Four Spirits

by Sena Jeter Naslund

Stella Silver is an idealistic, young white college student brought up by her genteel, mannered aunts. She first witnesses the events of the freedom movement from a safe distance but, along with her friend Cat Cartwright, is soon drawn into the mounting conflagration. Stella's and Cat's lives are forever altered by their new friendships with other committed freedom fighters.

A student at a black college, Christine Taylor is inspired to action by the examples of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. She courageously struggles to balance her family responsibilities, education, and work with the passions and dangers of the demonstrations. Her friend Gloria Callahan, a gifted young cellist and descendant of a runaway slave, tries to move beyond her personal shyness and family coziness to enter a wider circle, including blacks and whites, men and women, all involved with the protests. Lionel Parish, teacher, preacher, and peddler of funeral insurance, battles his own demons of lust and self-preservation, while New York activist Jonathan Green gives up a promising career as a pianist to work for racial justice in the South.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Book Club, Historical, Southern, Race, Literary Fiction

540 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Sena Jeter Naslund is an American writer and educator, author of seven novels and two short-fiction collections. Her novels Ahab's Wife (1999) and Four Spirits (2003) were named New York Times Notable Books of the Year. She co-founded the low-residency MFA program at Spalding University and serves as Writer in Residence at the University of Louisville. Naslund was named Poet Laureate of Kentucky in 2005. Her work often explores women who are marginalized or misunderstood. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, in the former home of poet Madison Cawein.

Reviews

[Dorie - Cats&Books :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beginning of this novel is a little slow moving while the author lays out the myriad of characters who will interact throughout the story. However we are richly rewarded for perseverance.

The author grew up in Birmingham and writes with understanding, insight and compassion about the city's tragic past, laden with racial tension, violence, repression. She speaks of the people who have given their lives to further integration.

We are given a broad view of the deep south during the 1960's through intense scenes of peaceful protest, violent police brutality and despicable actions of the Ku Klux Klan. I found this novel to be mesmerizing and felt the historical details were well described. The characters are very strong and believable. They vary from a white college student, a Ku Klux Klan member, to an African American teacher striving to educate high school drop outs.

I would strongly recommend this book for lovers of historical fiction.


***One of my all time favorites, check out other novels by this talented author***

[☕Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed much of this book but felt that it tried to do too much. It tried to address too many issues at once, and there were so many characters that it was difficult to get to know any one character in depth. Although Stella is in a sense the main character, she felt kind of superfluous to me and her story seemed to detract from the rest of the book. I think this author's writing is lovely but I wish this book would have been more focused.

[Nicole D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

CAUTION: RANTING

When I picked this book for my book club I knew it was topical. I knew we (as a nation) need to focus our attention on the racism in this country and one way to do that is to remind ourselves what we've already been through. When I picked this book for my book club, the shooting in South Carolina hadn't happened. And the Confederate flag was a mostly forgotten relic gently flapping its message of hate at a state capitol building, and sparking the fire of racism in some southern minds. When I picked this book for my book club, Donald Trump hadn't yet announced his 2016 Presidential bid along with his racism.

Let's turn to 1963. On September 15, 1963 there was a bombing at a church in Birmingham, Alabama killing 4 young girls. Children. Addie, Denise, Carole and Cynthia - The Four Spirits. The white author lived in Birmingham during this era and she promised herself that if she ever became a novelist, she would write about this time in history. There are autobiographical elements. It's not about Addie, Denise, Carole and Cynthia - it's about cross section of fictional characters, black and white, good and evil. There are a lot of characters points of view and at times I thought too many, but the author set out to paint a picture of life in the time and life in that time can only be described through many visions. It worked for me.

This is a story of the most extreme bravery. I have been the only white person in a room many times and never felt a qualm about it. I remember one time I was on a local bus in Jamaica, it was PACKED and I was not only the only white person, but the only woman. I see a policeperson and generally feel safe (or that I'm going to get a ticket :( ), they see a policeperson and wonder if they are going to be killed. Today. In 2015. It IS that black and white. I applaud every person of color who ever tried to grab a burger at a Woolworth's lunch counter. Who put themselves in that seat of rejection and were rejected. I want to cry for them. To hug them, and because I'm Italian, cook for them.

After the bombing, one of the characters is digging through debris of the church, looking for survivors. In his head echoes of MLK ..."I live a nightmare, I live a nightmare ... "
There's a quote in the book: "In church, you have a right to be safe. Surely?" (Fast forward to 2015: Not yet.) "No safe place. She wept with shame. They allowed no sanctity, no sacred place. And she? The force of hate left her mindless. Helpless. Bound to the shame of her own helplessness. Raped again, made helpless."

In November, Kennedy is killed. I've always thought of that day as the entire nation mourning. Our beloved president shot. I don't think of the past in the terms of the "red and blue" I think of the present. But it was there. Residents of the South celebrated because Kennedy was pro-integration and now he was gone. "The dusk air of the city was festive...... Everybody walked briskly. They were exhilarated, these shoppers and commuters of Birmingham." One of the characters in the book works at a gas station. He offers customers free confederate flag stickers in celebration. (Fast forward to 2015: Confederate flag patch on a jacket.)

To talk about the characters and their circumstances is to recount the whole book. Suffice it to say that there were heroes, and cowards. There was great, gut wrenching sadness. There were goosebumps. There was so much fear. Palpable fear. There were the Four Spirits watching over the city. There were martyrs. Was there change? True change? We changed the laws, but did we change hearts and minds?

This felt like a passion project for Jeter Naslund. I'm a fan of her other works, but there is something about this book that just got me in the core. Not sure it would impact everybody the same way, but it certainly did me. Though a long book, it moved quickly and I was completely immersed in the reading of it. I'm so glad I finally read this! It's been sitting here for AGES. But I know that the timing was right. I know that because because less than a month ago 9 people were killed in a church. And just a day before that an overt racist announced his bid for the White House. AND HE'S NUMBER TWO IN THE REPUBLICAN POLLS. (Supporting Trump is a condoning racism. No ambiguity.) This is a nation with people who teach their children racism, as Roof's father clearly did. We have to just say no. We have to make it stop. WE HAVE TO MAKE IT STOP.

In Jeter Naslund's words we need "a readiness to be kind, one to another; the courage to embrace people, without regard for color, for their essential HUMANNESS."

[Tra-Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quite a mess and could have stood to be halved. Most of the first near-300 pages are a mixture of clumsy failures at introspective, beautiful writing, and extended vignettes about various characters, much of which adds nothing to the story. I can't remember the last time I was so disappointed in a writer, but if not for my love for Ahab's Wife, I would never have kept reading.

Around the time Cat and Stella start teaching, the book picks up, and thankfully maintains momentum until the end. I'm not sure why Naslund felt that about 300 pages should pass before bringing the various characters in the story together. It all seems so fragmented and awkward up until that point. The writing continues to be occasionally absurd or lethargic thereafter, but it's much better because there's enough concrete plot to carry the story.

"Pratt had mentioned a Stella--probably a stuck-up snob--but surely somebody else lived here, too."

Fortunately, yes. Stella is the closest possible thing to Ada in Ahab's Wife, but she kind of draws together all of Ada's most annoying points. Eventually I started glossing the chapters from her perspective because I found the superfluous, pretentious writing repellent.

I enjoyed reading from most of the other characters' perspectives. There's a strong vein of courage and determination in most of them. Lee was just plain interesting - pretty cowardly and a little crazy, but like a bomb about to blow. The snowy ending of the story was lovely.

It's 2 stars for the first ~300 pages, 4 stars for the last ~200.

[Clare Savage · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like how this book was written. I was expecting more of an impact of the 4 little girls to be played out with the characters. I often put the book down for periods of time because it did not flow well. Although, it represented some of the feelings of the south, I was expecting more. I wanted more of an immigrant/religious perspective of growing up at this time. This would have been more of my family's story than the author's, but it is a huge part of Birmingham, AL history.

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I did learn more about the context of the Birmingham bombing, fewer characters with more depth would have been preferable. Oddly, despite some graphic descriptions of the violence, the book came off as "fluffy".

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great novel. I'll quote from the author,

"When I was a college student in the early sixties in Birmingham, Alabama, I promised myself, if I ever did become a novelist, that I would write about the acts of courage and tragedy taking place in my city. I would try to re-create through words what it was like to be alive then; how ordinary life went on, how people fell in and out of love, how family members got sick, how people worked ordinary jobs, tried to get an education, worshiped, looked for entertainment, grew up, died, participated in the great changes of the civil rights struggle or stood aside and watched the world change.

There were many horrors and haunting events but none more powerful than the murder of the four young girls to whom this book is dedicated. In my imagination they stand in a sacred circle, a ring of fire around them. I do not step into that Circle. That is to say, I do not try to re-create them. Their families and friends are holding them dear the way they really were.

I have created fictive characters for the reader to know and mourn."

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found it boring til the end. Chase scene in the snowy cemetery was haunting and scary.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naslund and Zafon are, officially, tied in my mind as the best living writers. This book entered my mind with its story and my heart with its characters from the beginning - and now I'm a wee sad that I am finished with both. Although I'm not sure if the story is 'finished' with me. This historical-fiction was set during the time that I was about 12-15 years old. I was raised next to - and went to high school in - the south side of Chicago. Those four girls dying in that church bombing, the lunch counter sit-ins, MLK, Jr., Rosa Parks and the KKK were all things that were talked about - in my home and at school. The all-girl Catholic school I attended from 1964-1968 had an enrollment of 2,000 +, about a 1/3 of whom were African-American girls - my classmates and friends. On a beautiful spring day of my senior year, our principal, Sister Lenore, came on the PA system and told us to go home as quickly and safely as possible. Martin Luther King, Jr. Had been murdered. She was choked up and said, "...murdered." One of my dearest friends, a black girl who had been standing next to me in chorus for 4 years asked if she could come with me to my home in - very white - Evergreen Park as she was nervous/scared to go to her home. I called my mom from a pay phone - and of course - she said -"Of course" .
This amazing book is not only a wonderful read - but it is also a way to visit a volatile and necessary slice of American history.

[Chandra Power · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone needs to read this book. This is the story of a variety of characters confronting racism, their own prejudices, and the horror of the violence during the Civil Rights movement. The title refers to the souls of the four children killed in the Montgomery church bombing. There are no easy answers in this book, and all of the characters are finely crafted and very human. No larger than life, stereotypical portraits, here. Two of the most interesting, although unsettling at best, characters are a klansman and his wife. It's beautifully written. Nothing like Ahab's Wife (same author), though every bit as compelling, if not more so. I loved, loved, loved this book.

[Randi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many good things to say about this book. I picked it up because the local library did not have Ahab's Wife which is what I was looking to read. After a slow start, I found the terror of the 1960s captured very provocatively in several chapters and came to love most of the characters. I am thankful to be reminded of the privilege I have enjoyed my entire life and humbled by the sacrifices so many have made to promote justice in our country. I am inspired to be a better person.

[Rod · Rating 5 out of 5]

This thoughtful, gentle book moves at the pace of the south itself in illustrating the civil rights movement from many perspectives. Each little chapter could stand alone as a short story but together they build a story that unfolds as slowly and as gloriously as a magnolia flower.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s actually a fascinating look at Birmingham Alabama in the early 60s. Segregation, ignorance, Martin Luther King Jr, the bombing of the Sixteenth St Church which injured dozens and killed 4 little Black girls, and of course the Ku Klux Klan which is still active today. But then so is ignorance and segregation and hatred. Four stars because it could have been a tiny bit shorter but still packed the punch intended.

[Ann Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the Spirit moved me to pick this book up again after more than 10 years. Anyone who cares about race equality in America will want to read this. I was literally moved to tears and sickened at what has happened to people in America.
I bought Four Spirits after I read and enjoyed Ahab's Wife by the author. Oddly, I came back to it at a point when there is an increase in racial tensions. Sena Jeter Naslund creates fiction based on real events and her own experience in Alabama in the 1960's and the result for me is a long over due, powerful history lesson.
In addition to the moving content, the writing is beautiful. This is not a quick read (or a light read) but it is a beautiful experience of words and language.

[Anita Friesen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just got tired of all the metaphors and similies and long, descriptive diversions from the plot. It got to the point where there were only two or 3 sentences per page that really contributed to the story, and the rest was unnecessary distractions. So I got about half way through, then just skimmed the rest. Too bad because the characters and story were well developed and interesting.

[Carol Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was slowly but surely drawn in by this book and the characters. I found it through a book club invitation from Birmingham-Southern College and it is a timely read - really always - with insights into the racism of our past, and sadly, our present. I found reading about places and events in my hometown around the year I was born very interesting. More importantly, the hearts and thoughts and experiences of the characters created to share that history were mesmerizing. I found the writing beautiful and varied in perspective. I didn’t want to put it down so many days.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960's, Naslund explores the lives of residents caught up in the civil rights turmoil. I loved this novel. It was beautifully written, heartbreaking, and at the same time, uplifting. This is a story worth reading. 4 1/2 stars.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I both loved and felt frustrated with this book. There were so many characters that it was hard to keep them straight in my mind. Sometimes it felt like the author was just trying to hard. But the graphic depictions of this time frame were amazing in their true horror. As someone born after this time it can be hard to imagine (those less so these days). Those parts of the book will stay with me.

[mol · Rating 2 out of 5]

At times was so interesting. But was also dragggggging so badly. Page long descriptions of things that had no significance to the story. This book could’ve been 150 pages shorter.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, it was hard to rate this book. It's about a real and important part of history, though most of it is fiction. I won't be surprised at anyone who gives the book a 5; it's that good. There were places when I read things over and over because either the phrasing was different/odd or I just didn't quite get it. So I'll put forth that maybe the author is so brilliant, it was just me. However, I like literary fiction and nonfiction and many other kinds of writing, so it was hard to tell.

The story is complex with many characters. The author builds their separate lives, often, and then we see how things come together later. This book is worth reading and tells another small part of the history of the southern states. There is much to like about the book and the writing. Yes, I know this is nebulous. I can't quite put a point to what it was that wasn't a 5 for me. But read it and let us know what you think.

I should also note that I read Ahab's Wife by the same author and loved it.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "Four Spirits" referred to in the title of this book are the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham. (Or are they? By the end of the book I was thinking the title could refer to four other "spirits.") Although the bombing is a major event in the book, though, I wouldn't say that this book is "about" that bombing. Rather, it's about what it was like to live in Birmingham during the struggle for civil rights, for black and white citizens, alike. And boy, does it ever accomplish that. I was recently asked what I get out of reading, and a part of my reply was that I think there is a lot to be learned from fiction; so often fiction gives us the chance to know what it is like to experience something entirely outside of our own sphere of experience. That was what this book was like for me. I think I could read a hundred non-fiction books about the civil rights movement and not get the same sense of what it was like to live through it than I did from reading this book. It is so striking to me to think of a time so recent and a place so close to home, really, where violence was a such frequent occurrence.

If this book were a film, it would be referred to as an ensemble piece. (Imagine a period version of Crash.) It follows several characters: black and white. Most of them are engaged in the struggle for integration, but some chapters follow a Klan member and his family. We see what they go through in the name of civil rights--police brutality at protests, beatings, threats, fear. But we also see parts of their daily lives that have nothing to do with civil rights--their love affairs, their relationships with their children. Naslund has created a microcosm of Birmingham in this small cast of characters--lives intersect in ways that are maybe too coincidental to be realistic--and through their growth we can see how attitudes towards integration gradually began to change and progress was made.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In early 1960s Birmingham AL the growing (and increasingly violent) civil rights movement forges unlikely bonds between people, both white and black. Naslund tells the story of two tumultuous years (1963 and 1964) through the viewpoints of several characters, including both black and white college students, a middle-aged black couple, and an abusive, racist white couple. In the first part of the book the desire to cover ground from each viewpoint really seemed to slow things down. By the second half of the book, however, I had become so emotionally invested in some characters that some events nearly brought me to tears. In this respect, this book really brings home the horrors and injustices of the time.

The style of writing is almost stream-of-consciousness. Naslund reveals her characters through their everyday thoughts and actions, and I found this frequently to be distracting, and not necessarily illuminating to some of the character's personalities. I didn't feel like I really understood the main character, Stella, until nearly the end of the book, and there were many other characters I wish I knew better. Stella's story alone could have driven a less ambitious book, but I am sure I would not have liked it as well.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would actually give this 3.5, but that's not an option. Before picking it up, I'm kind of ashamed to say, I knew absolutely nothing about the Civil Rights Movement. Like, zero. Thank you, Connecticut public school system. This book helps you get a grasp on it through the narrative, without seeming too textbook-y. My main problem is that every character is a super cliche -- redneck racist angry young klansman wants to blow up black people; strong, take no shit black woman takes no shit; liberal jewish girl and crippled girl who have experienced tons of personal suffering relate to oppressed young blacks and try to help them. I know it was the author's intent to force us to see the era from different perspectives, but none of the characters really ever ventured beyond their fictionalized comfort zones. They reacted exactly the way you would expect them to react. No surprises. And it was frustrating at times. That being said, there were some passages that made me sit there on the edge of my seat sweating bullets. The writing is pretty fantastic at points. So I give the author props for that. I just wish she'd had a little more imagination.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was set in Birmingham, Alabama during the civil rights movement. I picked this book because I wanted to read and learn more about this time period in American history. The author did not focus on one or two characters, instead the chapters were told from 20-25 different characters, different civil rights organizers and marchers, KKK members, business owners, church leaders, children, policemen, etc... I guess to get a feel for how the civil rights conflicts impacted all lives. While I enjoyed the book, I felt like there were just way too many characters to keep track of and it diluted some of the story impact. I would have enjoyed this book more, if perhaps, the chapters were told from 5 points of view.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sena Jeter Naslund has such a gift of making historical fiction so informative while ensconced in a story that captivates you with its plot and emotionally grabs you with its characters. A book such as this one speaks volumes for the case of including historical fiction along with textbook learning in schools. As Naslund was herself a college student in Birmingham, Alabama in the early sixties, she is well qualified to write about the civil rights movement and surrounding events in Birmingham during 1963-1965. She has given the reader a compelling story about courage at a time when courage could be a life and death matter. As a reader, you can't help but question whether your courage to do what was right could have stood such a test.

[Dan Chance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Naslund startled this reader with her tremendous vocabulary and delighted him with her clear imagery of people like the KKK bomber and his wife. The period was one I had lived through though from the safety of Georgia and being a member of the white race. I had not concerned myself with the day to day happenings in the civil rights movements so her description filled in many gaps for me. Though fictionalized in that fictional characters interacted with real characters it created a "real" emotional experience for me.

The title and the narrative tying it to the action was weak in my mind. I don't have a suggestion for an alternative title but the rest of the book stands by itself. I cried a lot but I find that I do that often these days.

[Treasure Island Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took much longer to read this book than I expected. I had to read a bit and put it aside to focus on something lighter from time to time. It somehow felt important to read it thoroughly and carefully. The character of Stella was fully fleshed out, but I had trouble seeing Cat. I would have liked to read more of her inner workings to understand why she made the choice she ultimately did. An epilogue about what Gloria did with her new-found courage would have helped the book seem more hopeful, though the story was not written to give us hope but to make us learn from the horrible mistakes of our past. Sena Jeter Naslund is a writer to be admired. Her topics are timely and timeless. I hope to read her novels for many years to come.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book when I lived in Birmingham, and picked it up because I missed Birmingham. The characters are weird, sometimes a little flat, and hard for me to relate to. A little Dickensonian in that she wants to telll you about everything that's happening in Birmingham at this time. I thought the characterization overall sucked, but I still finished it, so it wasn't that bad. She should have written this as memoir, not as fiction. It would have been infinitely more interesting to see her own perspective on these events, rather than hiding behind the veil of fiction and trying to imagine what Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was thinking and feeling.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

What to say about this book? It was about the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960's in Birmingham, Alabama. While I already knew about this time in history, it was really horrific to read about it on a more personal level (at least it felt personal to me). It makes me sick to think of how people were treated and how such terrible acts were allowed to be committed against the black people. This book had some really difficult issues and I had to skip over some parts as I just couldn't bear to have those things in my mind. I read another book by this same author, "Ahab's Wife" which I enjoyed so much more. Most likely it has to do with the content of the book, not the writing style.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book because of the author's ablitity to write as a male, female, black, white etc. The different chapters and each perspective keep you aware of all sides of the civil rights movement. I felt like I was reading about real people. The relationships, the conversations, and even the personal thoughts seem so real. I was again impressed by Naslund. Her writing style is dramatic, and true, but it's also to the point. The details are delicately described; portions of the book could be considered poetry. Great references to the Civil Rights Movement, and the history is accurate (to my knowledge) and is incorporated nicely. Read to the end.