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So Far Back
Louisa Hilliard, the last descendant of one of Charleston's oldest families, finds her quiet life turned upside down when she comes upon the diary of one of her ancestors, which recounts the story of Diana, a 19th Century slave who worked for the Hilliards. As Louisa learns of Diana's tragic fate, she begins to sense a presence roaming in her house. Attempting to appease this presence and set right age-old wrongs, she discovers how her own life is entangled in her family's haunted history.
259 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
Pam Durban
13 books6 followersfrom the back of the book All Set About with Fever Trees
Pam Durban grew up in South Carolina. She has worked as a journalist and teacher in New York, Kentucky, and Georgia. She was the 1984 recipient of the Rinehart Award in Fiction, and her work has appeared in a number of publications, including Tri-Quarterly, Crazyhorse, and The Georgia Review. The title story of this, her first book, appeared in The Editor's Choice anthology, Vol. II. She currently teaches at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
from amazon.com:
Pam Durban is the author of The Laughing Place, which won the 1994 Townsend Prize for Fiction. In addition, Durban is the recipient of the 1988 Whiting Writer's Award and the 1984 Rinehart Award in Fiction. Her stories, which have appeared in such publications as Tri-Quarterly, Crazyhorse, and The Georgia Review, have been widely anthologized. She teaches at Georgia State University.
Pam Durban grew up in South Carolina. She has worked as a journalist and teacher in New York, Kentucky, and Georgia. She was the 1984 recipient of the Rinehart Award in Fiction, and her work has appeared in a number of publications, including Tri-Quarterly, Crazyhorse, and The Georgia Review. The title story of this, her first book, appeared in The Editor's Choice anthology, Vol. II. She currently teaches at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
from amazon.com:
Pam Durban is the author of The Laughing Place, which won the 1994 Townsend Prize for Fiction. In addition, Durban is the recipient of the 1988 Whiting Writer's Award and the 1984 Rinehart Award in Fiction. Her stories, which have appeared in such publications as Tri-Quarterly, Crazyhorse, and The Georgia Review, have been widely anthologized. She teaches at Georgia State University.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 22, 2018
It is rare to find a book that deals with racism and racist people in a way that reflects shifting values and times without flinching. Despite what I thought I knew about our nation's history, I was deeply moved by the thoughts of individual women in generations of two families struggling together—most often against one another. The story we tell ourselves about our nation, our families, and ourselves is designed to comfort. This novel provides a broader truth.
"I can tell you, people will go to any lengths, to any lengths at all, to believe what it comforts them to believe. But I am after something other than comfort here."
To believe that slaves were not people, that a woman's place is to remain meek and silent, that a pistol shot in the mouth was accidental, that what is beautiful and fine is not destroyed by the bald, unwarrantable usurpation of slavery . . .
Durban has done her research. This is no whitewashing of the appalling abuses of Southern slavery, but through multiple viewpoints it allows people to reveal themselves as petty, frightened, vindictive, and cruel, but also as generous, righteous, and loving. That sometimes all these qualities exist in the same people should surprise no one familiar with human nature.
The ending is not neat and tidy because life so rarely is, but it is humane and satisfying.
Ultimately, this is a story of human decency and love, and while it took one family generations to get there, I am grateful for the time I spent in these pages. It is a novel I will reread, one for my "favorites" shelf.
"I can tell you, people will go to any lengths, to any lengths at all, to believe what it comforts them to believe. But I am after something other than comfort here."
To believe that slaves were not people, that a woman's place is to remain meek and silent, that a pistol shot in the mouth was accidental, that what is beautiful and fine is not destroyed by the bald, unwarrantable usurpation of slavery . . .
Durban has done her research. This is no whitewashing of the appalling abuses of Southern slavery, but through multiple viewpoints it allows people to reveal themselves as petty, frightened, vindictive, and cruel, but also as generous, righteous, and loving. That sometimes all these qualities exist in the same people should surprise no one familiar with human nature.
The ending is not neat and tidy because life so rarely is, but it is humane and satisfying.
Ultimately, this is a story of human decency and love, and while it took one family generations to get there, I am grateful for the time I spent in these pages. It is a novel I will reread, one for my "favorites" shelf.
April 21, 2009
alternates between 1837 and present day - Charleston society lady Louisa Hilliard discovers the christening gown in the Charleston museum that's been an important part of her family's legacy was sewn by a slave, Dinah, a distant relative of Evelyn. Louisa attempts to set the record straight, but the museum is slow to change history. Evelyn is slow to make change as well. Story continues with Louisa's god daughter Ann Culp discovering her beloved grandfather was probably involved in lynching of 2 young black men and was proud enough of his act to have the photograph framed. Ann decides she needs to changes too. One hopes she's more successful than Louisa and Evelyn.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2023
I read this book shortly after it was published and liked it so much that I invited the author, a creative writing professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, to speak to the Honors students at Meredith College in 2002 after our trip to Charleston, where the historical novel is set. South Carolina native Durban's intimate knowledge of the city and its history and people is evident on every page. Her work jumps from the damage of 1989's Hurricane Hugo back to the infinitely more devastating and long-lasting trauma of slavery. Linking two spinster relatives separated by 150 years, Durban tells an archetypal southern story of lives scarred by being owned and being owners of other human beings. Using the device of fictive diary entries and interview transcripts, Durban portrays an aristocratic family trying not only to stage their carefully preserved plantation homestead but to curate their family history as well. She crafts a modern-day ghost story of long-silent African American women finding their voice through objects of material culture that their owners appropriated. While many students found the novel slow and long at 250 pages, I found the work moving and memorable, though I wished for the black voices to be less muted and distanced.
August 23, 2019
I don't get it. The writing is eloquent, and there are some interesting characters, but there is no real story here. It seems that Duban is trying to reconcile her guilt from the antebellum South. I feel that if I read this again, I might find the common thread, but the book just isn't compelling enough. There isn't enough ghost to be a ghost story. No one gets to be with the ones they love, so it's not a love story. And I'm never sure who is supposed to be a good or bad guy. This was four stories that went nowhere.
June 12, 2021
Beautiful book. You will feel like you’re in Charleston in the spring and you will crave oysters and boudin. Not much of a ghost story, which I appreciated. More about history and the complications of an older generation’s race relations.
December 19, 2015
I read Durban's short story "Soon", which is probably one of the best I've ever read: construction, characters, pace, story line. That in mind, I took some trouble to find "So Far Back" which had been praised in the critical articles I read about Durban's short stories.
I was not disappointed. Despite all the negative comments I've seen here, which were a surprise, I was sucked right in, and ended up (I don't recommend this) reading the whole book in one day (no, I didn't do anything else-- except first finish another book I had been reading).
The book is moderately intense, and it TAKES reading through to feel the full power of the semi-current day interaction between Louise Hilliard and Evelyn Pope: action which depicts the heavy weight of personal and social history on these two women who embody Black and White southern America.
The only part of the book that I found tedious was the last chapter wherein the mantle of genteel southern white womanhood is passed on to Louise's best friend's granddaughter, hinting at another similar story.
Finished, I went to Amazon.uk and ordered a copy for a friend in Scotland, for Christmas.
I was not disappointed. Despite all the negative comments I've seen here, which were a surprise, I was sucked right in, and ended up (I don't recommend this) reading the whole book in one day (no, I didn't do anything else-- except first finish another book I had been reading).
The book is moderately intense, and it TAKES reading through to feel the full power of the semi-current day interaction between Louise Hilliard and Evelyn Pope: action which depicts the heavy weight of personal and social history on these two women who embody Black and White southern America.
The only part of the book that I found tedious was the last chapter wherein the mantle of genteel southern white womanhood is passed on to Louise's best friend's granddaughter, hinting at another similar story.
Finished, I went to Amazon.uk and ordered a copy for a friend in Scotland, for Christmas.
February 6, 2012
One Word - Huh? This novel is nonsensical and waste of paper. Storylines you think are important mean absolutely nothing in the end, Mamie and her relationship with the protagonist Louisa's mother, Mamie's fear of crossing bridge into town, Diana's resolve to be more than just a slave and her disappearance and the lack of personal growth from Louisa in her beliefs regarding race and race relations etc. The author introduces so much material and so many characters but explains nothing in the end.
Maybe author Pam Durban would have been better served in writing a short story to organize her thoughts better instead of over two hundred pages of writing in circles.
Maybe author Pam Durban would have been better served in writing a short story to organize her thoughts better instead of over two hundred pages of writing in circles.
July 6, 2010
The lives of the Hilliards, a Charleston family, and the family of the slaves they owned is told by the last living member of the Hilliard family. It was a quick read, but I never really felt connected to any of the characters. The middle of the book was the most readable, particularly the vignettes about Diana, the most spirited of the slaves, and whose ghost lingers in the Hilliard home. The latter quarter of the book was disappointing - it felt as there might be a more emotional or satisfying conclusion, but sadly, it closed with more of a whimper than a bang, leaving me unsatisfied.
December 26, 2009
This book gives amazing insight into the thoughts and minds of people during the time of slavery and beyond.
At first it was a little difficult for me to keep up with the characters because it goes back and forth between generations, but I eventually got into the swing of the writing. It was amazing. Definitely makes me want to visit Charleston sometime soon!
At first it was a little difficult for me to keep up with the characters because it goes back and forth between generations, but I eventually got into the swing of the writing. It was amazing. Definitely makes me want to visit Charleston sometime soon!
August 25, 2008
This book is set in Charleston in the present. The main character lives in a house that has passed down through
her family. She finds a diary that tells about life there
in the 1830s.
her family. She finds a diary that tells about life there
in the 1830s.
April 3, 2020
Story of one of Charleston's oldest families, the Hilliards. Travels back in time to pre-Civil War. Good view of history of slavery. Makes you think.
April 13, 2010
Not at all what I thought it was going to be about. Well written but very difficult to follow the many different character names, and not quite as exciting as I was expecting.
September 23, 2010
stuck with this for 120 pages because I was convinced it would be good. Maybe one day when I'm bored i will go back.
February 13, 2015
What a yawn-fest
November 22, 2015
Well written, full of insights about history, character, and culture, but a surprising number of storylines and personalities... some readers seem to object to it on that front.
January 25, 2016
Illuminating, informative and confronting. Loved it!
March 1, 2016
So Far Back, Pam Durban, HB-B, @ 2000, 11/00. A rambling story of two families, one while, one black in Charleston, SC, in the present day, and in the 1800's, masters and slaves. Not impressed!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews