 |
In the mid-1800s, outside of New Orleans, Fox Creek plantation expands. Its owners, William and Sarah, expect twins. They acquire new slaves and are given land for their new sugar operation. But as William and Sarah work to ensure continued growth in line with the norms that have kept people in their respective classes and functions for centuries, their children, Kate and Breck, question the status quo. They befriend slaves Cyrus and Monette. Friendships and tensions among Fox Creek slaves reveal cracks in its veneer of health.
The book's opening in four contrasting vignettes shows its epic proportions. Portraits of Monette, Cyrus, Kate, and Breck introduce overlapping and entangling threads while remaining unique in their tone. Monette sometimes speaks in French. Cyrus stutters. Breck broods. Kate exclaims. Theatrical settings on hunts, at plays, in slave cabins, and in secret meeting spots create a wide and varied literary world. The text balances action, dialogue, and emotive passages. While the characters discuss politics and Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the book is about race relations, it is anything but simplistic in its conclusions. Rather, its broad scope suggests a complex, human approach that is disarming and curious.
A slow burn, the novel prioritizes character development until a sinister presence dominates everyone's lives in the final chapters. Trips to a psychic, a runaway slave, and Sarah's burdensome pregnancy work together to mount a dark mood ready to explode. Once entertaining hunting trips turn gruesome. Dance parties give way to licentiousness. The book's catastrophic ending succeeds in blowing up the book's promising start and drawing interest in how the dust may settle in a sequel.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
A 2026 Eric Hoffer Book Award Category Finalist