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The second sentence of the novel mentions how, even by the early 1900s (or "1900's" as Bordelon has it) southern states had not received "the memo" when it came to the abolition of slavery. The problem is not the usage itself, but that at several times during the book he will use the vocabulary of the age he is writing about in the narrative voice; for instance repeated use of the word "negro." There is not necessarily anything wrong with using either modern colloquialisms or historical vernacular, but for me combining the two made them both seem anachronistic. There is a similar confusion of tense, the novel flits between the present and the past tense, seemingly at random, which can be quite distracting.
Nevertheless, there are some very moving scenes. Both the suffering of war and the suffering of the victims of racism are powerfully portrayed, or they would be if we knew the characters. Early on in the story, Thomas Allen’s father - Elijah - cradles the corpse of his wife, Hannah, after she has died giving birth to Thomas. It is an arresting image, but it is only an image. We do not know Elijah or Hannah well enough to be truly affected. That lack of intimacy does create some very problematic moments in the novel. Elijah is clearly a very complicated man, but we are not allowed enough time to appreciate that complexity and so when he beats his child we do not see it as anything other than child abuse, which is quite alienating considering that we are clearly not supposed to dislike him.
That is primarily a problem of length. There is not enough time to get to know the characters, and that brevity serves as an explanation for most, if not all, of the book’s shortcomings. It is 99 pages long, and they are 99 pages of large type, with numerous pages given over to chapter headings, disclaimers, and the like. It must be fewer than 20,000 words in total. Great stories have been written in that length, but Bordelon is attempting to narrate a huge number of events that span 1907 - 2014. It is inevitably rushed, and ends up feeling more like a plot synopsis than a book.
It is a real shame because, assuming the author’s claim that the book is based on a real figure whom he knew is genuine, it is clearly a passion project. I truly hope it finds an audience, but there is not enough here - figuratively but even more so literally - for me to recommend it, as such I have to give it 1 out of 4 stars.
***
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