that is a part of them The other is a young black attorney who finds the letter addressed to Thurgood Marshall, and asks that she go in his place. Of course, the lady is expecting Thurgood Marshall, but it is a young Regina Robichard, just out of Columbia Law School and the Law Exam that wishes to take up the fight. And fight she did although she goes to a small southern town in Mississippi in 1946 set in their ways as to who goes in what place, and they give her some disrespect as well. But she keeps at it until she finds what she's looking for but at a hefty price.
February 13, 2016
A black WWII decorated soldier heads home to Mississippi in 1946, he is taken off a bus by a group of hooded men and is found dead a week later. His death is ruled an accident and no criminal charges are filed. But someone cares about what happened and sends a letter to Thurgood Marshall at his NAACP office in New York. A young black female attorney on Marshall's staff goes down to Mississippi to investigate. While the story evolves too slowly (I think they could have edited it down by 50 pages), I found myself stressed by the building tension throughout the book, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The unequal set of rules for blacks and whites is insidious and creates this bizarre culture of people with known "secrets". The community cannot have authentic relationships with one another and the situation cannot last without consequences. I would give the book 3 1/2 stars and particularly enjoyed learning about the author's inspiration for her characters in the "Authors Notes" at the end.
March 24, 2014
I want to like this book. I really do, but the author just droned on and on and pages and pages passed with absolutely nothing quite happening. I found myself skipping along to relevant parts because I was so lost in all the gibberish that really meant nothing. I do like her style of writing, i just wish she would have applied herself better. I almost done with the book but It really is proving itself a challenge as I am almost tempted to set it aside. But, for the respect of the story and the history involved, I'll finish.
March 1, 2014
Sometimes having many very favorable reviews on the cover and back page of a book can lead to the reader expecting too much of the book. Unfortunately that was the case for me with this book. I expected a "brilliant portrayal of life in the South following World War Two", but too much of the book dealt with childhood of one of the characters occurring way before the war, and for me this was an unwanted distraction which took away from the book rather than added to it.
August 9, 2022
The Secret of Magic is set in 1946 in Mississippi. A young black soldier with a medal of honor had died in a suspicious manner while journeying home on a train. At the town of Aliceville in Alabama, he had refused to give up his seat for a deputy wanting to seat German prisoners of war since he was already sitting in the colored section of the train. Not long afterward, the train is stopped and Joe Howard Wilson is taken off the train and beaten to death. However, in his home town, his death is ruled an accident.
A year later the NAACP under Thurman Marshall's leadership receives a letter requesting an investigation into Joe Howard Wilson's death seeking justice for his death. Regina Robichaux, a young black attorney still waiting for the results of her bar exam, requests to go. Reggie's own father had been lynched in Omaha, Nebraska several years before and her mother is an activist for Negro rights. Another reason she wants to go is because the request has come from the author J.P. Calhoun who had written The Secret of Magic, a favorite book from Reggie's childhood. She still remembers the book well.
After Reggie goes to Revere, Miss she sees up close and personal what life is like for the black people in the South. In the North where she lives, whites and blacks don't mix very much but it is very different in the South. She sees all the discrimination and how a white person can do anything to a black person, including murder, and get away with it.
Reggie becomes involved with not only M.P. Calhoun, whom she discovers is a woman and not a man as she had assumed. M.P. Calhoun is Mary Pickett Calhoun and one of the more powerful white people in town as a result of her heritage of being the daughter of Judge Calhoun. However, Mary is different from the majority of the white people in Revere. She has taken up the cause of Joe Howard Wilson's death because she has been closely associated with his father Willie Willie all of her life. He has played a huge role in her life.
I won't go any further into the plot to avoid spoiling it for others but it definitely becomes very intense the further a person reads into it and I didn't want to put it down for the last 1/3 of the book.
I thought it was a well-written book. The only thing I didn't like was the way the author wove references to and parts of The Secret of Magic book throughout the novel. Some people may enjoy this but I found it distracting and felt it didn't really add to the book in my own opinion. I was much more interested in what was going on in Revere, MS among the main characters than reading parts of the other book.
However, I still highly recommend it especially to see a portrayal of what life was like even in the 1940's for African-American people in our country, particularly in the South with all the Jim Crow laws.
A year later the NAACP under Thurman Marshall's leadership receives a letter requesting an investigation into Joe Howard Wilson's death seeking justice for his death. Regina Robichaux, a young black attorney still waiting for the results of her bar exam, requests to go. Reggie's own father had been lynched in Omaha, Nebraska several years before and her mother is an activist for Negro rights. Another reason she wants to go is because the request has come from the author J.P. Calhoun who had written The Secret of Magic, a favorite book from Reggie's childhood. She still remembers the book well.
After Reggie goes to Revere, Miss she sees up close and personal what life is like for the black people in the South. In the North where she lives, whites and blacks don't mix very much but it is very different in the South. She sees all the discrimination and how a white person can do anything to a black person, including murder, and get away with it.
Reggie becomes involved with not only M.P. Calhoun, whom she discovers is a woman and not a man as she had assumed. M.P. Calhoun is Mary Pickett Calhoun and one of the more powerful white people in town as a result of her heritage of being the daughter of Judge Calhoun. However, Mary is different from the majority of the white people in Revere. She has taken up the cause of Joe Howard Wilson's death because she has been closely associated with his father Willie Willie all of her life. He has played a huge role in her life.
I won't go any further into the plot to avoid spoiling it for others but it definitely becomes very intense the further a person reads into it and I didn't want to put it down for the last 1/3 of the book.
I thought it was a well-written book. The only thing I didn't like was the way the author wove references to and parts of The Secret of Magic book throughout the novel. Some people may enjoy this but I found it distracting and felt it didn't really add to the book in my own opinion. I was much more interested in what was going on in Revere, MS among the main characters than reading parts of the other book.
However, I still highly recommend it especially to see a portrayal of what life was like even in the 1940's for African-American people in our country, particularly in the South with all the Jim Crow laws.
June 5, 2019
The secret of World War II is that sometimes survivors died. The secret of racism is that sometimes the good die young. And the secret of a beloved children’s book is the mystery of who wrote it, where and why. In Deborah Johnson’s The Secret of Magic, protagonist Regina is a black female clerk, working for the soon-to-be-famous lawyer, Thurgood Marshall. When Marshall is asked to solve a mysterious death, she steps in boldly and learns another secret, that the North of America, in the late 1940s, is nothing like the South. And that assumptions are not a good basis for moving forward.
The plot is fascinating, sometimes confusing, and always absorbing. The characters are strong, weak, fierce, helpless, and enthralling. The mysteries are dark and haunting. The locations are totally believable, beautiful and, occasionally scary. And there’s magic in the words. I really enjoyed this novel.
Disclosure: I got it for Christmas and I loved it.
The plot is fascinating, sometimes confusing, and always absorbing. The characters are strong, weak, fierce, helpless, and enthralling. The mysteries are dark and haunting. The locations are totally believable, beautiful and, occasionally scary. And there’s magic in the words. I really enjoyed this novel.
Disclosure: I got it for Christmas and I loved it.
June 24, 2020
This was a really timely read! And a fascinating one, because it subverts every single mystery trope that I had in my head going in, and expertly calls out racial disparities. Although Regina travels to Mississippi to investigate a murder, it's definitely NOT your standard whodunit. She gathers clues, evidence, even confessions, but none of it matters because the justice system and white privilege are so entwined. So what does "justice" mean in this situation? It's set in 1946, but could just as easily be set in any decade after, which also says something. Johnson is also REALLY good at permeating every scene with menace and unease, even when nothing particularly stressful is happening. I was terrified for Regina the whole freakin' time. Don't let the leisurely plot fool you. This book packs a lot of eye-opening reality into its pages and made me think more critically about assumptions I didn't even realize I was making.
February 20, 2014
In 1946, Regina Robichard is hired by Thurgood Marshall at the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Legan Defense Fund. She has sat the bar in New York but will not hear of her results for another couple of weeks. One Saturday whilst hard at work, Regina opens a letter address to Marshall from a famous reclusive children’s author, M.P Calhoun.
Calhoun asks Thurgood Marshall to travel to the town of Revere in Mississippi to investigate the murder of returned serviceman Joe Howard Wilson, a black man who was a decorated lieutenant. Wilson boarded a bus bound for home and he called his father Willie Willie at the Alabama border to say he’d arrive in a couple of hours. However he never arrived in his hometown. Two weeks later his murdered body was found floating in a river. It was determined that for some reason, Joe Howard Wilson got off the bus.
Regina begs for permission to go to Mississippi herself and investigate the case and reluctantly, Thurgood Marshall gives it, allowing her no more than three weeks. Although she might be black herself, Regina is from New York where she has an education and will be admitted to the bar. She’s unprepared for what life is like in deepest Mississippi where blacks are still supposed to go to the back door, are banned from some cafes and cannot sit the bar. However Regina is a determined woman and she’s out for the ultimate prize, the impossible in Mississippi – justice for a black man and his father.
This book is kind of being pushed towards fans of The Help and I can see why. I read and really enjoyed The Help a couple of years go and there’s no denying it’s a book that highlights a really shameful period in history, a time that isn’t all that long ago. This book does even more to highlight it, putting the reader in the midst of what is a really horrible crime to an honourable man.
Who murdered Joe Howard Wilson isn’t a secret, not even from the reader. It’s pretty easy to guess, even before the book reveals it. It’s also no secret to pretty much everyone in the small town of Revere but even though there was a Grand Inquiry on Wilson’s death, it returned a finding of accidental death which everyone knows is just laughable. Anyone who was there and could provide a truthful account wasn’t there and anyone who could be bought to say anything, was. Regina even before she arrives in Revere, is determined to get to the bottom of what really happened and see justice served in some way. Even when the town doesn’t help her and becomes downright aggressive at times, she doesn’t flinch.
Regina is from New York and even though there are clear ‘black areas’ there, she hasn’t faced the segregation that was in the South. She catches a train most of the way from New York to Mississippi and part of the way there she has to leave her nice new carriage and move down the back to the old, rattly derelict carriages that are ‘for coloreds’. Likewise she has to take a seat in the colored section on the bus going to Revere and whilst in Revere is thrown out of a cafe and talked down to. Even though she’s a lawyer, she’s still a black woman and in Revere she should probably be someone’s maid. Even someone as familiar with blacks as M.P Calhoun, who called her down there in an attempt to get justice for Willie Willie (which is not quite as straightforward as it looks) still has a black maid so young she looks like she should still be in middle school. Regina always means to talk to Calhoun about these issues but there’s always just that little too much going on.
One of the first things that Regina sees when she arrives in Revere is that the Confederate flag flies outside of the courthouse (the “stars and bars”). She’s so highly insulted to even see it (it also gives her a bit of an idea of what she might be in for) and it made me remember that some parts of Mississippi still display it today, as mentioned in John Safran’s recent non-fiction novel, Murder In Mississippi. My knowledge of American history is patchy at best but even I know the Confederates were all about separating from the United States after Lincoln was elected and wanted to abolish slavery, believing that they were being humiliated and allying more to the “South” than their country. They were soundly beaten and the flag has become a source of much controversy ever since. It’s been resurrected in times over history, most notably in the 1950s in areas like Mississippi when desegregation of schools began.
It’s very confronting to realise how short a time ago this period in history was, coming right on the end of the Second World War. This was a book that often made me so mad but not in the usual way that books infuriate me. It was difficult to read because of the attitudes that were portrayed and the difficulty Regina had in getting anyone to care. Those who did care couldn’t do anything and those who could do something, didn’t care. Joe Howard Wilson was a black man and therefore it was no real loss that he was gone. Never mind that he’d fought in a war, gotten an education, wanted to further it. He was a second class citizen who tried to stand up for himself and got what was coming to him.
I admired Regina for sticking it out, even when it seemed hopeless. And I have to admit, the ending was not what I suspected. I’m not sure I should refer to it as a “pleasant surprise” but that’s kind of how I felt about it when I read it.
Calhoun asks Thurgood Marshall to travel to the town of Revere in Mississippi to investigate the murder of returned serviceman Joe Howard Wilson, a black man who was a decorated lieutenant. Wilson boarded a bus bound for home and he called his father Willie Willie at the Alabama border to say he’d arrive in a couple of hours. However he never arrived in his hometown. Two weeks later his murdered body was found floating in a river. It was determined that for some reason, Joe Howard Wilson got off the bus.
Regina begs for permission to go to Mississippi herself and investigate the case and reluctantly, Thurgood Marshall gives it, allowing her no more than three weeks. Although she might be black herself, Regina is from New York where she has an education and will be admitted to the bar. She’s unprepared for what life is like in deepest Mississippi where blacks are still supposed to go to the back door, are banned from some cafes and cannot sit the bar. However Regina is a determined woman and she’s out for the ultimate prize, the impossible in Mississippi – justice for a black man and his father.
This book is kind of being pushed towards fans of The Help and I can see why. I read and really enjoyed The Help a couple of years go and there’s no denying it’s a book that highlights a really shameful period in history, a time that isn’t all that long ago. This book does even more to highlight it, putting the reader in the midst of what is a really horrible crime to an honourable man.
Who murdered Joe Howard Wilson isn’t a secret, not even from the reader. It’s pretty easy to guess, even before the book reveals it. It’s also no secret to pretty much everyone in the small town of Revere but even though there was a Grand Inquiry on Wilson’s death, it returned a finding of accidental death which everyone knows is just laughable. Anyone who was there and could provide a truthful account wasn’t there and anyone who could be bought to say anything, was. Regina even before she arrives in Revere, is determined to get to the bottom of what really happened and see justice served in some way. Even when the town doesn’t help her and becomes downright aggressive at times, she doesn’t flinch.
Regina is from New York and even though there are clear ‘black areas’ there, she hasn’t faced the segregation that was in the South. She catches a train most of the way from New York to Mississippi and part of the way there she has to leave her nice new carriage and move down the back to the old, rattly derelict carriages that are ‘for coloreds’. Likewise she has to take a seat in the colored section on the bus going to Revere and whilst in Revere is thrown out of a cafe and talked down to. Even though she’s a lawyer, she’s still a black woman and in Revere she should probably be someone’s maid. Even someone as familiar with blacks as M.P Calhoun, who called her down there in an attempt to get justice for Willie Willie (which is not quite as straightforward as it looks) still has a black maid so young she looks like she should still be in middle school. Regina always means to talk to Calhoun about these issues but there’s always just that little too much going on.
One of the first things that Regina sees when she arrives in Revere is that the Confederate flag flies outside of the courthouse (the “stars and bars”). She’s so highly insulted to even see it (it also gives her a bit of an idea of what she might be in for) and it made me remember that some parts of Mississippi still display it today, as mentioned in John Safran’s recent non-fiction novel, Murder In Mississippi. My knowledge of American history is patchy at best but even I know the Confederates were all about separating from the United States after Lincoln was elected and wanted to abolish slavery, believing that they were being humiliated and allying more to the “South” than their country. They were soundly beaten and the flag has become a source of much controversy ever since. It’s been resurrected in times over history, most notably in the 1950s in areas like Mississippi when desegregation of schools began.
It’s very confronting to realise how short a time ago this period in history was, coming right on the end of the Second World War. This was a book that often made me so mad but not in the usual way that books infuriate me. It was difficult to read because of the attitudes that were portrayed and the difficulty Regina had in getting anyone to care. Those who did care couldn’t do anything and those who could do something, didn’t care. Joe Howard Wilson was a black man and therefore it was no real loss that he was gone. Never mind that he’d fought in a war, gotten an education, wanted to further it. He was a second class citizen who tried to stand up for himself and got what was coming to him.
I admired Regina for sticking it out, even when it seemed hopeless. And I have to admit, the ending was not what I suspected. I’m not sure I should refer to it as a “pleasant surprise” but that’s kind of how I felt about it when I read it.
October 24, 2020
The descriptions and character development in this book are so well done, it's easy to picture the homes and characters as you're reading. I wasn't really sure where it would end up since it's not so much a murder mystery as a "everyone knows about the murder and isn't doing anything about it", but the not-knowing kept me interested and on my toes. I'll be checking out the author's other book too!
October 4, 2017
I absolutely loved this book. Be sure to read the authors note at the end.
September 23, 2017
Lordy! I would not have chosen this book on my own ('twas a book club selection), and I put off reading it for a long time because it's so sad, but once I got into it it was difficult to put down. The story was gripping, the characters were developed well, and the dialogue felt authentic. Beautiful writing, too. Read a plot summary for more info on that, but if you like a well-written, transportive, historical novel with a bit of suspense, you'll likely enjoy it, too.
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