2 out of 4 stars
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Chains, written by Frances Mary Hendry, a 71-year-old Scottish author, could be best described as a dark piece of historical fiction set at the turn of the 19th century. The topic is slavery, and the protagonists are many and varied. First is Juliet, a young woman of standing from a wealthy family. Feeling chained by her gender, she determines to secretly trade places with her brother on a business voyage and thereby prove to her father that she can take over the family business – slave trading. Next, meet Dand, a Scottish lad. Farm work is difficult, but Dand is able-bodied, though small. A trip to the fair to sell a cow ends with the poor lad's kidnapping and subsequent sale into slavery. He soon finds himself on a ship to Jamaica, serving as cabin boy under a brutal captain until he can be sold as a field hand. Hassan, a devout Muslim youth, is excited to be embarking on his first trip to buy slaves with his father. Eager to prove himself and frustrated when his authority is challenged, he puts aside his book learning about stopping injustice and instead becomes a brutal bully to the slaves in his charge. Gbodi, our youngest protagonist, is only twelve years old when her African village is attacked. Family members are murdered before her very eyes, and the youngsters of the village are captured and taken to the coast to be sold as slaves. Filled with fear and hatred, she is able to shut herself off from the outside world for a time. When she emerges from her “bubble,” she is fixated on revenge. Gbodi asks herself what her older brother would advise her to do, and also seeks help from her tribal gods by taking on the role of medicine woman among the slaves. In order to win the favor of her gods, she asks a fellow slave woman to throw her baby overboard as a child sacrifice – and the woman complies. Which of these characters will survive when death and suffering run rampant? Will their real life experience change the way they view slavery and those involved with it? Those are the questions Hendry puts forth to her readers.
Although Chains is labeled as a young adult book, the content and over-the-top graphic descriptions of violence, suffering, brutality, and death are anything but suitable for the young adult genre. Hendry seeks to be historically accurate, and she is. That being said, Chains is a heavy read, difficult to pick up again and continue, and often leaving the reader feeling sickened and horrified. Hendry details tribal sacrifices of babies followed by subsequent cannibalism, the graphic descriptions of slaves being tightly packed into the holds of ships, cholera, filth, sexual exploitation of the young and defenseless, brutal beatings, and more. To read Chains is to see the slave trade laid out for you in all of its horror.
Despite the dark content, character growth slowly occurs toward the end of the book. While Hendry's characters are believable, they cannot be described as likable until the last quarter of the story. Juliet initially despises her family, but at least comes to realize that the slaves they are trading are actually human people like herself. Dand has little to no desire to return home. He himself does not want to be a slave, but he accepts the slavery of black people as something normal, thinking that they are not fully human. Hassan and his father continually quote the Koran, but Hassan is brutal to the slaves in his charge. He feels that real life supersedes the tenets he has learned. Gbodi hides her hatred behind a sweet smile, seeking to slowly and secretly kill and hurt those who have enslaved her. While her attitude is understandable, her injunction to a slave mother to throw her baby to the sharks during the sea voyage is difficult to get past. In the end, all of the characters have learned and grown, for better or for worse, and they are no longer as difficult to care about as they were in the beginning of the story. Some even allow what they have learned to change their misconceptions.
Hendry's writing makes use of a great deal of written-out accents and old (but historically accurate) terms. In particular, the thick Scottish accent of Dand was difficult to comprehend without rereading the passages a few times, and this comes from an avid reader. Chains was certainly proofread, but lacked professional editing, as evidenced by noticeable typos here and there, some questionable punctuation, and a few mechanical errors such as incorrect spacing and accidental extra blank lines.
I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. Hendry was historically accurate, and her characters were believable, if not likable until the end of the book. However, her graphic descriptions of brutality, filth, sickness, death, and more certainly would classify this as adult historical fiction, not a young adult novel. Chains is a difficult read. The author makes heavy use of written-out accents and old terms that are not explained, requiring the reader to do some of their own research to understand. The content itself is sickening and horrific, making this a difficult book to keep on picking up. Additional copy editing is needed for typos and mechanical errors. Nevertheless, readers who enjoy historical fiction and want to read accurate and graphic descriptions of the slave trade may find this book educational and enlightening. The main redeeming factor is the character growth portrayed at the end.
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Chains
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