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Sweetsmoke
The year is 1862, and the Civil War rages through the South. On a Virginia tobacco plantation, another kind of battle soon begins. "A fascinating and gripping novel about the Civil War. The slave, Cassius Howard, is a great fictional character, and his story is part mystery, part love story, and a harrowing portrait of slavery that reads with the immense power of the slave narratives."
--Pat Conroy, author of Beach Music and South of Broad "David Fuller vividly and movingly describes the life of Cassius, a slave on a Virginia tobacco plantation. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Sweetsmoke resonates with unforgettable characters, and is a gripping story of loss and survival."
--Robert Hicks, author of The Widow of the South "Fuller works hard to give us a mid-19th century world that feels authentic, from small details . . . to the larger sprawl of the plantation . . . captivating."
-- The New York Times Book Review "The plot unfolds at a brisk pace, and Fuller does an especially good job with the battle scenes . . . Cassius, who has never drawn a single breath as a free man, is a compelling character from the start. Sweetsmoke is a well-imagined and researched novel of survival and courage."
-- Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Featuring slave traders, smugglers and spies, the novel transports us to a chilling milieu in which human beings are humiliated, and the slaves have a forlorn hope of freedom, decency and dignity . . . Sweetsmoke haunts us long after the final page is turned."
--Tennessean.com
--Pat Conroy, author of Beach Music and South of Broad "David Fuller vividly and movingly describes the life of Cassius, a slave on a Virginia tobacco plantation. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Sweetsmoke resonates with unforgettable characters, and is a gripping story of loss and survival."
--Robert Hicks, author of The Widow of the South "Fuller works hard to give us a mid-19th century world that feels authentic, from small details . . . to the larger sprawl of the plantation . . . captivating."
-- The New York Times Book Review "The plot unfolds at a brisk pace, and Fuller does an especially good job with the battle scenes . . . Cassius, who has never drawn a single breath as a free man, is a compelling character from the start. Sweetsmoke is a well-imagined and researched novel of survival and courage."
-- Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Featuring slave traders, smugglers and spies, the novel transports us to a chilling milieu in which human beings are humiliated, and the slaves have a forlorn hope of freedom, decency and dignity . . . Sweetsmoke haunts us long after the final page is turned."
--Tennessean.com
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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September 2, 2016
I was powerfully drawn into this world of Cassius, a slave on a tobacco plantation in Virginia in 1862, Sweetsmoke. He has survived a lot in this twisted world , and though he is privileged to work as a carpenter instead of a field hand, he is in danger of losing his humanity:
He remembered first hand the trauma of separation when his mother was sold. He was raised by Mam Rosie and for a brief time her husband Darby, as Darby was sold soon after. He grew tall and made himself a secret promise that he would be different. He would not love anything. He would make his heart cold.
But we’ve all sang that song at times, you know, the Simon and Garfunkle one, “I Am a Rock”, and that outlook really doesn’t sustain you. Cassius has loved, and he has lost. He was married to Marriah and they had a baby. That story ended badly from the hands of his owners, Hoke and Ellen Howard, which is all I should say. In the narrative of his present, he is alone, but two forces are drawing him out of his shell. One is his protective concerns for a new acquisition for the plantation, Quashee, a teenaged beauty put to the harsh labor of the fields. The other is a desire for revenge over the murder of Emoline, a freed slave who nursed him back from his brutal punishments for rebellion after the loss of his family.
Quashee’s spirit moves Cassius to risky actions to save her from the lusts of Big Gus, a driver for the plantation given power and privilege in exchange for keeping order among the slaves for the master. Cassius works behind the scenes to get Quashee taken into household service, and in the process of foiling a competitor for the position makes a moral choice on the order of that portrayed in “Sophie’s Choice”. In this darkness of his soul, he begins to struggle again against the chains of his credo that, in the words of Kris Kristofferson, “If you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose”. He and Quashee begin to nurture a love that he feels bound to quash: “If you don’t love, then there’s one thing they can’t destroy.“
Emoline was the closest thing Cassius has had to motherly love and a beacon of what a life of freedom could be. She makes a living through herbal medicine and fortune telling. She secretly taught Cassius to read during his recovery, and he comes to learn she secretly worked as a spy selling information to the Union relevant to the movements and plans of the Confederate Army. Was this work the cause of her murder or was there a personal reason? In pursuit of the answer and retribution, Cassius risks his life many times, and his quest drives him to explore the espionage network. He is surprised to be treated with respect by the whites working for this cause. He is stumped when one of them asks him what it’s like to be a slave, as he doesn’t “know what it is not to be a slave” since his life isn’t his own. Some of insights he begins to gain about the institute of slavery point to a paradox of how the white masters are in many ways enslaved by the system themselves. When Hoke is laid low by illness, his wife Ellen has to take charge. Her illusions of virtue over running a big happy family clash with a sense of being trapped:
A strange and fleeting image entered Ellen’s mind, that of a large cage in a small room. The cage was filled with slaves while their masters were outside the cage squeezed and immobile in the narrow space between cage and walls. This was a queer image indeed as both master and slave were unable to reach the fresh air that beckoned through a wide open door.
Cassius’ suspicions about Emoline’s murderer leads him to pursue a Rebel quartermaster in General Lee’s army under the ruse of bringing back a son of Hoke and Ellen. The search leads him to Maryland and into the middle of the horrors of the Battle of Sharpsburg, which ended Lee’s invasion of Union territory. Fuller is especially eloquent in these apocalyptic scenes and Cassius’ reaction to whites killing whites on an impossible scale, all somehow to do with keeping his people in subjugation.
Fuller clearly goes beyond any didactic goal of exposing the evils of slavery, which has been well covered in the time since “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. It was a riveting story for me full of universal themes of struggles over fate and choice, the limits of compromise, and the risks of loving. On one level, the tale parallels that of Cassius in Shakespeare’s “Julius Cesar”, for whom he was named. He secretly reads the play and can’t decide whether to identify with the integrity and competence of the character or his treachery. In my recent reads of novels on slavery, this one ranks up there for me with Toni Morrison’s “A Mercy” and more satisfying than Edward Jones’ “The Known World”, albeit without their high quality of prose.
He remembered first hand the trauma of separation when his mother was sold. He was raised by Mam Rosie and for a brief time her husband Darby, as Darby was sold soon after. He grew tall and made himself a secret promise that he would be different. He would not love anything. He would make his heart cold.
But we’ve all sang that song at times, you know, the Simon and Garfunkle one, “I Am a Rock”, and that outlook really doesn’t sustain you. Cassius has loved, and he has lost. He was married to Marriah and they had a baby. That story ended badly from the hands of his owners, Hoke and Ellen Howard, which is all I should say. In the narrative of his present, he is alone, but two forces are drawing him out of his shell. One is his protective concerns for a new acquisition for the plantation, Quashee, a teenaged beauty put to the harsh labor of the fields. The other is a desire for revenge over the murder of Emoline, a freed slave who nursed him back from his brutal punishments for rebellion after the loss of his family.
Quashee’s spirit moves Cassius to risky actions to save her from the lusts of Big Gus, a driver for the plantation given power and privilege in exchange for keeping order among the slaves for the master. Cassius works behind the scenes to get Quashee taken into household service, and in the process of foiling a competitor for the position makes a moral choice on the order of that portrayed in “Sophie’s Choice”. In this darkness of his soul, he begins to struggle again against the chains of his credo that, in the words of Kris Kristofferson, “If you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose”. He and Quashee begin to nurture a love that he feels bound to quash: “If you don’t love, then there’s one thing they can’t destroy.“
Emoline was the closest thing Cassius has had to motherly love and a beacon of what a life of freedom could be. She makes a living through herbal medicine and fortune telling. She secretly taught Cassius to read during his recovery, and he comes to learn she secretly worked as a spy selling information to the Union relevant to the movements and plans of the Confederate Army. Was this work the cause of her murder or was there a personal reason? In pursuit of the answer and retribution, Cassius risks his life many times, and his quest drives him to explore the espionage network. He is surprised to be treated with respect by the whites working for this cause. He is stumped when one of them asks him what it’s like to be a slave, as he doesn’t “know what it is not to be a slave” since his life isn’t his own. Some of insights he begins to gain about the institute of slavery point to a paradox of how the white masters are in many ways enslaved by the system themselves. When Hoke is laid low by illness, his wife Ellen has to take charge. Her illusions of virtue over running a big happy family clash with a sense of being trapped:
A strange and fleeting image entered Ellen’s mind, that of a large cage in a small room. The cage was filled with slaves while their masters were outside the cage squeezed and immobile in the narrow space between cage and walls. This was a queer image indeed as both master and slave were unable to reach the fresh air that beckoned through a wide open door.
Cassius’ suspicions about Emoline’s murderer leads him to pursue a Rebel quartermaster in General Lee’s army under the ruse of bringing back a son of Hoke and Ellen. The search leads him to Maryland and into the middle of the horrors of the Battle of Sharpsburg, which ended Lee’s invasion of Union territory. Fuller is especially eloquent in these apocalyptic scenes and Cassius’ reaction to whites killing whites on an impossible scale, all somehow to do with keeping his people in subjugation.
Fuller clearly goes beyond any didactic goal of exposing the evils of slavery, which has been well covered in the time since “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. It was a riveting story for me full of universal themes of struggles over fate and choice, the limits of compromise, and the risks of loving. On one level, the tale parallels that of Cassius in Shakespeare’s “Julius Cesar”, for whom he was named. He secretly reads the play and can’t decide whether to identify with the integrity and competence of the character or his treachery. In my recent reads of novels on slavery, this one ranks up there for me with Toni Morrison’s “A Mercy” and more satisfying than Edward Jones’ “The Known World”, albeit without their high quality of prose.
January 25, 2015
I live in the south. Every day, I see relics of days that to some symbolize the glory of the south, to others, a time of great shame for humankind. I was not born into southern culture (indeed, my own family fled from persecution elsewhere to settle in the United States in the days before World War I), but I still feel the scars that the enslavement of African Americans left on our world. When a friend from another country had trouble enjoying a visit to Charleston, saying he could feel the pain of slavery as he walked the streets of the city, it was a knife to my heart. It is not the way we live now, at least not in this part of the world, and while we are not perfect, I wonder how long those who inhabit this land will bear the responsibility of scars of the past.
Many people have a romanticized vision of slavery, due in part to its depiction in novels and movies. But even the kindest rendition in print or screen cannot deny that at its core, slavery involves ownership of one person over another. Sweetsmoke presents the reader with a huge array of relationships between between people of the south in that time of our history. The brutality is unflinching, the loyalties complex, the relationships tangled. It is a glimpse into the darkness of our past, exploring diverse aspects of the human psyche. It's a retelling of that wound in our national history called the Civil War. It's a character study of a man of passions and principles, despite his enslavement. It's a reminder that our greatest downfall is man's inhumanity to man, and our greatest strength is our ability to open our hearts to other people, and strive for what is right. I thought the author's technique of using quotation marks around the speech of free people, black or white, and none around the speech of the enslaved was a powerful tool to keep the reader reminded of the degradation of the human spirit when we succumb to the evils of saying we own another individual.
This is a book that is complex, and I may reread, because there are certainly nuances I missed. There were some moments in it that opened my eyes, not so much about the institution of slavery, but more regarding how the world was in that time-- figuring out how to pass a message, cross a river, make a rendezvous. I even found myself looking up some of the herbs and medicinal plants mentioned, as that's an interest of mine.
Many thanks to my friend Maggie, who recommended this book to me. I will pass it on thoughtfully.
Many people have a romanticized vision of slavery, due in part to its depiction in novels and movies. But even the kindest rendition in print or screen cannot deny that at its core, slavery involves ownership of one person over another. Sweetsmoke presents the reader with a huge array of relationships between between people of the south in that time of our history. The brutality is unflinching, the loyalties complex, the relationships tangled. It is a glimpse into the darkness of our past, exploring diverse aspects of the human psyche. It's a retelling of that wound in our national history called the Civil War. It's a character study of a man of passions and principles, despite his enslavement. It's a reminder that our greatest downfall is man's inhumanity to man, and our greatest strength is our ability to open our hearts to other people, and strive for what is right. I thought the author's technique of using quotation marks around the speech of free people, black or white, and none around the speech of the enslaved was a powerful tool to keep the reader reminded of the degradation of the human spirit when we succumb to the evils of saying we own another individual.
This is a book that is complex, and I may reread, because there are certainly nuances I missed. There were some moments in it that opened my eyes, not so much about the institution of slavery, but more regarding how the world was in that time-- figuring out how to pass a message, cross a river, make a rendezvous. I even found myself looking up some of the herbs and medicinal plants mentioned, as that's an interest of mine.
Many thanks to my friend Maggie, who recommended this book to me. I will pass it on thoughtfully.
January 16, 2016
Sweetsmoke
By David Fuller
5 stars
pp. 310
Sweetsmoke by David Fuller is a mystery. Sweetsmoke by David Fuller is a character study. Sweetsmoke by David Fuller is a historical fiction. It is truly all of these and more. David Fuller spent eight years researching and writing this novel about a plantation called Sweetsmoke set in 1862 during the Civil War. His work is deeply moving, with prose that brings the reader into the setting and characters which are complex and interesting. Fuller does not shy away from the conflicts and personality disorders which occur when one group of people "own" another and this is part of the appeal of the story and it is a gripping and exciting story.
I was so impressed with Fuller's development of the central character, Cassius Howard, a slave who was trained by the plantation owner, Hoke Howard, as a carpenter and as such was given certain freedom and was on occasion lent to other plantation to help them in their buildings. Cassius is a reflective, intelligent and secret individual with great strength of character along with many internal conflicts:
"Sounds of the plantation slipped in clear and bright, then were just as quickly muffled, a fragment of work song followed by a ghostly stillness, the drifting laughter of children, blown away by the rush of overhead wind. A deep ache built inside him as he listened to people living, working and being together. A fierce and terrible melancholy gripped him and he did not understand why the feeling made him desire to live.
Finally, a breath of breeze passed under the brim of his hat and cooled the sweat, and Cassius was released from the moment."
When Cassius learns that Emoline, the free woman who helped him when he was deeply injured, has been murdered, he vows to find out who murdered her and avenge her. While Cassius is given certain freedoms as a carpenter his quest his still fraught with such danger, that it keeps the reader on edge and unable to put the book down. I know as I read through much of a night.
The Civil War is ever present and the way in which Howard managed to incorporate into the book is interesting and exciting. For the civil war enthusiast, I believe this will prove to be a must read. I found that I needed to do some research while reading it and was reward for doing so, a secret I will not divulge in this review.
Fuller is a screenwriter and I could easily see this adapted as a movie. I hear that Fuller is working on another novel and my hope is that he writes another book about Cassius, because I want to know what will happen to him next.
By David Fuller
5 stars
pp. 310
Sweetsmoke by David Fuller is a mystery. Sweetsmoke by David Fuller is a character study. Sweetsmoke by David Fuller is a historical fiction. It is truly all of these and more. David Fuller spent eight years researching and writing this novel about a plantation called Sweetsmoke set in 1862 during the Civil War. His work is deeply moving, with prose that brings the reader into the setting and characters which are complex and interesting. Fuller does not shy away from the conflicts and personality disorders which occur when one group of people "own" another and this is part of the appeal of the story and it is a gripping and exciting story.
I was so impressed with Fuller's development of the central character, Cassius Howard, a slave who was trained by the plantation owner, Hoke Howard, as a carpenter and as such was given certain freedom and was on occasion lent to other plantation to help them in their buildings. Cassius is a reflective, intelligent and secret individual with great strength of character along with many internal conflicts:
"Sounds of the plantation slipped in clear and bright, then were just as quickly muffled, a fragment of work song followed by a ghostly stillness, the drifting laughter of children, blown away by the rush of overhead wind. A deep ache built inside him as he listened to people living, working and being together. A fierce and terrible melancholy gripped him and he did not understand why the feeling made him desire to live.
Finally, a breath of breeze passed under the brim of his hat and cooled the sweat, and Cassius was released from the moment."
When Cassius learns that Emoline, the free woman who helped him when he was deeply injured, has been murdered, he vows to find out who murdered her and avenge her. While Cassius is given certain freedoms as a carpenter his quest his still fraught with such danger, that it keeps the reader on edge and unable to put the book down. I know as I read through much of a night.
The Civil War is ever present and the way in which Howard managed to incorporate into the book is interesting and exciting. For the civil war enthusiast, I believe this will prove to be a must read. I found that I needed to do some research while reading it and was reward for doing so, a secret I will not divulge in this review.
Fuller is a screenwriter and I could easily see this adapted as a movie. I hear that Fuller is working on another novel and my hope is that he writes another book about Cassius, because I want to know what will happen to him next.
May 5, 2012
I finally figured out what made this book so awkward to read. Only the free people's speech was in quotation marks. This left all the slaves' speech out of quotation marks. When some speech is in quotes and some isn't it makes for a very difficult read. It made it hard to tell what was really being said and what was thought process. It was an interesting concept for writing a Civil War era historical fiction novel, but in practice it just ended up being awkward and hard to read.
I ended up skimming the last 100 pages or so of this book.
I ended up skimming the last 100 pages or so of this book.
November 3, 2009
I have to admit that this book's basic premise was strong enough to carry me through the story's few rough patches. Set in the midst of the Civil War (1862), the story introduces us to Cassius, a slave carpenter. He enjoys a special status among the slaves at the titular Virginia tobacco plantation -- not only for his skill as a craftsman (which makes him more valuable than mere field hands), but also because he was a childhood playmate of the plantation's master. The death of his wife and child several years ago has made him rather insular, and unlike some of the other "higher ranking" slaves he prefers to keep a low profile and not get caught up in the plantations' social jockeying and intrigues.
However, when Emoline Justice, a local free black woman, herbalist, and fortune teller is found murdered, Cassius decides to cautiously pursue justice on her soul's behalf. She was a kind of mother/mentor figure to him, having nursed him back from death's door, and taught him to read and write. What follows is a kind of blend of historical fiction about plantation life and a whodunit murder mystery. For this to work, the reader has to accept that Cassius' secret literacy enables him to travel rather more freely than most slaves (although not without peril), allowing him to go into town and the surrounding countryside to pursue clues.
This story is pretty gripping, since on top of the hunt for the killer, there's the war lurking not too far away, Underground Railroad operations in the area, plus slavers, spies, and a full cast of realized characters. And if that's not enough, the book also does a very nice job of dramatizing the "private" life of slaves, which themselves are fraught with peril, as plots to curry favor abound, allegiances shift, and anyone might be sold off at any point. Yes, certain elements are somewhat idealized and sanitized, but it's fiction and you either have to accept that or resign yourself to not really enjoying the book (there are plenty of true narratives of slavery if that's your main interest). This is an excellent mix of plot, setting, and character -- a book that makes you think about a certain era in a slightly different way by bringing it to life.
However, when Emoline Justice, a local free black woman, herbalist, and fortune teller is found murdered, Cassius decides to cautiously pursue justice on her soul's behalf. She was a kind of mother/mentor figure to him, having nursed him back from death's door, and taught him to read and write. What follows is a kind of blend of historical fiction about plantation life and a whodunit murder mystery. For this to work, the reader has to accept that Cassius' secret literacy enables him to travel rather more freely than most slaves (although not without peril), allowing him to go into town and the surrounding countryside to pursue clues.
This story is pretty gripping, since on top of the hunt for the killer, there's the war lurking not too far away, Underground Railroad operations in the area, plus slavers, spies, and a full cast of realized characters. And if that's not enough, the book also does a very nice job of dramatizing the "private" life of slaves, which themselves are fraught with peril, as plots to curry favor abound, allegiances shift, and anyone might be sold off at any point. Yes, certain elements are somewhat idealized and sanitized, but it's fiction and you either have to accept that or resign yourself to not really enjoying the book (there are plenty of true narratives of slavery if that's your main interest). This is an excellent mix of plot, setting, and character -- a book that makes you think about a certain era in a slightly different way by bringing it to life.
October 12, 2009
The advanced praise and publisher's accolades for Sweetsmoke are not unwarranted. David Fuller has penned a rich, full-bodied story that centers on a slave's (Cassius) desire to identify the killer of a free-woman who is endeared to him via bewildering circumstances. To its credit, the novel goes deeper than the average "whodunit." It is the equally complex sub-plots, the noble and conniving characters, the accuracy of the historical content, and the wonderfully imagined social network of life, love, loss, and pain on a Virginia Plantation at the onset of the Civil War that add layers of depth and incredible breadth to the story. The politics and racial attitudes of the day are illustrated well in the book which also contained some of the most vivid battlefield scenes I have read.
So often books of this nature cover the master-slave relationship in the perfunctory manner, but Fuller exceeded my expectations by creating some very unique relationships among the slaves and the slave owners. Another aspect that I respected was the equal weight given to the happenings inside the "big house" as well as the slave quarters. He also vigilantly broached valid but unpopular topics such as as slaves supporting the Confederacy and the manipulation, betrayal, and infighting within the slave community. He also showed us the intelligence, bravery, and cunning of Cassius as he navigated the plantation and the free world.
Bottom line: There are several reviews posted already that enthusiastically endorse the novel and I agree wholeheartedly with them. Most likely this novel will make my personal Top Reads list for this year -- I enjoyed it for the history lessons, the mystery, and the characters. This book is firmly on equal footing with The March by E.L. Doctorow, Song Yet Sung by James McBride, and Stand the Storm by Breena Clarke. Recommended for historical fiction fans interested in the US slave institution during the Civil War era.
So often books of this nature cover the master-slave relationship in the perfunctory manner, but Fuller exceeded my expectations by creating some very unique relationships among the slaves and the slave owners. Another aspect that I respected was the equal weight given to the happenings inside the "big house" as well as the slave quarters. He also vigilantly broached valid but unpopular topics such as as slaves supporting the Confederacy and the manipulation, betrayal, and infighting within the slave community. He also showed us the intelligence, bravery, and cunning of Cassius as he navigated the plantation and the free world.
Bottom line: There are several reviews posted already that enthusiastically endorse the novel and I agree wholeheartedly with them. Most likely this novel will make my personal Top Reads list for this year -- I enjoyed it for the history lessons, the mystery, and the characters. This book is firmly on equal footing with The March by E.L. Doctorow, Song Yet Sung by James McBride, and Stand the Storm by Breena Clarke. Recommended for historical fiction fans interested in the US slave institution during the Civil War era.
March 17, 2011
This is a dry-earth book, filled with very fully-realised characters and the sort of incidental details I love in a narrative, the kind Mark Twain would deplore: a drifting scrap of cobweb, the precise way the wind shakes the trees, suchlike things.
The protagonist is an extremely emotionally repressed man, which makes his reactions interesting but imparts a very detached feel to the narrative. A plantation slave wandering Virginia in 1862 has some visceral sights to see, but nothing really moves Cassius on a surface level...things shift within him slowly and deeply, which reflects admirable skill on the part of the writer but gives the reader little to connect to. This lack of connection and surface emotion may be why the book strikes me as unsatisfying...deep and/or slow characters are great, especially when they're as intelligent and silently angry as Cassius, but what makes a great story is when that smouldering eventually flares to action. I expected Cassius to someday get his quotation marks (slaves in the book speak without these) after all the steps he'd taken towards free thinking, but instead the book meanders to a halt.
The protagonist is an extremely emotionally repressed man, which makes his reactions interesting but imparts a very detached feel to the narrative. A plantation slave wandering Virginia in 1862 has some visceral sights to see, but nothing really moves Cassius on a surface level...things shift within him slowly and deeply, which reflects admirable skill on the part of the writer but gives the reader little to connect to. This lack of connection and surface emotion may be why the book strikes me as unsatisfying...deep and/or slow characters are great, especially when they're as intelligent and silently angry as Cassius, but what makes a great story is when that smouldering eventually flares to action. I expected Cassius to someday get his quotation marks (slaves in the book speak without these) after all the steps he'd taken towards free thinking, but instead the book meanders to a halt.
June 25, 2012
With an abundance of excellent books about the Civil War south and slavery there is no need to read Sweetsmoke. David Fuller's book is part murder mystery, part description of plantation life, and part war novel. Unfortunately because it tries to to fulfill so many roles it fulfills none of them well. By the time the murder mystery was finally solved, I had become distracted by so many other plot lines that I no longer cared who the murderer was. Additionally, with the exception of the main character, the slave Cassius, the characters were undeveloped and uninteresting. For instance, I never could figure out the allure of Emoline, the former slave murdered in the early chapters of the book. I also found it completely unrealistic that Cassius, a previously uneducated man, could learn to read and write so well in such a short period of time. Because much of the plot hinges on this development, I had a hard time appreciating and believing most of the story. The one positive aspect of this book is that it presented the complex relationship between slaves and owners without resorting to stereotypes. Still, this one positive does not compensate for the books many other flaws.
September 3, 2014
I read this book, and it along with others is the reason I doubt that White people can write from the Black perspective. Whenever I read where a Negro character wants to perserve his place in slavery because they have it so good, I always look up the author and invarabily it is a White person. This book is no different and it ruins my ability to enjoy the book. While I don't think every book should be about the horrors of slavery, I do think that writers should do research and write characters who were believable and consistent with their time period. In the slave narratives I have read, the pleasure of slavery was never mentioned, certainly not a theme. So it makes me suspect that the writer had a book in mind, and really didn't have a love or knowledge of the time. Please do your research before writing about a world or time you don't know.
June 27, 2013
I initially waivered on whether or not to read this book. The premise -- a slave investigating a murder -- was interesting, but seemed like the kind of plot that could go really, really wrong and become completely unrealistic. I am so glad that I finally decided to read this book, as I really enjoyed it. I found myself interested both in the mystery and the characters themselves. The liberties which the slave Cassius were granted made sense in the context of the storyline and the complex relationship between himself and Master Hoke. The deceptions and backstabbing among the slaves and among the members of the household added depth to the story, and the author's vivid descriptions brought it to life. His depictions of the horrors both of slavery and of the battlefield were impressive and humbling.
September 27, 2019
Beautifully written, heart wrenching book. I learned more about slavery than i ever wanted to know.
September 29, 2023
Good background history. Needs more story to hang it on.
April 23, 2009
Rated 4-1/2 if the site allowed it. David Fuller is a screen writer, thus he has an excellent command of pacing, which was evident in this book. Although this book read like a character-driven novel, there was action at every turn.
Cassius is a 30-something slave on a Virginia tobacco plantation, Sweetsmoke, owned by Hoke Howard, who has been his only owner and had named him at birth. The whereabouts of his parents is never discussed, but he was raised by old Mam' Rosie, who also raised Hoke's children.
Hoke and Cassius have a complex relationship, part long-standing affection, part fear (on both sides), and part grudging respect. Early in the book Hoke tells Cassius the bad news that Emoline, a former slave freed by Hoke some years before, and a woman who had saved Cassius' life after he fled the plantation, had been murdered. Though Hoke had clearly once loved Emoline, he seems to feel no interest in who the murderer is. Cassius, however, feels he must uncover it and avenge her death.
The reader really feels the plight of the slaves, and one of the ways it's made obvious is that whenever anyone who is free speaks there are quote marks around their speech. If they are slaves, there are no quotes. Thus, the reader is always aware of the difference in position of the speakers, even between a slave and a freed negro.
The descriptions of slave life are often very gritty and give the reader an excellent idea of how horrible it was to be property of another human, one who felt their property was subhuman and inconsequential. Also, the description of the battle at Sharpsburg is one of the best battle scenes I've ever read.
It is also apparent that the slaves themselves are jockeying for position and will often do whatever is necessary to advance themselves, even at the expense of another slave. There were several instances when women (usually the flowers of the South, so often thought to be so kind and benevolent) were spiteful, manipulative, or cruel, to the ultimate degradation, horrible pain, or death of the slaves.
My only argument with the book was that Cassius' life seemed to be charmed both when he was young, and during the events of this book. There certainly was a period of about five years when his life was very, very bad, but otherwise he seemed to be able to get away with nearly anything he wanted. Fuller was careful to explain all those instances, but still it stretched the imagination too far.
I loved many quotes in the book. The following are a few that stood out:
"Cassius still found it odd to be spoken of as if he were deaf or invisible. It happened often; whites simply said whatever was on their minds from front of their 'people,' bluntly revealing their thoughts and secrets. . . . knowing he was taken so lightly made him feel small."
"Humiliations from planters, their families, and every other white man, woman, and child in the county are more easily borne when your new partner hasn't been witness to your history of degradation, thus allowing you to maintain a small measure of dignity."
"Hoke looked at Cassius and his eyes were burdened with the helplessness of a terrible knowledge. In dismay, Cassius felt Hoke's empathy enfold him and finally understood his punishment. He did not intend to sell Cassius. Cassius was to witness the results of his actions, actions that had brought Tempie to this place, and thus be foreced to confront his conscience. The bleached muslin of the tent, warmly lit and close, embraced a history of anguish and grief and apprehension, the last place so many, God, so many people, would ever see their sons and daughters, their mothers and fathers and grandparents, their sisters and brothers and playmates before they were sold, and as the side of the tent bowed and shuddered in a soft breeze, Cassius heard a collective moan."
"A pet is something to love, a dog particularly. He loves you without opinion or judgment, he does not speak to you indignantly, he does not confuse your affections with foolish ideas and odd perspectives; he merely loves. I sometimes think of how easy it was for my father to favor you, Cassius."
Cassius is a 30-something slave on a Virginia tobacco plantation, Sweetsmoke, owned by Hoke Howard, who has been his only owner and had named him at birth. The whereabouts of his parents is never discussed, but he was raised by old Mam' Rosie, who also raised Hoke's children.
Hoke and Cassius have a complex relationship, part long-standing affection, part fear (on both sides), and part grudging respect. Early in the book Hoke tells Cassius the bad news that Emoline, a former slave freed by Hoke some years before, and a woman who had saved Cassius' life after he fled the plantation, had been murdered. Though Hoke had clearly once loved Emoline, he seems to feel no interest in who the murderer is. Cassius, however, feels he must uncover it and avenge her death.
The reader really feels the plight of the slaves, and one of the ways it's made obvious is that whenever anyone who is free speaks there are quote marks around their speech. If they are slaves, there are no quotes. Thus, the reader is always aware of the difference in position of the speakers, even between a slave and a freed negro.
The descriptions of slave life are often very gritty and give the reader an excellent idea of how horrible it was to be property of another human, one who felt their property was subhuman and inconsequential. Also, the description of the battle at Sharpsburg is one of the best battle scenes I've ever read.
It is also apparent that the slaves themselves are jockeying for position and will often do whatever is necessary to advance themselves, even at the expense of another slave. There were several instances when women (usually the flowers of the South, so often thought to be so kind and benevolent) were spiteful, manipulative, or cruel, to the ultimate degradation, horrible pain, or death of the slaves.
My only argument with the book was that Cassius' life seemed to be charmed both when he was young, and during the events of this book. There certainly was a period of about five years when his life was very, very bad, but otherwise he seemed to be able to get away with nearly anything he wanted. Fuller was careful to explain all those instances, but still it stretched the imagination too far.
I loved many quotes in the book. The following are a few that stood out:
"Cassius still found it odd to be spoken of as if he were deaf or invisible. It happened often; whites simply said whatever was on their minds from front of their 'people,' bluntly revealing their thoughts and secrets. . . . knowing he was taken so lightly made him feel small."
"Humiliations from planters, their families, and every other white man, woman, and child in the county are more easily borne when your new partner hasn't been witness to your history of degradation, thus allowing you to maintain a small measure of dignity."
"Hoke looked at Cassius and his eyes were burdened with the helplessness of a terrible knowledge. In dismay, Cassius felt Hoke's empathy enfold him and finally understood his punishment. He did not intend to sell Cassius. Cassius was to witness the results of his actions, actions that had brought Tempie to this place, and thus be foreced to confront his conscience. The bleached muslin of the tent, warmly lit and close, embraced a history of anguish and grief and apprehension, the last place so many, God, so many people, would ever see their sons and daughters, their mothers and fathers and grandparents, their sisters and brothers and playmates before they were sold, and as the side of the tent bowed and shuddered in a soft breeze, Cassius heard a collective moan."
"A pet is something to love, a dog particularly. He loves you without opinion or judgment, he does not speak to you indignantly, he does not confuse your affections with foolish ideas and odd perspectives; he merely loves. I sometimes think of how easy it was for my father to favor you, Cassius."
February 6, 2021
This is set on a Virginia tobacco plantation in 1862 and is ostensibly a murder mystery which a slave, Cassius, sets out to solve. However, it is much more about the crushing inhumanity and daily indignities of the slavery system than the fairly slight mystery (eventually bound up with the Civil War) which Cassius risks his life to investigate. There are a few flaws and too familiar tropes in the narrative but the portrait of rich and poor southern whites, the capricious nature of slave life, the ultimate significance of the War and Cassius’ experience of battle make up for it. Really good!
July 24, 2008
Sweetsmoke, is the name of a fictitious southern plantation owned by Hoke Howard. The story takes place sometime during the Civil War when the roles of owner and master are hanging in the balance. Slaves are running to taste freedom and owners are desperate to maintain the status quo by creating horrific examples of those who dare to flee. Both master and slave are afraid, for the future is precarious and unknown.[return][return]Hoke Howard is the owner of Sweetsmoke consisting of the land, tobacco crop, livestock and most important of all his slave chattel. Cassius is one of Hoke s favored slaves and for some unexplained reason he is treated differently. Their unique relationship is noticed by the slave community as they perceive freedom given to him that others do not have.[return][return][return]Emoline Justice is a freed slave living in town who was once owned by Hoke. She lives in town and is a conjurer, a healer, who nurses Hoke back from a serious injury. During the time he spends with her he learns to read, a punishable offense, often by death. This being Cassuis weapon, he keeps his secret from everyone. One day, Emoline is found dead, murdered by a crushing blow to her head from behind. Cassius becomes enraged with anger when he is told and has no choice but to seek vengeance for the death of his friend and teacher. To search for the killer, Cassius must leave the plantation requiring all his wit and skills to survive. He has never had so much freedom, but will he run given the chance?[return][return]Fuller s storytelling is mesmerizing as he unveils hidden secrets of the Sweetsmoke Plantation that intertwine between the slave quarters and the big house. His book is destined to be a major classic of American literature. It should be included on any reading list choice in high schools where there is an American History curriculum and also included in the study of US History in college.[return][return]David Fuller s writing is beautifully poetic, written with lyrical verse and deep passion.[return]He is an accomplished storyteller whose years of screenwriting experience shows in this debut novel. As in any great movie, I couldn t wait to find out what happens. At the same time I wanted to savor the story and prolong the ending. Let s hope his next book is not too far in the future.
December 20, 2010
David Fuller's first novel follows Cassius, a slave on the Virginia tobacco plantation Sweetsmoke. As the American Civil War rages on the periphery, Cassius spends his days tending to carpentry needs on the plantation and taking advantage of the small amount of freedom granted to him by the plantation master, Hoke Howard.
After a close friend is murdered, Cassius vows to find the killer, even though he risks the few things he holds dear in the process.
At its core, Sweetsmoke is a decent novel, especially coming from a new novelist. But the quality fluctuates through, which leads to a lot of headaches. Fuller often intercuts some well crafted intrigue with laborious descriptions of minutia, almost like he's trying to prove he did his historical research (in case you're wondering, he did). This is especially true for the first half of the novel; it's almost tough to make it through a few pages without grumbling.
That said, it picks up near the end, and the bittersweet conclusion works quite well in the context. Fuller also paints some compelling characters; he does a nice job of showing how multifaceted these people are.
Sweetsmoke was a fairly promising read, even though it had lapse of cluttered, over expository dialogue and descriptions. But some of the good elements made it worth trudging through.
After a close friend is murdered, Cassius vows to find the killer, even though he risks the few things he holds dear in the process.
At its core, Sweetsmoke is a decent novel, especially coming from a new novelist. But the quality fluctuates through, which leads to a lot of headaches. Fuller often intercuts some well crafted intrigue with laborious descriptions of minutia, almost like he's trying to prove he did his historical research (in case you're wondering, he did). This is especially true for the first half of the novel; it's almost tough to make it through a few pages without grumbling.
That said, it picks up near the end, and the bittersweet conclusion works quite well in the context. Fuller also paints some compelling characters; he does a nice job of showing how multifaceted these people are.
Sweetsmoke was a fairly promising read, even though it had lapse of cluttered, over expository dialogue and descriptions. But some of the good elements made it worth trudging through.
March 3, 2015
Sweetsmoke is an evocative title. It draws in the senses and sets a mood. The novel does the same. It draws us into the life of Cassius, a slave on the Sweetsmoke plantation during the Civil War, and gives us a sense of the sights, sounds, and smells of that life. Even more importantly, though, it imparts, more effectively than any book that I've read, what it means to be a slave, what it means to be an intelligent adult treated as a child or property.
I love historical fiction and this book has all of the elements of great historical fiction. The main character is compelling and many of the others are multi-dimensional. There is a clear sense of place and a wonderful integration of the historical events taking place at that time. David Fuller spent years researching this book, and it shows. The historical details are right .
The writing is skillful and descriptive. Several times while I was reading the book I had the thought that it would make a wonderful movie, and I think that that was due--at least in part--to the fact that Fuller brought his skills as a screenwriter to the writing of this book.
Highly recommended.
I love historical fiction and this book has all of the elements of great historical fiction. The main character is compelling and many of the others are multi-dimensional. There is a clear sense of place and a wonderful integration of the historical events taking place at that time. David Fuller spent years researching this book, and it shows. The historical details are right .
The writing is skillful and descriptive. Several times while I was reading the book I had the thought that it would make a wonderful movie, and I think that that was due--at least in part--to the fact that Fuller brought his skills as a screenwriter to the writing of this book.
Highly recommended.
May 19, 2018
This book is part mystery, part historical fiction, part character study. All of the pieces were fit together by the author to show the brutality of slavery, the horror of the Civil War, the good and the bad of all of the characters in this story. Cassius the main character of this story is a slave that is trying to find his place in the changing world. The changes that are hinted at in the beginning of the Civil War. He is chaffing under the plantation system, he thinks there is something better for him but then there are times he is afraid to see any change. He is part of the "plantation family" a family run by those who feel they are taking care of their people, but who can turn on them on a whim. Cassius is also trying to find who killed the woman Emoline who nursed him back to health after he was whipped. The writing is so descriptive, you find yourself drawn into how things may have been for any one of the characters in this story. The battle scenes show the futility of war both sides feeling they are in the right with those who are slaves the pawns stuck in the middle. A powerful story weel worth the read.
September 16, 2008
I've never been a big fan of Civil War fiction, but the unusual description and beautiful cover art drew me to this book, and I'm so glad for it. The story follows a slave, Cassius, who works as a carpenter on the Sweetsmoke plantation and enjoys a relative amount of freedom, at least compared to the other slaves. He has also experienced more than his share of tragedy, losing a son to the slave traders, a wife to suicide, and a mentor to murder. It is the final tragedy, the murder of the free black woman, Cassius' mentor Emoline, that drives him through the rest of the book. For me, though, it was the beautiful writing and Cassius himself who really made this book worth reading. I found myself in a wholly new position, with a new perspective on what it may have been like to live life as a slave. I wanted Cassius to be free, but was terrified for him to run away, certain that he would be caught and tortured. It was an agonizing, entrancing, and ultimately a hopeful book to read, and as a result I'm looking for some new books set in the Civil War. I've been hooked!
June 2, 2011
Written from the perspective of Cassius, a slave, back during the early days of the Civil War, this is a very nicely done tale of just how intertwined the lives of the slaves & their white owners/families were. Cassius is a slight step up from the rest of the slaves, because he is a carpenter, a man with a trade, so he has more liberties than some of the rest of them, & he seems to get away with more sass because he is the favorite of his master Hoke. Through Cassius' travels, & the events of plantation life, we experience in our minds what it was like to have lived back then, & are horrified by the punishments given out for infractions, or even perceived infractions by a temperamental mistress.
This book is fascinating, & it draws you in. Very good read, comes highly recommended.
This book is fascinating, & it draws you in. Very good read, comes highly recommended.
January 4, 2009
The hardest thing to get used to while reading this book, is the author chose not to use quotation marks to denote when the slaves were speaking, only the white people and freed slaves conversations were separated by quotes. I found myself having to reread sentences as I realized they were verbal comments. But the adjustment is quick.
June 23, 2008
Mary K. talked about this one Sunday night. Pubbing in October, we now have multiple ARCs, so please give it a read and add to this review.
February 4, 2017
Although it was good, I'm disappointed. The whole story could have been told in half the pages.
June 1, 2023
This may qualify as a "hot take" as the young people say, but it's books like this that make me believe that white authors should just stay away from slave narratives. For the longest time, I had a hard time articulating why I felt this way, but I think it comes down to this. To me, and this is just my opinion, there is something unsettling about a white author profiting from a book that has some pretty awful depictions of black people when their potential ancestors could have been the slave owners that did all these terrible things historically. Just to clarify, I do think this book was decently researched and I don't think the author was maliciously plotting to exploit a group of people or anything like that. For me it's just really uncomfortable to read the inevitable "shocking demonstration of the horrors of slavery" scene which seems to be in EVERY slavery book on a good day and for reasons I can't fully describe it feels weirdly exploitative knowing it was written by a white author (in this case, this scene was a description of a man "inspecting" his purchase of a female slave at an auction).
The other "tell" that I can usually use to spot a white author writing a slave narrative is that the story is more likely to feature some plot device that "softens the blow" of white responsibility when it comes to slavery. It's impossible to deny that historically white people did some very bad things (#notallwhitepeople, yes, yes I know). The authors typically don't try to make white slaveowners into heroes, but there is a tendency to either include at least a few "good" white people for white readers to support, or they lean into the same historical aspects that people tend to bring up when they are trying to downplay the impact of slavery including the following: 1.) Some slaves didn't want to be freed because their masters treated them well, 2.) Some slaves took advantage of their slave role to better themselves. 3.) Bringing up the whole "house slaves" had it better than "field slaves" argument without really acknowledging that both were really bad options. etc. I realize that these points are at least somewhat based in historical fact, but the way it is brought up typically by minor characters that don't play a large role in the story simply to play devil's advocate in a weird way feels like it is muddying the waters of the slavery conversation. I so rarely see this plot device pulled off well and this book is no exception with all of the above included as part of the plot.
Apart from my own conflicted feelings, I just found the writing and plot of this book to be very underwhelming. There are numerous novels about slavery that do a much better job of examining the incredibly complex relationships between slaves, their fellows, and their owners. This book tries to be a combination of a mystery novel and a plantation story. The mystery, particularly its victim who should be the driving force of the story, gets so little focus that it is hard to invest in the "whodunnit" aspect. Emoline in particular feels like an afterthought and its never really demonstrated well why she was so special to either Hoke or Cassius.
Also, (spoilers ahead! you have been warned!)
I didn't realize that Jacob was supposed to be a red herring for the white man that actually fathered Cassius's son. I knew right away that it was Hoke and I didn't think that the author was trying to convince me that it was Jacob until towards the end of the novel when Jacob's conversation was supposed to serve as a "big reveal". It didn't even feel like a twist to me because I thought it was just supposed to be an established fact that showed the complexity of Hoke and Cassius's relationship which feels like a failing of the writing.
In general, it feels like this book is trying so hard to be incredibly poignant and profound when really it just comes across as your run-of-the-mill book club historical fiction story. This is especially noted through the lack of quotation marks when the black characters speak. I realize that the author was trying to make a statement with this, but honestly it just came across as gimmicky to me. This book is really trying hard to find a place amongst the Alice Walker and Zora Neale Hurston narratives of the world, but for me it just fell short and came across as a bland, meandering story with a downer ending.
The other "tell" that I can usually use to spot a white author writing a slave narrative is that the story is more likely to feature some plot device that "softens the blow" of white responsibility when it comes to slavery. It's impossible to deny that historically white people did some very bad things (#notallwhitepeople, yes, yes I know). The authors typically don't try to make white slaveowners into heroes, but there is a tendency to either include at least a few "good" white people for white readers to support, or they lean into the same historical aspects that people tend to bring up when they are trying to downplay the impact of slavery including the following: 1.) Some slaves didn't want to be freed because their masters treated them well, 2.) Some slaves took advantage of their slave role to better themselves. 3.) Bringing up the whole "house slaves" had it better than "field slaves" argument without really acknowledging that both were really bad options. etc. I realize that these points are at least somewhat based in historical fact, but the way it is brought up typically by minor characters that don't play a large role in the story simply to play devil's advocate in a weird way feels like it is muddying the waters of the slavery conversation. I so rarely see this plot device pulled off well and this book is no exception with all of the above included as part of the plot.
Apart from my own conflicted feelings, I just found the writing and plot of this book to be very underwhelming. There are numerous novels about slavery that do a much better job of examining the incredibly complex relationships between slaves, their fellows, and their owners. This book tries to be a combination of a mystery novel and a plantation story. The mystery, particularly its victim who should be the driving force of the story, gets so little focus that it is hard to invest in the "whodunnit" aspect. Emoline in particular feels like an afterthought and its never really demonstrated well why she was so special to either Hoke or Cassius.
Also, (spoilers ahead! you have been warned!)
I didn't realize that Jacob was supposed to be a red herring for the white man that actually fathered Cassius's son. I knew right away that it was Hoke and I didn't think that the author was trying to convince me that it was Jacob until towards the end of the novel when Jacob's conversation was supposed to serve as a "big reveal". It didn't even feel like a twist to me because I thought it was just supposed to be an established fact that showed the complexity of Hoke and Cassius's relationship which feels like a failing of the writing.
In general, it feels like this book is trying so hard to be incredibly poignant and profound when really it just comes across as your run-of-the-mill book club historical fiction story. This is especially noted through the lack of quotation marks when the black characters speak. I realize that the author was trying to make a statement with this, but honestly it just came across as gimmicky to me. This book is really trying hard to find a place amongst the Alice Walker and Zora Neale Hurston narratives of the world, but for me it just fell short and came across as a bland, meandering story with a downer ending.
September 6, 2019
This is an exceptional novel . Can I give more than five stars? Can I give ten? May I please offer twenty! This book has held me for the last several days in suspense, fear, anger, humor and yes despite the subject, joy. I LOVE THIS BOOK and I do not say this lightly. I am not going to go in to the story synopsis, others will have done this far better than I. Suffice it to say that through David Fullers expert writing I lived with the characters, cried with them and suffered with them. This is how good a story teller he is. I laughed - albeit a little bit at the cluelessness of (frightened) slave owners, as they were trapped in the dysfunctional world of their own making. But what a novel, what a story to tell. Cassius our hero, is a wonder, a very angry man who has the strength and personal will to talk himself out of throttling everyone who 'gets his goat' even though most justly deserve it . He is good/bad, smart/simple, angry... vindictive ...and finally - forgiving. Cassius reaches a place most of us never will, despite being a slave all his life. What an incredible character, and what a great telling of a difficult and terrible part of our nations history. Most highly, HIGHLY recommended.
Thank you LibraryThing for the opportunity to view this first hand. I just adored it. Best time I've spent behind a page in a long time.
Thank you LibraryThing for the opportunity to view this first hand. I just adored it. Best time I've spent behind a page in a long time.
December 29, 2017
It is 1862, and the carnage of civil war is not far away from Sweetsmoke. Sweetsmoke is the name of the Howard family’s Virginia tobacco plantation. Life there is complicated for the Howards and even more so for the many slaves they own. Not the idyllic portrait some folks like to picture. In this culture every comment, every movement and every so-called secret is cause for misinterpretation and mistrust. There are chains, and whippings and broken families and rape and runaways. And love. Still, all have grown accustomed to a very uncomfortable co-existence.
Cassius, the central character, has it better than most of the slaves at Sweetsmoke; he is the skilled carpenter and thus freed from field work. He enjoys certain other benefits which cause jealousy amongst the other slaves and suspicion among the Howards. When the former slave, Emoline Justice is found murdered Cassius becomes determined to find her killer (Emoline was the most important person in his life). How could a slave go about conducting a murder investigation during the Civil War? Well, it ain’t easy. His investigation leads him to a spy network, and ultimately into the middle of the Battle of Antietam. This is a wonderful, thoughtful novel. Highly recommended.
Cassius, the central character, has it better than most of the slaves at Sweetsmoke; he is the skilled carpenter and thus freed from field work. He enjoys certain other benefits which cause jealousy amongst the other slaves and suspicion among the Howards. When the former slave, Emoline Justice is found murdered Cassius becomes determined to find her killer (Emoline was the most important person in his life). How could a slave go about conducting a murder investigation during the Civil War? Well, it ain’t easy. His investigation leads him to a spy network, and ultimately into the middle of the Battle of Antietam. This is a wonderful, thoughtful novel. Highly recommended.
August 8, 2020
Cassius, a secretly literate slave on a Civil War–era Virginia tobacco plantation, is determined to track down whoever killed his mentor and surrogate mother, Emoline Justice, a free black woman. Making liberal use of his limited freedoms, Cassius takes to the road, playing the obvious disadvantages of life under the yoke to his favor. Along the way, he encounters slave traders, Underground Railroad conspirators, Union & Confederate soldiers, Northern spies and a wide assortment of African-Americans, slave and free. Edgar Award for Best 1st Novel nominee (2009).
September 18, 2020
I really enjoyed Sweetsmoke, in large part because of the voice of the narrator of the audiobook, Ezra Knight. He was fabulous! The story of slave Cassius of the fictional Virginia tobacco plantation Sweetsmoke at the beginning of the Civil War in 1862, is impelling. Cassius is a hero in so many ways. He commits to finding the murderer of his mentor Emoline, a mother figure to him, who has taught him to read as well as having nursed him back to health after a severe punishment by his owner, Hoke Howard. Very well worth the read.
October 1, 2017
War and Slavery
Slavery , at times, and the Holocaust were similar in some ways. This book showed me that slaves were led to believe they couldn't think or reason or even care for anyone. The phrase, "Love brings death," was used. Love a spouse; the owner could sleep with your wife, sell your husband and children, and then blame it on you. It makes me so ashamed to think that perhaps my ancestors owned other humans. This was well written and much research went into this book.
Slavery , at times, and the Holocaust were similar in some ways. This book showed me that slaves were led to believe they couldn't think or reason or even care for anyone. The phrase, "Love brings death," was used. Love a spouse; the owner could sleep with your wife, sell your husband and children, and then blame it on you. It makes me so ashamed to think that perhaps my ancestors owned other humans. This was well written and much research went into this book.
July 18, 2018
Overall enjoyed this book and it's depiction of the civil war from a slave's view point. What I wrestled with was some of the stock characters of the conflicted but benevolent plantation owner, the slimy slave trader, the scheming house slave, etc. Would have like to see more original takes on those roles to really make this a great book.
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