Black & White by Lewis Shiner
By Phyllis Rhodes • Jul 27th, 2008 • Category: Book Review •
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The novel opens in Durham with Michael, an introverted illustrator, attending his terminally ill father, Robert, who has chosen to return North Carolina in preparation of his death. Michael openly pleads with his father to address lifelong questions he has had regarding his conflicting birth date, and his mother’s (Ruth) over-attentiveness towards his father, yet perfunctory relationship with him. When Robert decides to elicit a deathbed confession of sorts, it leads to the discovery of a body of a local, outspoken Civil Rights activist who disappeared amid controversy nearly 40 years ago. Michael soon finds himself in the midst of a murder investigation, which only ignites the curiosity of his father’s clandestine past. The trail leads him down a slippery slope into the recesses of Hayti, Durham’s historically African American community, once the most prosperous neighborhood in the South, envied by whites but devastated under the Urban Renewal initiatives of yesteryear. In a series of flashbacks, Shiner gives life and voice to a youthful Robert and Ruth. The reader follows Michael on a deep dark path to the truth steeped in danger. Michael learns of the mysterious magnetism of a seductive voodooienne and a host of suppressed family secrets amid the backdrop of America’s racial and political pallet during the turbulent 1960s.
Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
July 25, 2008
CLICK HERE to read entire review and to vote if you find the review helpful.
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Phyllis Rhodes is a systems engineer with a major defense contractor and adjunct professor at two local universities in Orlando, Florida. A lifelong bibliophile, she founded the Nubian Circle Book Club in 2001 and is a freelance book reviewer for the Orlando Sentinel, APOOO Exchange Team, and Amazon.com. As a consummate fan of the arts, she supports local and national theatre, literary events, and Afrocentric festivals, exhibits, and historical tributes. When not traveling, teaching, or reading, she researches her family history and applies her talents across a host of professional organizations chartered to sustain and uplift the African American community
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