4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Catfish by Madelyn Bennett Edwards is a historical fiction novel set in the 1960s in Louisiana. It explores themes such as the slave trade, domestic violence, racism, and miscegenation. It tells the story of forbidden love in first person narrative from the viewpoint of the female protagonist Susie Burton. Susie struggles to find love at home and make friends in school. She finds love and acceptance outside her race and family in unexpected and forbidden quarters.
The author, Madelyn Bennett Edwards, writes about very sensitive and challenging themes with an uncommon degree of maturity and tact. She presents issues in a non-judgmental manner and allows readers to draw their conclusions from the different perspectives discussed. The language and dialogue were realistic and appropriate for the 1960s. The author appears to have done detailed background research on the subject matters.
Madelyn explores the theme of the slave trade by weaving in stories of past events. The character Catfish, from whose name the title of the novel was derived, told these stories. The account of the family upheaval during the slave trade era and the physical and emotional torture associated with the separation of mothers from their children was heart-rending. I remembered that a few months ago, young children of illegal immigrant parents were being separated from their parents in the USA because of immigration policies this time, not slavery. Thankfully, these policies have been amended to stop the separation of families.
The twists and turns in this story were unexpected. I did not see the final twist in this story coming, and when I read up to that point, I was numb and unable to read further for a while. The characters were well-rounded and likeable. Some changed positively in the course of their journeys. Others remained the same and never became better people. I liked Susie, and I found myself hoping that she would find happiness and true love to compensate her for the pain and abuse she endured. Susie’s quest for acceptance will appeal to young people struggling to find friendship and love in their lives today.
I enjoyed reading this book very much. I learned a lot about the difficulties faced by African-Americans who lived in the slave trade and post-slave trade era. I feel that though there has been a great deal of progress in the areas of tolerance and integration of people from different races and nationalities, there is still room for improvement. I found only four grammatical errors, even though I was actively looking out for them. Therefore, I believe this book was professionally edited. I have no hesitation in rating this book 4 out of 4 stars because it was a well-written book. This book is better suited for adult readers because of the seriousness of the themes it explored and the subtle descriptions of intimate interactions.
******
Catfish
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like CambaReviewer's review? Post a comment saying so!