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The Air Between Us
Revere, Mississippi, with its population of "20,000 and sinking" is not unlike most Southern towns in the sixties. Black people live on one side of town and whites live on the other. The two rarely mix, or so everyone believes. But the truth is brought to the forefront when Billy Ray Puckett, a white man wounded while hunting, shows up at the segregated Doctors Hospital. No one thinks much of his death—just a typical hunting accident—until the sheriff orders an investigation.
Suddenly the connections between whites and blacks are revealed to be deeper than anyone expected, which makes the town's struggle with integration that much more complicated. Dr. Cooper Connelly, who hails from a prominent white family, takes an unexpectedly progressive view toward school integration; while the esteemed Dr. Reese Jackson, so prominent he has garnered an Ebony profile, tries to stay above the fray. With fully realized characters and a mystery that will keep readers turning pages until the end, The Air Between Us is a heart-filled, endearing tale.
Suddenly the connections between whites and blacks are revealed to be deeper than anyone expected, which makes the town's struggle with integration that much more complicated. Dr. Cooper Connelly, who hails from a prominent white family, takes an unexpectedly progressive view toward school integration; while the esteemed Dr. Reese Jackson, so prominent he has garnered an Ebony profile, tries to stay above the fray. With fully realized characters and a mystery that will keep readers turning pages until the end, The Air Between Us is a heart-filled, endearing tale.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
Deborah Johnson
87 books91 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 171 reviews
January 26, 2019
Didn't really like it.
Our story follows two doctors (one white, one black) as they are caught up in the whirlwind of the possibility desegregation in 1960s Mississippi.
This is labeled as a mystery and to be quite honest going into it I thought the mystery was the death at the beginning of the book but after having read it, I can't say that that was the focus of the mystery itself.
Following my main complaint of the storyline not being so clear I would have to say another problem I found with this book was the fact that the author went way too far into developing her characters and in doing so ended up getting away from the main storyline to the point where it was confusing for the reader. I mean she describes her characters down to what they actually plant in their gardens. It's a little more than overkill.
Going back to the story itself, I feel like the roundabout way that the story was written made it very poorly executed. Which is quite sad because I think this would be a great story if written differently.
I didn't really like this book but I didn't hate it at the same time. This book frustrated me more than anything. The author tries to build up the suspense in certain parts and she just fails utterly.
I honestly can't say that I can recommend this book to people who like mystery books because I am still wondering myself what exactly the mystery was. 🤔
Our story follows two doctors (one white, one black) as they are caught up in the whirlwind of the possibility desegregation in 1960s Mississippi.
This is labeled as a mystery and to be quite honest going into it I thought the mystery was the death at the beginning of the book but after having read it, I can't say that that was the focus of the mystery itself.
Following my main complaint of the storyline not being so clear I would have to say another problem I found with this book was the fact that the author went way too far into developing her characters and in doing so ended up getting away from the main storyline to the point where it was confusing for the reader. I mean she describes her characters down to what they actually plant in their gardens. It's a little more than overkill.
Going back to the story itself, I feel like the roundabout way that the story was written made it very poorly executed. Which is quite sad because I think this would be a great story if written differently.
I didn't really like this book but I didn't hate it at the same time. This book frustrated me more than anything. The author tries to build up the suspense in certain parts and she just fails utterly.
I honestly can't say that I can recommend this book to people who like mystery books because I am still wondering myself what exactly the mystery was. 🤔
December 31, 2012
At first I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this book. It's been a while since I have read a book like this one. I usually read scifi fantasy type books and this was far from my normal genre. It took me a couple of chapters to get really into the groove of Deborah's story telling but when I did all was "gravy" ;). This 1960's southern tale took me back in time to a place I'm familiar with but we like to forget. Integration and civil rights affected the daily lives of people in the south during that period. I love the characters, setting and story, Madame Melba is my favorite. The only downfall I could see was the lack of derogatory language people used back in the 60's. I know the author was trying not to go too far, but I think the hatefull tone she used in the story was not rough enough to actually bring reality into the picture. I would recommend reading this novel to anyone who likes a good read!
December 20, 2011
There was a lot of time spent on character development that I didn't understand and began to become annoyed with. Finally, I realized that the story wasn't only the events but the individual stories of the characters as well. I thought it was interesting when people didn't fit into the sterotypes they "belonged" in. Sad to see the story end. I wanted to follow the characters to the end of their lives.
March 27, 2014
Earlier this week, I read Deborah Johnson's latest book, The Secret of Magic. It was so good, I had to read this one. I read it in just one day, I literally couldn't put it down and carried it from room to room with me. Obviously, I loved it. Beautifully written with great characters and story with a twist that I didn't guess. I usually can figure out twists and turns but this one came out of nowhere. Can't wait for Ms. Johnson's next book!
March 9, 2008
I loved this book because it showed that everyone is flawed, everyone has secrets, and yet we are all in control of our own lives. People make choices every day. You don't know what goes on until you walk a day in another man's shoes. Deborah Johnson has woven an amazing story with rich characters. You want to know more about each of them. Every page hints that each character has more to tell you. You want to find that piece of the puzzle that will make it all make sense. Integration is coming... it is going to change everything; making people pick sides. Can it all make sense? Maybe Miss Melba knows all the answers... I wish I could sit on her porch and spend an afternoon talking about all my world's problems with her.
It was a little slow read in parts but I found "hope" at the end that the journey was worth it.
It was a little slow read in parts but I found "hope" at the end that the journey was worth it.
July 30, 2009
Usually books about the Southern states are one of my favorite reads. However this book is a vivid reminder that the South is not just about glasses of iced tea, and a piece of pie, grits, beautiful fragrant magnolias and warmer climate. The struggle with racial integration is a continuing conflict that is a stain in this country and especially obvious in the South.
October 31, 2011
I can usually read a book pretty fast (as in a day or two), but for some reason it took forever for me to read this book. Was I bored? Was it predictable and totally transparent? Were the characters cliché?
YES!
I really did want to like "The Air Between Us" and was so ever hopeful that it would fulfill its promise of keeping me "guessing until the very end". I was guessing, alright, and guessed correctly. But I call that "knowing". Only one detail managed to escape me so the author deserves some credit, but it's not much. The ending also irked me. After taking such care to craft every detail from her characters and events down to the contents of a garden, the ending seemed rushed, as though she were either already bored with her own story or rushing towards a deadline. Does this require a spoiler alert? --> Everything ends perfectly. She ties up all the justice and goodwill that she can muster, ties it up in pretty, effortless little bow, and places it the front door of the characters' doorsteps. In 1960s Mississippi. Ri-i-i-i-ight.
YES!
I really did want to like "The Air Between Us" and was so ever hopeful that it would fulfill its promise of keeping me "guessing until the very end". I was guessing, alright, and guessed correctly. But I call that "knowing". Only one detail managed to escape me so the author deserves some credit, but it's not much. The ending also irked me. After taking such care to craft every detail from her characters and events down to the contents of a garden, the ending seemed rushed, as though she were either already bored with her own story or rushing towards a deadline. Does this require a spoiler alert? --> Everything ends perfectly. She ties up all the justice and goodwill that she can muster, ties it up in pretty, effortless little bow, and places it the front door of the characters' doorsteps. In 1960s Mississippi. Ri-i-i-i-ight.
August 21, 2009
Wow....this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It was a mystery, but not told in the usual format that a mystery follows. It also dealt with the issues of race and desegregation in such a way that it offered an opportunity for a deeper understanding if the history and issues without preaching, and gave a tremendous amount of insight into the anger and frustration that still exists when we talk about race still in this country. The writing was descriptive and almost lyrical at points. The characters were real and human. I will read this book again.
March 8, 2014
I love this book, and find myself surprised at the loving. I did not expect to become so wrapped up with the story and the characters. This story was expertly developed, and believably told. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
August 23, 2022
I feel very indifferent after finishing this book - the characters were interesting enough to follow and I generally like a variety of perspectives. But I guess it felt kinda disjointed and the reveals at the end didn’t seem worth the buildup.
January 29, 2025
(3.5) truly tried to guess the ending of this book from the very beginning and even though i got close a couple times, i never had it fully figured out until the end. it was a good read - taught me things i didn’t know about the fight for integration while also making me love the details of life in the south that i take for granted (i.e., porch sitting, good sweet tea, a garden full of flowers, and an earful of good gossip)
January 12, 2026
an interesting read, but it felt discontinuous to me. I felt a lot of the aspects discussed (i.e., ghost doctors) are not often talked about with the civil rights era, but i think the book would’ve been stronger if it only focused on a couple of these points/fewer characters, still a pretty good book!
June 3, 2009
This was a difficult book to read. The story is set in the 1960s in Mississippi and is listed as a mystery. The topic of desegration is on the minds of all the people in the small town of Revere. Two doctors (one white and one black) and their lives are the main focus of the story, but others they encounter are pulled in as supporting characters. The book began with the death of a poor white man (Billie Ray Puckett) that was delivered to the hospital by a young black child (Critter Tate). During the course of the book, I often forgot that Billie Ray had died under suspicious circumstances. The lives of the people in Revere seemed to overtake the death. The constant jumping around and interjection of thoughts made by various characters made it difficult to read this book. I could see the story being written as a series where each character or group had their own opportunity to share their thoughts and how they related to the main focus of the story. It wasn't until the end that Billie Ray's death ties back in to the events that have occurred throughout the book. Perhaps the author intended to write the book in such a choppy manner, only she knows that. I thought the mystery was Billie Ray's death, even after completing the book, I'm not so sure.
January 19, 2011
I just finished this book and still can't decide if I liked it or not. It was a good premise and definitely a story worth telling, but I'm just not sure the author did it justice. She seemed to try awfully hard to flesh out the characters, but I didn't really find any of them to be particularly likeable. Plus, I thought she spent too much time defining minor characters who only ended up being a small part of the story. All in all, it made for a somewhat slow and awkward read. I kind of liked the ending because it felt as though everything had finally started to come together and make sense. However, after the long buildup, which I felt like I had to push myself though, I thought the resolution was a bit too rushed.
March 7, 2008
Set in the tumultuous 60's in Mississippi getting ready for integration, not much happens. Starts with a white man being brought to the hospital by a young black boy and goes downhill from there. Secrets are revealed but it is pretty anti-climatic.
November 2, 2014
I enjoyed this book because it focuses on a different dimension of the segregation theme. I do not want to spoil it by saying more than this. I love books that totally surprise me and this one's revelation certainly did that!
November 18, 2016
Interesting perspective of life in the south in the sixties.
It does "read"the way of life in the south, lots of stories that are offshoots of the main story, slow and steady ~ so it can be slow at times, but that is life in the south.
It does "read"the way of life in the south, lots of stories that are offshoots of the main story, slow and steady ~ so it can be slow at times, but that is life in the south.
January 28, 2020
The story opens with a crisis that reflects the racial segregation in a small Southern town in the 1960’s. When Critter Tate, a ten-year-old black youth, drives a white man, dying from a suspicious hunting accident, to the “coloreds only” ER, he is turned away and redirected to the “whites only” ER around the corner.
Everyone knows their place in Revere, Mississippi, but as the story unfolds, the reader discovers that not everyone stays in “their” place on “their” side of town, and secrets begin to be revealed after the unexpected death of Billy Ray Puckett.
The author creates complex characters whose relationships don’t always follow societal “rules” of acceptable behavior and which make the coming integration of the schools and hospitals even more complicated. The characters show multiple sides of the struggle against racial, economic, and class segregation. Johnson demonstrates the role of women in that society who were supposed to be protected from men’s problems. Nevertheless, the women seem to know what is taking place.
It’s not just the characters that keep the reader involved in the story, it’s also the mystery behind the hunting accident and mysterious death of Billy Ray Puckett, and the mysterious secret each person is hiding.
The author is a bit wordy and could have tightened up some of her prose. For example, it takes two pages to describe the truck coming to a stop at the hospital. The novel begins slow and steady, reflective of the way of life in the South. Characters do cross racial divides as easily as they cross to the other side of the town, perhaps not very realistic. Then, quickly, all secrets are revealed and the story wraps up all loose ends.
Characters:
Critter (Willie Jr.) Tate, ten-year-old black child, friends with Skippy and Janet
Jack Rand Connelly, State Legislator, father of Cooper, rich segregationist
Dr. Cooper Connelly, white doctor, fights for integration, alcoholic, unhappily married, lonely
Evelyne Elizabeth Connelly, Cooper's wife, they have no children, unhappily married
Dr. Reese Jackson, black doctor, tries to stay above the integration fray
Lyle Dean (Deanie) Jackson, wife of Reece, accidentally injured Skippy as a toddler, full of guilt
Skippy Jackson, ten-year-old son of Reece and Lyle Dean, friends with Critter and Janet
Madame Melba Obrenski, lives next door to the Jackson's, has a past and currently works as a fortune-teller, best friends with Deanie, and develops a relationship with Cooper
Billy Ray Puckett, illiterate poor white, shot while hunting from a deer stand, operated on by Dr. Connelly and unexpectedly dies
Ruth Ann Puckett, wife of Billy Ray
Janet Puckett, daughter of Billy Ray and Ruth Ann, friends with Critter and Skippy
Rob (Big Rob) Puckett, father of Billy Ray
Charles (Butch) William Harrison, Deputy investigating the death of Billy Ray
Nathan (Ned) Bedford Forrest Hampton, Cooper's administrative assistant, friends with Jack Rand
Meade MacLean, Doctor's Hospital chief legal counsel
Everyone knows their place in Revere, Mississippi, but as the story unfolds, the reader discovers that not everyone stays in “their” place on “their” side of town, and secrets begin to be revealed after the unexpected death of Billy Ray Puckett.
The author creates complex characters whose relationships don’t always follow societal “rules” of acceptable behavior and which make the coming integration of the schools and hospitals even more complicated. The characters show multiple sides of the struggle against racial, economic, and class segregation. Johnson demonstrates the role of women in that society who were supposed to be protected from men’s problems. Nevertheless, the women seem to know what is taking place.
It’s not just the characters that keep the reader involved in the story, it’s also the mystery behind the hunting accident and mysterious death of Billy Ray Puckett, and the mysterious secret each person is hiding.
The author is a bit wordy and could have tightened up some of her prose. For example, it takes two pages to describe the truck coming to a stop at the hospital. The novel begins slow and steady, reflective of the way of life in the South. Characters do cross racial divides as easily as they cross to the other side of the town, perhaps not very realistic. Then, quickly, all secrets are revealed and the story wraps up all loose ends.
Characters:
Critter (Willie Jr.) Tate, ten-year-old black child, friends with Skippy and Janet
Jack Rand Connelly, State Legislator, father of Cooper, rich segregationist
Dr. Cooper Connelly, white doctor, fights for integration, alcoholic, unhappily married, lonely
Evelyne Elizabeth Connelly, Cooper's wife, they have no children, unhappily married
Dr. Reese Jackson, black doctor, tries to stay above the integration fray
Lyle Dean (Deanie) Jackson, wife of Reece, accidentally injured Skippy as a toddler, full of guilt
Skippy Jackson, ten-year-old son of Reece and Lyle Dean, friends with Critter and Janet
Madame Melba Obrenski, lives next door to the Jackson's, has a past and currently works as a fortune-teller, best friends with Deanie, and develops a relationship with Cooper
Billy Ray Puckett, illiterate poor white, shot while hunting from a deer stand, operated on by Dr. Connelly and unexpectedly dies
Ruth Ann Puckett, wife of Billy Ray
Janet Puckett, daughter of Billy Ray and Ruth Ann, friends with Critter and Skippy
Rob (Big Rob) Puckett, father of Billy Ray
Charles (Butch) William Harrison, Deputy investigating the death of Billy Ray
Nathan (Ned) Bedford Forrest Hampton, Cooper's administrative assistant, friends with Jack Rand
Meade MacLean, Doctor's Hospital chief legal counsel
July 28, 2026
This book is not something I would typically read but a dear coworker of mine recommended it to me so I gave it a try. Now, even though the story and characters highlighted the hostile environment of segregated Mississippi, the author lost me at certain plot points. Let’s talk about the good things first. I adored the character of Melba! (for the first half of the book atleast) Deanie and her friendship was interesting considering Melba’s disdain for Reese. I also enjoyed envisioning her garden and I believe the author wrote Melba’s eccentric existence really well. Okay, now on to things I had an issue with. Cooper (even though he seemed like a kind and generous man) came off as the “white savior” trope. Of course a childless white man is the head of the school integration meetings due to his power/social standing. That part really didn’t make any sense to me (it may be historically accurate I’m not sure). I also couldn’t understand why his friendship/partnership with Reese had to be hidden and was considered “taboo” but Cooper felt comfortable enough as a married man to visit a biracial woman on the African American side of town. Granted I did not live during this time period so maybe I’m not following. Maybe his character was evolving throughout the novel, but something about that didn’t sit right with me. How can he be the “spokesperson” for integration but still living in his own false identity? Why is his friendship with Reese so taboo that it becomes the main plot point of the story? And why do we only get Coopers side of the story regarding this? Also Coopers relationship with Melba was interesting. I assumed earlier on that they might be related and was taken aback by how it turned romantic. Did it just turn romantic due to Melba’s proximity to whiteness? I also felt like the story started following the narration and journeys of the white characters and not really that of the black ones. Critter, Tate, Deanie, and even Reese stopped being seen around halfway or 3/4s of the book. It mainly followed our white savior Cooper. Anywho, this is just my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2021
What a great read. For about 300 pages, it's hard to say what exactly was driving the plot. The story starts off with a poor white trash man dying of a gun shot wound, which seems like it will drive the whole novel, but then that seems to drift into the background, as do all the other things that happen.
But despite not being able to describe the plot, it didn't matter. The small late 1960's Mississippi town pulled you along with its deep and imperfect characters. Then for the final 50 pages, bam, you realize that so much stuff had been happening, all intertwined, it just seemed like simple small town life because the strings connecting everything were hidden.
On top of that creative storytelling and great writing, the backdrop is Mississippi school de-segregation. Again, it seems almost like the background of the story, but obviously plays a huge role in everything happening in a town very divided by race. Deborah Johnson paints a beautiful picture of how moving past racism (especially systemic Racism) can work and uplift everyone.
In her afterword, she explains some very interesting facts about the 60's and 70's and how some small towns that worked across racial lines created some of the best school systems in MS, better than the segregation academies.
But despite not being able to describe the plot, it didn't matter. The small late 1960's Mississippi town pulled you along with its deep and imperfect characters. Then for the final 50 pages, bam, you realize that so much stuff had been happening, all intertwined, it just seemed like simple small town life because the strings connecting everything were hidden.
On top of that creative storytelling and great writing, the backdrop is Mississippi school de-segregation. Again, it seems almost like the background of the story, but obviously plays a huge role in everything happening in a town very divided by race. Deborah Johnson paints a beautiful picture of how moving past racism (especially systemic Racism) can work and uplift everyone.
In her afterword, she explains some very interesting facts about the 60's and 70's and how some small towns that worked across racial lines created some of the best school systems in MS, better than the segregation academies.
September 6, 2019
As I often end up doing, I read this book after the the author's second book set in the small town of Revere, Mississippi. That one, The Secret of Magic, was set in the 1940s, just after World War II ended and revolved around the murder of a returning black war hero. This book, set in the mid-1960s, is focused on the federally mandated school desegregation's affect on the town, while also serving up a mystery involving a poor white man's death due to a supposedly self-inflicted gunshot wound. The blurb on the back of the trade paperback makes it seem to be more a mystery tale than it truly is. This is as much a story about a town in the deep South as the author's second one is, with fully realized characters possessing complexity and contradictions. In a town where whites and blacks don't mingle and everyone seems to know everyone's business, there are plenty of secrets that, if revealed, could change everything.
There is a vague connection to the second book, but otherwise, each stands on its own. I enjoyed spending time with these characters and hope Johnson keeps writing about the generations of people who call Revere their home.
There is a vague connection to the second book, but otherwise, each stands on its own. I enjoyed spending time with these characters and hope Johnson keeps writing about the generations of people who call Revere their home.
January 23, 2022
This is a hard book to review because it isn't what I was expecting. I was expecting more of a mystery based on the description, and from the beginning I expected Critter to be way more involved than he was. I love a good character book, which this definitely was, but it was just unexpected.
There were a lot of twists in the back half that I didn't see coming, and a few I feel like I missed pieces of...
There were a lot of twists in the back half that I didn't see coming, and a few I feel like I missed pieces of...
March 13, 2017
The Air Between Us is a novel that attempts to cross a lot of divides. Not only does the story itself address those notions of self that divide us (race, gender, class), but the format of the novel attempts several different genres (it's part mystery, part medical drama, part social history of a small town in the deep South during the Civil Rights era).
Ostensibly about two male doctors--black doctor Reese Jackson and white doctor Cooper Connelly-- and their struggles to live and practice in a town that is itself struggling to live through integration, the novel's real stars are its women: Jackson's wife, Deanie, and her next-door neighbor, Melba. They have to piece together stories from the sidelines (they're observers on the porch, watchers of stories on TV, readers of novels, even voyeurs who drive through the white part of town to see, quite literally, how the other half live).
For all the stories within a story (or perhaps because of them), the book is uneven in both its plotting and its characterizations. There were moments (particularly in the beginning) when I almost gave up on the book, and there were other moments when I found an event or character unbelievable. Yet, there were also sections I found completely absorbing, and by the end, I felt Johnson had found her voice.
I struggle with rating books, this one in particular, but I landed on four stars because, for all the unevenness, the stand-out moments and the ambition of the novel made this book worth it for me. Also, there aren't enough stories about integration out there, and I appreciated Johnson's attempt to tell her story within this setting. And given the setting, it would have been easy for Johnson to create simple heroes and villains, but her characters are more complex than that.
Ostensibly about two male doctors--black doctor Reese Jackson and white doctor Cooper Connelly-- and their struggles to live and practice in a town that is itself struggling to live through integration, the novel's real stars are its women: Jackson's wife, Deanie, and her next-door neighbor, Melba. They have to piece together stories from the sidelines (they're observers on the porch, watchers of stories on TV, readers of novels, even voyeurs who drive through the white part of town to see, quite literally, how the other half live).
For all the stories within a story (or perhaps because of them), the book is uneven in both its plotting and its characterizations. There were moments (particularly in the beginning) when I almost gave up on the book, and there were other moments when I found an event or character unbelievable. Yet, there were also sections I found completely absorbing, and by the end, I felt Johnson had found her voice.
I struggle with rating books, this one in particular, but I landed on four stars because, for all the unevenness, the stand-out moments and the ambition of the novel made this book worth it for me. Also, there aren't enough stories about integration out there, and I appreciated Johnson's attempt to tell her story within this setting. And given the setting, it would have been easy for Johnson to create simple heroes and villains, but her characters are more complex than that.
February 28, 2019
Deborah Johnson has built upon her own family experiences to share a fictional account that gives her readers a front row seat to the complexities of life in the rural south in the 1960's. Her many well-developed characters show multiple sides of the struggle against racial and economic segregation. I learned something entirely knew, too, in the term "ghost doctor." Read this historical fiction novel to reflect upon the importance of humanity, particularly in the present time period where so many people seem to have forgotten the human destruction born in racism and classism.
June 27, 2020
I just did not know huh ow to rate this one. Let's say 2.5. I grew up in the same time period. I had a father on the school board attempting to integrate our schools without the town blowing up. We had our own Hunt School without decent textbooks, no library, broken windows, dirt playground. I related. But I was begging this book to end. I never could latch on to an over-riding or I cared to follow. I often felt I was reading vignettes rather than a comprehensive novel. I never really cared about any of the characters.
July 11, 2020
Do not give up on it
This book had various reviews and the synopsis was appealing. The book had me gripped to my chair for the first several chapters but then somewhere in the middle I started to lose interest. I am glad that I persevered as it became one of those i did not want to put down and managed to finish the last 35% of the book in one sitting. I will recommended this book to my friends and more so now, where in 2020 the world is trying to fight racial discrimination. Kudos to the author for writing such difficult subject matter.
This book had various reviews and the synopsis was appealing. The book had me gripped to my chair for the first several chapters but then somewhere in the middle I started to lose interest. I am glad that I persevered as it became one of those i did not want to put down and managed to finish the last 35% of the book in one sitting. I will recommended this book to my friends and more so now, where in 2020 the world is trying to fight racial discrimination. Kudos to the author for writing such difficult subject matter.
September 18, 2021
This book was ok. It had a good story line, although it's one that's been done over & over a million times. My biggest problem with this book is the authors style of writing. Something that bothers me immensely is when an author does not stick to a single character name. One of the main characters in this book is the wife of Dr. Reese Jackson. She is first introduced at Lyle Dean, then Deanie, then Mrs. Jackson. Referring to her three different names within the same page, paragraph or even from one sentence to the next. At first I thought it was 3 different characters until I finally figured it out. I hope the author fine tunes this poor writing skill in the future.
November 28, 2022
This one is hard to describe. It takes place in Mississippi before segregation. The beginning was slow as we delve into lots of different characters. There are two doctors, one white and one black; their wives, a neighbor lady and a poor white trash family as they are called. There is a death - Suicide? Accidental? Murder? I believe it was long and overdone in parts but not a bad read at all. Very interesting and satisfying ending.
January 22, 2026
I really like this book. It takes us so deep into understanding of each character, their interactions and their relationships. Yes, it could feel too detailed and too slow, but death of Billy Ray Pucket is not a main story. The main story is about life of interracial city and integration. I loved the writing, the characters, the details and descriptions. It is like slowly sipping good aged wine, that's how I feel reading this book.
July 9, 2017
Loved the start of this book, really gripping, which was great as I could get my teeth into it early. It waned a little in the middle as it seemed to drag a little with some of the characters. However I did like the twist at the end and overall found it an enjoyable read with good subject matter and issues raised.
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