 | Discussion date: October 11, 2004 What we thought: Many of us had a hard time getting through this book, finding it a difficult, although rewarding, journey. Although not a page turner, it was an eyeopener. None of us had been aware of the world of the black slave owner in pre-Civil War times -- a world where so many assumptions that 19th-century America took as "known" seem completely alien to us 150 years later. Jones did a remarkable job of creating and peopling that world for us, but we agreed we felt somehow distanced from, although fascinated by, his characters. We were impressed by the author's descriptive and imaginative skills, but some people rated the book lower because of its slow pace and sometimes confusing array of characters. Verdicts ranged between 3 1/2 and 5 stars, for an average of 4. |
