My sister left this at my house after a brief holiday here.

It took me a while to finish this as the print is rather small. Also the desperate struggle and sad life of the people during slavery and after they are freed is so depressing, rather like the hardships encountered in "Angela's Ashes", that I could only read it in spurts.
It's a clever book - a novel written about the author's own family, going back to her great-great-great-great grandmother, an interesting history of plantation life in Louisiana in the 1800s.

I found this is on Heaven-Ali's wish list. This is my half of a trade, heading to the UK, via La Poste, this morning.

Arrived today - thanks so much for sending bluenoser - it looks great. I do have a huge TBR - but I suspect I'll read this fairly soon - I am very bad I never read books in the order I acquire them : ) Also huge thanks for the great bookmarks they have been added to my collection : )


Book Description
Lalita Tademy's riveting family saga Cane River chronicles four generations of women born into slavery along the Louisiana river. It is a tale about the blurring of racial boundaries: great-grandmother Elisabeth notices an unmistakable "bleaching of the line" as first her daughter Suzette, then her granddaughter Philomene and finally her great-granddaughter Emily choose (or are forcibly persuaded) to bear the illegitimate offspring of the area's white French planters. In many cases these children are loved by their fathers, and their paternity is widely acknowledged. However, neither state law nor local custom allows them to inherit wealth or property, a fact that gives Cane River much of its narrative drive.

I found this to be a fascinating and very readable fictionalised portrait of the authors own family. It traces four generations of women and their children in Louisiana beginning in 1834, the book closing in 1936 - by which time the family had grown enormously, and the world they lived in had changed - but attitudes still meant that in many ways it hadn't changed much.

The lives these women lived were hard - beyond anything we can imagine - their obsession with their family understandable and often heartbreaking. And a recurring theme throughout the book - colour - the darkness or lightness of people's skins - and the importance this had on those people themselves and how it affected the way they saw themselves, and expected to be treated.

The authors note at the beginning is very interesting, explaining how Lalita Tademy came to write the book.


I think I will try and find some more readers for this book. May end up raying it.




list of participants

AnglersRest - UK (anywhere)
Book-man-8 - Germany (anywhere)
farmergirl - US (?)
Lyzzybee - UK - keep at the end



I also have red river by the same author which traces the family history of the authors father. Kindly sent bt Book-man-8 Thanks : ) its still tbr - but it could be sent out after if anyone is interested.

Red river

RELEASE NOTES:

on its way to anglersrest

Arrived today, thanks for sending. I love these type of books. I am sure that I have read a review of this one in a genealogical magazine, as the storyline is familiar. Looking forward to reading this, which I shall start tonight as I have just finished my previous book.

This is the incrediable story of three generations of the author's ancestry. Through their years as slaves, to their freedom. Their loves and dispair, grief and bewilderment. The novel does not portray the many horrors that slaves suffered at the hands of their "owners". Wonderfully and lovingly the author has attempted to peice together their lives, using official documentation and living memory.

Thanks for sharing this one Heaven-Ali. I have PMed the next person and as soon as I have an address it will be traveling once again.

I now have the address for Book-man-8, so will post this in the morning.

Just got it in the mail. Thanks for the ray and for sending!

Quite an interesting book. The tiny typesetting made reading a real pain!

RELEASE NOTES:

This one is off to "LyzzyBee". Enjoy!

Received today - thank you! What happened to the American person though? Anyway, I will have a look at this and decide if I can face reading it... Ali, do you want it back?

RELEASE NOTES:

Passing back to Heaven-Ali on Saturday.

It's back with me - now I have to decide what to do with it - release? rabck?

RELEASE NOTES:

At today's meet up.