The Salt Fields

by Stacy D. Flood

On the day that Minister Peters boards a train from South Carolina heading north, he has nothing left but ghosts: the ghost of his murdered wife, the ghost of his drowned daughter, the ghosts of his father and his grandmother and the people who disappeared from his town without trace or explanation.

In the cramped car, Minister finds himself in close quarters with three passengers also joining the exodus from the South—people seeking a new life, whose motives, declared or otherwise, will change Minister's life with devastating consequences.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novella, Southern, Audiobook, Historical, Race

136 pages, Paperback

First published March 9, 2021

About the author

Originally from Buffalo, and currently living in Seattle, Stacy D. Flood’s work has been published nationally, and performed on stages nationwide as well as in the Puget Sound Area. He has been a DISQUIET scholar in Lisbon, an artist-in-residence at both Djerassi and The Millay Colony of the Arts, and the recipient of a Getty Fellowship to the Community of Writers.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every once in a while I wake up thinking about a book I’ve just finished reading. It’s a sure sign that it had an enormous impact on me and will be one that will remain with me. This novella is one of those books. I was struck by how deeply affecting this story was on so many levels - to my head, my heart, my moral and social sensibilities, a depiction of the racism of the past and the reflection on its presence now, to my love of beautiful language. I was reminded of other stories where complete strangers find themselves together in a closed space without the possibility of leaving immediately, forcing a connection. There are intimate questions; they discover things about each and themselves; maybe they influence each other in some way. This is much more than just a chance meeting.

This is Minister Peters story. He’s not a minister; that’s his name. He’s looking back on a fateful train trip, a journey from the south, a journey from loss and grief which he finds he can never really leave behind. On the train going north he meets three other black people also going north, searching for something more. There is a convergence of lives here that bring Minister to do something that I was not prepared for. I’m not sure he was either. It’s also a portrait of a place, the south and the time in the late 1940’s. The author beautifully describes pieces of the landscape as they moved from south to north, people met along the way, a warm and welcoming family, the sounds and sight of a revival tent passed by, an old barn, “the other side of things” where a single act changes Minister’s life forever. The prose is beautiful and poetic . I frequently highlight passages that I’m taken with when reading on my kindle and I found myself doing that quite often. There are lovely passages of the landscape, of the South Carolina island where Minister was born, of emotions, but also a chilling, gruesome description of a lynching remembered from the past and the chilling possibility it could happen in these moments.

This is a stunning, introspective study of a man, his past, his present as he reflects back on what unfolded on that train ride and his life before boarding that train. It’s a short 128 pages and when I finished I did feel that the ending was somewhat rushed since in only a few pages, we get the story of what happened from a fateful day along that train ride to where Minister is in his later years. I would have liked to be along for that part of his journey. Having said that, this novella is worthy of all the stars, and then some. It was an extraordinary experience to read.


I received an advanced copy of this book from Lanternfish Press through Edelweiss.

[Zoeytron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one for the beauty of the words.  Reflections of loved ones lost, past slights and indignities, fear of the future, and an all around wonderment of how the world works.  This author will make you look at the simple things in a whole different way.  It is melancholy without being maudlin.    

Set in 1947, a black man by the name of Minister Peters embarks on a long train ride from the deep South headed North.  On his way, he will encounter three individuals, each traveling with his or her all-encompassing desire for a new and better life.  With him, he carries a treasured quilt made by his grandmother, a tattered photo of his little girl, and memories of his beloved wife.  They have all been reduced to ghosts now, yet all are still with him. 

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a historical novella about a Black man named Minister. We see him in his youth, middle age, and as an old man.
After some devastating events in his life regarding his wife, and then his daughter… he wants to migrate to the north.
This is 1947, South Carolina… his ancestors were slaves.
He boards the Dawn Lightning train to head north.. no certain destination spot.
Oh… this train ride.. the three people he meets..the thing that happens..
So atmospheric, affecting..
Beautifully written!

Thank you to Angela M for her review, and then Debbie for her review and the added link to an interview with the author.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up - A beautifully written novella that has an almost dream-like quality. Minister Peters (this is his name; he’s not a preacher) has lost everyone he’s ever loved and decides to leave his home in South Carolina for the north. Although the story takes place in one timeline, author Stacy Flood moves easily back and forth inside Minister’s memories and stories of his parents that he’s been told. The stories seem to have become a part of him as much as his own memories. His grandmother’s story about his grandfather taking a vicious beating during the days of slavery is one of those story memories. Death and loss are part of his history as well as his present and perhaps that accounts for his detachment from the living; perhaps it’s the fear of losing even more. It’s the kind of story that makes you think about what you’ve lost in life, what you’re hanging onto, the ghosts and memories of other times roosting in the corridors of your mind.

The main action of the novella is the train ride north. The story takes place in the late 1940s and Flood does a good job of making the time period credible. Children are in awe of the train, its steel magnificence, the “Dawn Lightning.” Minister’s companions during the train ride take center stage during this part of the story. Carvall, wearing his full dress Army uniform, and Divinion and Lanah, a couple traveling together. Through their conversation and interactions, we learn much about these characters as the train rockets forward like the river of time marching them into their futures.

I enjoyed Flood’s prose. It is elegant, descriptive in places, and stripped bare in others. The characters are mostly interesting. At times I had the feeling that something ominous would take place. I liked Minister as a character and at times I felt sympathy for his plight in life, but often, I also felt a little detached. This could possibly have been a mood thing, or because I felt like Minister was putting up walls. I am also not used to the brevity of the novella, where feelings and emotions may be reigned in due to lack of space and time. I would definitely read this author again.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.8

Secret gem alert!

I loved this novella and can’t believe that marketers aren’t going crazy and hyping it. I requested it after reading Angela’s brilliant, rave review, and man am I happy I did.

The story is about a black man from the South who is heading north on a train in 1947. He narrates the story. His first name is Minister, and no, he’s not a minister, lol, as he tells new-found friends. He meets three people on the train and has fascinating interactions with them all. These are some interesting characters, I tell you, who say and do unexpected things that are odd and juicy. The fact that the author can create such amazing characters and relationships in such a small book speaks volumes about his skillfulness.

There are a couple of long breaks on the train trip and Minister debarks and has adventures. Oh man, they are big and strange adventures indeed. The book has a dream-like quality. Strong images are created, and there are times when the reasons things happen are unclear. And you wonder, is our narrator reliable? That question peppered my reaction to the events, and it made it all the more fun.

Oh, and there are ghosts! Minister sees ghosts of his wife, daughter, father. What’s weird about this is I usually don’t like ghosts. But here, all hunky-dory. If the author can actually make me accept ghosts, that’s saying something!

The prose is just beauteous—it’s lyrical and intense and contributes to the dream-like quality. There’s also lots of wisdom.

Here are some gems to whet your appetite:

“There’s one type of quiet when you’re hiding yourself and another type when the world is instead pulling away from you.”

“…what I’ve always liked about train tracks is the way they converge on the horizon and give the impression that someday, inevitably, pleasantly, the future will come to a fixed point, a sharp metallic conclusion.”

“…the whole South ain’t nothing but a scar with some salt on it.”

“When it rains I think it’s my ancestors spitting down on me.”

“These travelers were temporary family. There was comfort in their snores and whistles and shifts and sweat.”

“It wasn’t dancing; it was celestial navigation.”

“At first, the smoke covered the stars like cataracts.”

“With time you learn to make peace with everything rotting inside you.”

Besides all the sentences caressing my soul, the descriptions are so vivid I might as well have been sitting next to Minister. And you get to see and feel the upsetting plight of blacks in the South in the 1940s. What a sense of place the author creates.

There are two reasons I gave this a 4.8 instead of a 5. First, I didn’t love the vague outcomes of Minister’s two adventures and in his interactions in general. Like I said, the scenes were incredibly vivid, but they seemed sort of unfinished. Second, there was bit too much description. On the upside, I will say that the author is a keen observer, noticing little things like a kid’s braids and ants on the run. My impatience with description is only because I prefer dialogue and action to descriptions (probably a symptom of my senior-onset ADD!). Most people are going to love the descriptions through and through.

I hope more people check this book out. It’s one that is sticking with me. And I know I’ll have to stick my head back in just to get a word treat now and then. I was so smitten I had to look up the author, Stacy Flood, who happens to live in Seattle, my town.

Here’s one interview I found interesting: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao2sPz_....

I’ll be on the lookout for more books by Flood. In the meantime, I wish I had been hired as his marketer. Highly recommended. In fact, I just might have to change my rating to a 5, as the story is sticking with me and I smile whenever I think of it.

Thanks to Edelweiss for granting me a copy of this book.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

****4.5 Stars**** Succinct, pensive and beautifully written.

[Carmel Hanes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...since I couldn't find a single reason why I'd ever need to speak again. For those I'd left behind I knew my voice was already a memory, and I knew that this place, my home, would forget about the rest of me as soon as my shoes left the pebbles beneath them."

Four strangers on a train. Four lives, both alike and disparate, intersect as this metal container chugs through the states. Four histories, four dreams, four personalities. What could have been a quiet, sweltering ride punctuated with banal chatting between guarded strangers (which is more representative of real life) becomes instead a puzzle, a web, catching one or another of them on an unexpected strand. We are in Minister's thoughts as his mouth continues to say little, but his eyes catch everything occurring around him, and he listens to the reveals dropping like the sweat from their brows. Wherever we are, we wear our pasts like a second skin.

"I seen them die. But they don't die the same as you and me. Their bodies die, but they pass that money and that power onto their children so, in a way, they live on. They don't just fade away like Black folks do, with maybe a couple of dimes...."

"But I suspected it wasn't just one thing, one argument, one statement, one slight, one memory, one word. We're human beings. It rarely is one thing."

No, it's rarely one thing that turns us, that propels us, that repels us...it's an accumulation of those "one things" that direct our lives. But...it can be one decision, one choice, one moment that causes a pivot, or defines something in us when we least expect it.

"Me, at the edges of things. I thought I liked that about my life, how seeing all of the blades kept me from being sliced in two."

A story that moseys along but is thick with atmosphere and uncomfortable cultural relevance. A story of a man on a train, running from loss, reckoning with his life experiences and choices. Do we run from things or towards them? Would we be different if those pivotal moments in our lives had been different? An interesting read for those who like to ponder the deeper layers of life.

[Cathrine ☯️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4✚ 🧂🧂🧂🧂
Two and a half hours on Hoopla audio and I suspect had I read instead of listened to this novella, I might be rating it higher, but only because I get so distracted and miss things. The narration was EXCELLENT and undoubtedly added to how much I loved having my ears engaged. The prose style was superb, beguiling really.
Quite special and would have stayed under my reader's radar had it not been for the goodreads friends grapevine. Thank you guys!

[Tooter · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ Stars

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The greatest of human gifts is the ability to project a self-image larger than ourselves across a desert, an ocean, or a canvas."

Flood has the gift and this slim novel reads like an abbreviated Homeric Odyssey. The main character, Minister, journeys on a train, not the ocean, but his fellow passengers and the view from the train and the stops they make along the way all take on mythic weight and proportions.

As I was reading, I thought this might make an excellent play. Then I read his bio and saw that indeed he is a playwright. You have those blocked off, walled off scenes and dialog that encapsulate a life that translates well to a stage. I hope this will make it to one.

Some of the most gorgeous prose I've ever read, packed with human insight. Dark. As the subject matters calls for (the beginning of the great migration north). And in that darkness is one of the most chilling scenes I've ever read in my life. It broke my heart. No violence, just the prospective hint of it, which allows those of us who have not experienced lynchings to get a feel for the terror and loss. It will stay with me forever, those headlights...

This book may not take you where you want to go, but it's an important and beautiful journey by a promising new writer. Thanks to Angela for her lovely review which lead me to the book. I would not have heard of it otherwise, and it deserves more attention. 4.5 stars.

[☮Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
My thanks to all my friends who read or listened to this before me, as I surely would have had no inkling of its existence otherwise. This was a beautifully narrated audiobook, but I do wish I'd had the printed book instead. Flood writes in a style and with prose that required my attention, and a few times I had to replay his words. The words were well chosen, to be sure, and not a one was wasted in this novella. Short, but nothing missing, not from the plot nor from the character development. Extremely well done.

[Fictionophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

With prose at times so beautiful it is almost lyrical, Stacy D. Flood's novella was a privilege to read. The story relates the dark and often disturbing history of the black race in the southern United States. A time when segregation was still enforced and lynchings commonplace.

The description in the book was vibrant; causing the reader to almost feel the intense heat and the sway of the train carriage as it lumbered north.

The protagonist, Minister Peters, was a solitary, melancholic, introspective man. Despite the fact that the story is told via his thoughts and dreams, he seemed to remain unknowable - at a remove from the world. I find it hard to explain... I wanted him to 'feel' more, I wanted to feel for him more. He seemed so detached from his own life, almost as though he were observing the tragic events of his own life from a distance.

I find my thoughts are jumbled. I loved the prose, the essential story, the description, yet... Minister Peters remains illusive.

3.5 stars rounded up

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars rounded up

Flood's novella The Salt Fields is set in 1947 during the Great Migration. Minister, Carvall, Divinion, and Lanah are escaping South Carolina and their pasts; they are hoping for new possibilities and opportunities in New York. Though told in the first person from Minister's POV, Flood vividly creates the other main characters through their actions and dialogue. Flood puts me in that train car.

"The train rattled, metal jolting metal, as cinders and traces of coal streaked the windows--each flake the color of pepper, carrying its sharp scent throughout the coach; you had to blink through the fog of heat, noise, sweat, and conversation to maintain your bearings."

These are four people seated together with nothing in common except the color of their skin which binds them by the history of slavery and the ongoing lynchings and disrespect that is a way of life in the Jim Crow South. During the course of the trip, the characters get off the train during stops, sometimes for long periods of time. During these sections Flood slowly builds tension; and the characters, and I, experience discomfort."People disappear in the South, one way or another. In the Black sections it's rare when anyone goes searching for them . . ." This terror has become normalized in Flood's South.

Despite the brilliant writing, I am not totally satisfied. There are a couple of scenes, though vividly written, that I don't completely understand; it feels to me that Flood leaves out a crucial bit. Perhaps a few more pages might have made the difference. This work is a great debut novella and I will definitely read other work by this author.

The Salt Fields shines a light on hope and sets me wondering what happens next and it definitely resonates with what's happening in our world today.

“You lift one foot, put it in front of the other, and then repeat until you’re someplace else. Someplace you’d rather be. It’s about renewal.”

[Jodi | Bibliostatic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautifully written novella is a close study of the interior life of a man who has had to compartmentalize all his various tragedies. Some are particular to him; some are sadly endemic to being a southern Black man in 1947.

If you want plot, there’s not going to be much for you; it’s a ridealong with the protagonist on a train ride from his lifelong home along the South Carolina coast toward the promised(ish) land of the north. He’s not even sure of his destination—just away from the ghosts that haunt his days.

The rest of the review is at Bibliostatic: https://bibliostatic.com/2020/11/26/t....
The ARC was provided by Edelweiss

[Siel Ju · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hyperreal yet hallucinatory, The Salt Fields fits a layered multigenerational saga into the fast-paced jaunt of a novella. A riveting story that mystifies even as more and more is revealed.

[Lauri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was transfixed and transported by this novella and my only complaint is that it wasn’t longer. I didn’t want to leave this man or his world.

[Matthew Vesely · Rating 5 out of 5]

This small novella is packed with beautiful writing fitting to canon classics in American history.

[Lisa of Hopewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Interest

I remember reading the announcement of this book but dwelling on "ghost story" and how I do not like those. Well, happily, I was once again between audios and this one was available. I'm so glad it was. Sometimes I enjoy things when I find them at moments like this that I would otherwise skip. A spontaneous "Oh, sure, why not" to a book can enliven my reading. Are you like that, too? Or do you plan all of your reading? I do both. Here is a good discussion (about 10-12 minutes in) on planned vs spontaneous reading on the podcast. Tea or Books? #97: Spontaneous or Planned Reading, and Tension vs Thank Heaven Fasting.

Now back to this incredible novella....

The Story

Minister Peters has had enough of the hard life in South Carolina where he is a teacher, but lives surrounded by ghosts. The ghost of his wife, of his little daughter, of family members, friends, lynching victims and more. When a mass grave of infants born to enslaved people is uncovered he is “done” and joins the Great Migration to the North that took thousands of southern Blacks to the great cities of the North.

His journey must start somewhere and his starts on a segregated train, leaving a segregated railroad station. He is thrown together randomly by the availability of seats with a couple–the wife so fair-skinned she could “pass” as white, the husband, a bit of a braggart and player. The other man is a returned soldier, navigating post World War II life back in the world of Jim Crow. Along the way, thanks to the slow-moving, long-stopping local train, they all have new experiences, share confidences and jokes, and reveal themselves carefully to each other.

An “inner dialogue” gives us Preacher’s thoughts and opinions of his fellow migrants and gives us much of his background.

My Thoughts

This is one of the finest “inner dialogue” stories I’ve ever read. The audio is superbly performed by Sean Crisden who should be considered for an Audie Award. If Novellas in November happens again this year, keep this book in mind. It is not to be missed.
My Verdict
4.0 Stars





Reading Notes--not a review

"This wasn't dancing, it was celestial navigation." [Maybe a little paraphrased--I'm listening to the audio in the car]

[Kristin Towers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this. I’m so curious about the multiple 1- and 2-star ratings which have no associated review.

“The Salt Fields” is full of those weird Southern truisms and is a decidedly Black narrative. There is nothing performative, just smart and layered storytelling which will make you more observant after reading and send you (head shaking) down more than a few Google rabbit-holes about Jim Crow. Every character is a unique exploration of assumptions, hubris in a world where clout matters tremendously, and a relevantly tragic past shaping their worldview in thirty ways.

Sean Crisden is obviously a seasoned narrator, and tells Minister’s story effectively without getting in the way of anyone’s voice.

[Peyton T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

No book is perfect in my opinion as that is more subjective than objective...however the book is a solid work overall that is good if you like a book centered around African-Americans traveling through the South, and a protagonist that is going through the process of healing from his past trauma's ranging from childhood to death in his family. The book gets dark at times but is a solid more toned down read. The book is less than 200 pages, and I was able to find it at my local public library. I would reread this again when I get through my 15 other book I want to read right now. I could say so much more.

[Kim Berkshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

What did I just read/listen to? The English language is a clumsy tool...When I especially love a book, I need it in my house. Will be ordering ASAP. I borrowed this from the library and was blown away by the writing and the narrator. Angela M's and Libby's reviews cover much of what I felt after reading it and I agree with Debbie who can't believe the marketers aren't going nuts over this gold nugget of prose. Stacy D. Flood please hurry up and give us more already.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ripe with so many beautiful sentences.

[Brindi Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars*

I listened to this narration and it was definitely worth it. The narrator had almost a younger, softer Morgan Freeman-esque voice, which made for easy listening. :) I like when authors do a lot of showing instead of telling, and I feel that's never more prominent than in a novella. Shorter stories allow for more dialogue, and gauging a character through their actions and interactions. This came across during the train ride, definitely. While I couldn't quite connect with the main character, Minister, I appreciated him. I enjoyed sharing in his memories and travels.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling story and beautiful prose. Loved seeing the world through Minister's eyes, though the things he sees aren't always pretty. The language is so poetic, gorgeous, with lines like "Miles passed like empty breaths." Much of this takes place on the train, and as a reader I felt like I was with these characters, through the dialogue, sensory details, surprises, heartbreaks. This book is a page-turner. One I won't forget.

[Beth Raas-Bergquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've worked on a couple of Stacy's plays, so full disclosure that I know him - but I also really liked this book. The language is beautiful and it makes the time and place so clear.

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: The Salt Fields chronicles this day's journey of four African-American passengers—Minister, a soldier named Carvall, and the young couple Lanah and Divinion, each searching for a new life, but none sure of what that means—as they travel through a myriad of locations, histories, and events that shape who they are, what they dream, what they are escaping, who they will eventually become, and what experiences they will have to endure in order to do so.

On the day that Minister Peters boards a train from South Carolina heading north, he has nothing left but ghosts: the ghost of his murdered wife, the ghost of his drowned daughter, the ghosts of his father and his grandmother and the people who disappeared from his town without trace or explanation. In the cramped car, Minister finds himself in close quarters with three passengers also joining the exodus from the South—people seeking a new life, whose motives, declared or otherwise, will change Minister's life with devastating consequences.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Beautiful, meditative story of the absolute Hell on Earth of the Jim Crow South, told from the PoV of some escapees as they leave 1947 South Carolina. The events that cause each one to leave, in 128 pages, are sketched in; maybe that's for the best, but it left this old white man thinking it might shoulda been a short story, or a novel.

I'm all for novellas, make no mistake; the form's got a sweet spot that just sings when it's hit. In this case, I felt Minister Peters, as the most opaque character, would work in a récit about him alone. Here, I want to know a lot more about his losses as they affected him when they happened, and why it took him so long to leave South Carolina.

Lanah and Divinion are also characters I got too little involved in their origin as a couple, so I was not terribly interested in their story. The perfect balance came from the very ordinary Carvall. I got exactly the right story fragment from him. I'm glad I read it because the sentences are so lovely. I think anyone interested in the Great Migration, or the Black culture of Jim Crow times, would love the read.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, languorous with Southern humidity and dust, this seemed almost like magic realism. Is Divinion’s plantation-era house and his relatives real or imagined? What about the grass fire outside the juke joint?

Minister Peters (who doesn’t know why his parents named him Minister - he’s just always accepted it) leaves South Carolina to head north to something - anything - new. There’s too much pain in his past and he needs to get away. On the train that’s slowly moving along the Eastern Seaboard, he meets a married couple and a demobilized soldier, all escaping the South just as he is. The train has very long layovers at stops along the way, enabling the passengers to leave for hours at a time without fear the train will leave without them. Excursions ensue.

Throughout, especially once the train trip started, I felt an impending sense of doom, that something awful was going to happen. To be honest, I think that anxiety diminished my appreciation for the book. The scenes, even the horrific ones, are lovingly described, even down to the bluebottle fly doing his best to get a bite of a bread crumb.

As I said, a beautifully written book, but I didn’t enjoy it. Part of that might be that I grew up in the South and the book brought back just too much of that humidity and dust.

[Jake Kilroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exquisite story of a man who lived a life that could be hard and tragic in a world that could be captivating yet cruel—his most defining adventure proving to be a single train ride to the North with three strangers during the Great Migration—this novella wove its way into me with its steady pace and steadfast grasp of characters.

Flood offers the past as both one's history and reason for being (existential and detailed), and you can feel all of it pushing Minister Peters forward on his singular odyssey, seemingly as internal as it is external. He leaves the South behind while bringing its ghosts with him. There were so many vibrant moments of a human being coming to reckon with their own personal nature or that of any given member of humanity here. I'm not sure what I wanted from the ending, but my goodness, it had me on that train like you wouldn't believe for most of it. You can only fight your nature once you understand it—and by then, you more or less accept it. Making peace is the only way to survive without violence. But it's damn hard when too much of the world wants you dead.

[Laura Hoffman Brauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I’m much older now. Through it all, my memory has held fast to the one thing I have ever been sure of: that I survived. Like my grandmother, I tell stories to preserve the rest.”

It’s 1947 and Minister Peters leave South Carolina on a train as part of the Great Migration. He takes very little with him - mostly just memories and ghosts. On the train, he meets others who are also heading north. In this exquisitely written novella, you get a sense of what people were searching for when they left the south behind, what they are leaving behind, and what they bring with them. Peters’ life changes course because of the interactions he has with the three other people on the train and it is almost magical the way past and present intertwine in this narrative.

“Her smile reminded me of her mother’s too much and too often, so in return I smiled less, and be extension discouraged my daughter from smiling at all.”

[Ben Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting, powerful, and written with perfect pacing and articulation. An amazing read, one I suggest people understand there will likely be some personal reckoning that will occur during the reading of Stacy Flood's first novella.

I wanted to read this in a couple hours but the subject matter made me take a step back and close the pages for a day to gather my own thoughts, about our historical misgivings on an entire race. Stacy puts you in Minister's shoes, making you feel the pressure of a possible deliverance to an unfair judgement at every stop the train makes.

The story is written by a master of words with a talent for keeping the reader engaged, and I urge you to not miss out on this story with what was for me had a perfect ending.