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Cane River -
Lalita Tademy.
New York : Warner Books, [2002], c2001.
xvi, 529 p. : ill., maps ; 21 cm.
Annotations:
- This ed. contains a reading group guide.
Reading Measurement Programs:
Accelerated Reader
Interest Level Upper Grade
Book Level 6.5
Accelerated Reader Points 20
Reading Counts-Scholastic
Interest Level High School
Reading Level 9
Title Point Value 25
Lexile Measure 970
Reviews:
- Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, May 2002 (Vol. 36, No. 3))
A selection of Oprah's Book Club, this fictionalized family history, telling of four generations of slave women living on Cane River in Louisiana from 1834 until the early 20th century, tells a larger story of how the lives of white people and black people were enmeshed during those times. The author created this novel after immersing herself in her own family's history. She includes actual photographs of her family members who became characters in the novel, pictures of documents, gravestones, and news articles--every scrap of which adds enormously to the power of this work. Tademy sticks closely to actual facts but because she creates dialogue and has to flesh out the characters, she is careful to call the work fiction. White and black people lived together, worked together, had children together --but not as equals. The slaves had little choice. In this family, Elizabeth had come to Louisiana, sold from a plantation in Virginia, where she had two babies as a result of her white master's sexual advances. She had no choice, of course, but to leave those babies behind in Virginia. Her grief and that experience are repeated again and again as she helps her daughters and granddaughters face their own life circumstances. Her daughter Suzette barely reaches puberty when she is impregnated by a visiting Frenchman. Suzette's daughter Philomene (half white) has a fulfilling "marriage" with another slave, but he is sold away so that Philomene can become the mistress of the owner. Philomene's daughter Emily (white except for one black grandmother) is pampered by her white father. After the Civil War, she is educated, and once grown, has what essentially is a long marriage to a white French landowner. The marriage isn't legal, because miscegenation is a crime, but a home and many children are part of Emily's experience. Oddly enough, those relationships that were taken as a matter of course during slavery, in the Jim Crow South became a moral outrage to the white citizens. Eventually Emily's happiness is destroyed because of this threat--literally, her children and home are endangered if she continues to live openly with a white man. This novel will interest all those who enjoy family histories. The women are tough and loving--they face impossible situations with courage and intelligence. Their priorities are to keep their families as intact as possible, and to manipulate white people as much as they can for this purpose. The very fact that the author is part of this long history adds to its great appeal. And the actual family photographs and documented history add a great deal to the narrative. Category: Paperback Fiction. KLIATT Codes: SA*--Exceptional book, recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2001, Warner, 529p. illus. maps., $13.95. Ages 15 to adult. Subjects:
- African American families Fiction.
African American women Fiction.
Mothers and daughters Fiction.
Cane River Region (La.) Fiction.
Louisiana Fiction.
Historical fiction.
Domestic fiction.
| Language | Call Number | LCCN | Dewey Decimal | ISBN/ISSN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English (eng) | PS3570.A248 C36 2002 |
2002284062 |
813/.6 |
0446678457 (pbk.) 9780446678452 |