Down From Moonshine

by Mary Ann Cain

DOWN FROM MOONSHINE, a first novel by Mary Ann Cain, ranges between the 1920s and 1978, telling the intertwined stories of Viney, an African-American woman who moves to Chicago in the early 20th Century northward migration, and of Lenny and Caroline, an interracial couple trying to find themselves in a quickly changing world. Viney has a deep love of horses and wants to work with them in Chicago’s racing stables, at a time when it is unheard of for any woman to do so, let alone a Black woman. The novel starts by bringing to life a gritty world of racing stables and trainers, touts, numbers runners, and speakeasies. This world is counter balanced by Viney’s unique blend of physical, down-to-earth practicality, with her strong, spiritual bond to the horses. As the century changes, “The Stables” becomes first a speakeasy and then an upscale restaurant with a racing theme and decor, haunted by a mysterious manager whom nobody sees. The people who work at The Stables go on with their lives, work, resist change, adapt, or fail to do so. Viney’s horses haunt The Stables, persistent memories like the heritage of racism in our present history, ghosts that refuse to leave after their time is past. The present world of Lenny and Caroline, the young lovers, is embedded in this vivid and determined past, as they struggle to move forward with their lives.

268 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Mary Ann Cain's critical work on writing theory and praxis includes a collaborative book (with Michelle Comstock and Lil Brannon), Composing Public Space: Teaching Writing in the Face of Private Interests. Her fiction, nonfiction essays, and poems have appeared in numerous literary journals, including the Denver Quarterly, The Sun: A Magazine of Ideas, the Bitter Oleander, and the North American Review. She is currently a professor of English at Purdue University Fort Wayne where she teaches fiction, creative nonfiction, rhetoric, and women's studies.

Reviews

[Jerri Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two Hundred and sixty-eight pages for a beautifully written story about four main characters and the place that they come together . Follow Baby Divine in her journey to Chicago and life at the Stables, the interracial romance of Lenny and Caroline and the job that gave TJ pride until it didn't.