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(More customer reviews)The much awaited Civil War novel, Sweetsmoke, by screenwriter, David Fuller, explores slave/carpenter Cassius Hoke's day-to-day existence on Plantation Sweetsmoke in Virginia. Cassius learns about the death of Emoline, the freedwoman who nursed him back to health and taught him to read and write. When it is apparent it is murder, he sets out to avenge her death.
As the story progressed, I became convinced why a black woman's death, slave or free, would have a devastating affect on both black and white, and especially Cassius, as the author drew a picture of Emoline as savior and guardian angel, yet a flawed and vulnerable woman. Emoline and Cassius have a special bond through his owner and her former owner, Hoke Howard, the tortured master of Sweetsmoke. Cassius plots his investigation carefully, yet methodically, never wavering from his mission to find the truth. For every answer Cassius gets, there arises another question; just who was Emoline, other than the woman who rescued him after the most devastating time of his life? A fortunate teller, a healer, and a risk taker; she taught him to read and write and exposed him to literature at a time when it was against the law to teach a slave to read, but Emoline had many secrets.
Cassius' past and present collide amidst the superstitious beliefs of the slaves; there is an aura of bad luck that surrounds him. But while he is somewhat of a pariah, he is also a trusted slave and respected among the field hands and the house servants. Nevertheless, his life as a slave is no less easy; the daily existence to not only stay alive, but to stay one step ahead of those who own him. With the need to not only hide his intelligence, but to downplay it for mere survival, Cassius smiles and flatters, manipulates and connives, while courting freedom. Cassius thinks he finds a kindred spirit in Quashee, a newly arrived slave, and uses his influence to raise her status on the plantation. She also unwittingly helps him in his dangerous quest of finding Emoline's murderer.
There was great detail in this novel. Several aspects of slave life were examined; the courting rituals of slaves, which could be political, the social and cultural aspects, the subterfuge and outwitting for self-preservation; interaction between slaves and freedmen, field hands and house slaves. Slaves turned on each other but also helped each other and kept each others' secrets. Readers also see how slaves played a part in helping those who sought freedom as conductors in the Underground Railroad and how many were agents of one kind of another in the war that was being fought between the Confederacy and the Union. Cassius stealthily goes from plantation to plantation and into town, picking up bits of news and gossip, when fate steps in and he is sent to the battlefields by his owner. His journey is long, arduous, difficult and dangerous but it is a means to an end for Cassius; two fold, to find the truth and a quest for freedom.
Fuller embodied his characters with dignity and intelligence, revealing their flaws, yet illuminating their sense of values and beliefs. At times the reading was slow; there was so much to take in, but I did not want to miss anything as the author beautifully painted a picture of slave life that is not often told. Fuller's impeccable research and attention to detail is not without notice. I was particularly in awe of learning about the storytelling competitions among slaves that traveled from plantation to plantation. Of course, I knew about the stories of the griots dating back to Africa; this tidbit confirmed that the ancestors' gift for tall tales was a reality. Chosen as a publisher's pick and already hinting at becoming required reading in high schools, Sweetsmoke, is a worthy addition to the slave narrative as two other 2008 historical fiction releases, Song Yet Song by James McBride and Stand the Storm by Breena Clark. A great addition to the libraries of fans of the Civil War and slavery literature. 4.5 rating.
Dera R. Williams
APOOO BookClub
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"David Fuller vividly and movingly describes the life of Cassius, a slave on a Virginia tobacco plantation. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Sweetsmoke resonates with unforgettable characters and is a gripping story of loss and survival." --Robert Hicks, author of The Widow of the South
"Sweetsmoke is a fascinating and gripping novel about the Civil War. The slave, Cassius Howard, is a great fictional character, and his story is part mystery, part love story, and a harrowing portrait of slavery that reads with the immense power of the slave narratives. A tour de force for David Fuller." --Pat Conroy, author of Beach Music and South of Broad
"With Sweetsmoke, David Fuller gives an extraordinarily nuanced, privileged, and convincing view of the world of slavery during the American Civil War, and of the hearts and minds of the men and women who had to live in that world." --Madison Smartt Bell, author of All Souls' Rising and Toussaint Louverture
The year is 1862, and the Civil War rages through the South. On a Virginia tobacco plantation, another kind of battle soon begins. There, Cassius Howard, a skilled carpenter and slave, risks everything--punishment, sale to a cotton plantation, even his life--to learn the truth concerning the murder of Emoline, a freed black woman, a woman who secretly taught him to read and once saved his life. It is clear that no one cares about her death in the midst of a brutal and hellish war. No one but Cassius, who braves horrific dangers to escape the plantation and avenge her loss.
As Cassius seeks answers about Emoline's murder, he finds an unexpected friend and ally in Quashee, a new woman brought over from another plantation; and a formidable adversary in Hoke Howard, the master he has always obeyed.
With subtlety and beauty, Sweetsmoke captures the daily indignities and harrowing losses suffered by slaves, the turmoil of a country waging countless wars within its own borders, and the lives of those people fighting for identity, for salvation, and for freedom.
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