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Seventy-year-old Joshua Jordan thinks back to the many events that compelled him to pursue his dream of becoming a healer. Sharing his poignant stories with his daughter and his twin grandsons, Joshua begins with the event that gets his life journey rolling: the miraculous healing of Melinda Mae, the daughter of Joshua's plantation owner. Although constantly facing the ill effects of racism, Joshua overcomes obstacles with the help of caring people—both black and white—who help him achieve his goal of becoming a country doctor. Remembering his benefactors, Joshua knows that it is his turn to encourage the next generation to persevere amid ongoing battles over inequality and injustice.
Dempsey pens a story of optimism in the midst of dismal circumstances. Alternating between the end of the Civil War and the 1930s, Dempsey takes readers back to a time when educational opportunities for African Americans were few or nil. Balancing themes of good and evil, Dempsey highlights the plight of blacks caught in the snares of white supremacy. In these bleak environs, Dempsey demonstrates the positive effect that comes from people who recognize that "peace between individuals" is possible "when people are willing to compromise and support each other."
Although Dempsey's book is fiction, she incorporates historic examples of blacks who succeeded because of the goodwill of others, such as Benjamin Banneker and Frederick Douglass. Dempsey's fictional narrative also chronicles places pertinent to black history, such as St. Augustine's School and Leonard Medical Center (North Carolina) and Hampton Institute (Virginia), to name a few. Joshua's Journey sends a poignant and hopeful message during troubling times.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review