A Long Way from Home

Rating:
Summary: We continue to be oppressed, but it used to be worse
Review: "A Long Way From Home" is the second novel that I've read by this author. I was very curious about her ability to write a convincing story of this nature, regardless of the fact that she claims to be a decendant of James Madison's slave family. It certainly was a departure from "Big Girls Don't Cry", but well worth the time. I thought the book gave the reader a fairly realistic picture of the life and times of pre-Civil War slavery. Ms Briscoe reveals the horror of slavery adequately without excess. Any African American of southern ancestry is acquainted with what we, as a people, endured. I particularly liked the way the author continued to tell the story after the ending of slavery, showing you how this event affected both races in their daily lives. It was very sad that Susan had to allow her marriage and motherly roles to be so compromised, but, indeed this was done or one paid a cruel price. The book held my interest from beginning to end. I definitely recommend this author if you want your reading to be worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read!!
Review: "A Long Way From Home" is an excellent book. One can easily visualize the characters and what they went through during slavery. Oh, it made me feel blessed that we have come a long way, but still there is a long way to go. Thanks, Connie!!!

Rating:
Summary: great read
Review: "A Long Way From Home" is the second novel that I've read by this author. I was very curious about her ability to write a convincing story of this nature, regardless of the fact that she claims to be a decendant of James Madison's slave family. It certainly was a departure from "Big Girls Don't Cry", but well worth the time. I thought the book gave the reader a fairly realistic picture of the life and times of pre-Civil War slavery. Ms Briscoe reveals the horror of slavery adequately without excess. Any African American of southern ancestry is acquainted with what we, as a people, endured. I particularly liked the way the author continued to tell the story after the ending of slavery, showing you how this event affected both races in their daily lives. It was very sad that Susan had to allow her marriage and motherly roles to be so compromised, but, indeed this was done or one paid a cruel price. The book held my interest from beginning to end. I definitely recommend this author if you want your reading to be worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: We continue to be oppressed, but it used to be worse
Review: "A Long Way From Home" is the second novel that I've read by this author. I was very curious about her ability to write a convincing story of this nature, regardless of the fact that she claims to be a decendant of James Madison's slave family. It certainly was a departure from "Big Girls Don't Cry", but well worth the time. I thought the book gave the reader a fairly realistic picture of the life and times of pre-Civil War slavery. Ms Briscoe reveals the horror of slavery adequately without excess. Any African American of southern ancestry is acquainted with what we, as a people, endured. I particularly liked the way the author continued to tell the story after the ending of slavery, showing you how this event affected both races in their daily lives. It was very sad that Susan had to allow her marriage and motherly roles to be so compromised, but, indeed this was done or one paid a cruel price. The book held my interest from beginning to end. I definitely recommend this author if you want your reading to be worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Glad I Read It!
Review: "The Name is SUSAN!" I am so glad I read this piece. Historical fiction is quickly becoming the genre I prefer, and it is because of excellent pieces like this one. I admit there were times when the book dragged, but on the flip side, I found my self surprised at how quickly I finished it. Growing up in a predominantly white society, history books are the only way I can truly discover where I came from. I refuse to bring children in to the world before I have educated myself enough to give them a start in studying where we came from. This book helps me to speak intellegently about what real life must have been like for a slave family and helps me to be proud of all that my people have endured. Thanks for the lesson, Ms. Briscoe.

Rating:
Summary: The different variables of the word "slavery".
Review: A LONG WAY FROM HOME caught my interest because it read like threee different stories surrounding three generations of women who lived on the same plantation, yet saw their world in three different ways. Suzie is a slave and she can't see any other life outside of working for white people, and why should she when she was born the daughter of slaves and was raised that way. Her perception is that blacks are safer having masters. Her daughter Clara run on a slightly different track. Having a mother who lives in the big house is a pretty big deal, and when that house is occupied by the former president James Madison, then life can be tolerated. It's also not her fault that she was also born of fair skin and long hair. She sees slavery from the perception of someone who has never had to work the fields or lives in the rundown houses her friend's parents have to. She actually wonder why they don't just move to better quarters. Later on, we meet Clara's daughter Susan, and her lifestyle is taken when she is sold to a family in another state, a life that become more complicated when she suspects that the head of the household might be her father. Susan becomes the caretaker of the grandchildren living there and sees her role in life ever diminishing, until she meet a free black man, papers and all. It's then she opens her eyes and focuses on her role in this world as a black women with her mother's features, especially with slavery about to be abolished and her charges not willing to let her go. Books that use slavery as a focus point are not my cup of tea and I usually let them pass, however, this novel reads very smoothly and showcases three women at different points of life during a very turbulant timeframe, all wanting to do one thing-survive the best way they know how. Excellent!

Rating:
Summary: A Long Way From Freedom!
Review: A Long Way From Home is one of those books where I found myself unable to put it down, yet, it made me angrier and angrier as I turned each page! This is a story about slavery and it follows a family of slaves from Montpelier where James Madison, the ex-President, lived. The story takes you from Susie, Clara's mother, all the way to Clara's children, Ellen and Susan, to Clara's grandchildren. This is an absolutely powerful tale of hope for the blacks to receive their freedom. What I didn't think about or really realize, at least until I read this book, is that a lot of blacks during slavery times really did NOT want to be free. I always assumed that blacks wanted their freedom at all costs but when faced with poverty and starvation versus slavery, many of the slaves actually preferred slavery. In any case, A Long Way From home is one of those books that I'm glad I read although I really couldn't wait to get to the ending, not because this was a horrible book, but because I really wanted to know how things ended up and because I really, REALLY wanted to know if Susan obtained her freedom before the book ended! Yes, this book can make you angry from time to time, but, don't let that stop you from reading a fantastic story!

Rating:
Summary: A Long Way From Freedom!
Review: A Long Way From Home is one of those books where I found myself unable to put it down, yet, it made me angrier and angrier as I turned each page! This is a story about slavery and it follows a family of slaves from Montpelier where James Madison, the ex-President, lived. The story takes you from Susie, Clara's mother, all the way to Clara's children, Ellen and Susan, to Clara's grandchildren. This is an absolutely powerful tale of hope for the blacks to receive their freedom. What I didn't think about or really realize, at least until I read this book, is that a lot of blacks during slavery times really did NOT want to be free. I always assumed that blacks wanted their freedom at all costs but when faced with poverty and starvation versus slavery, many of the slaves actually preferred slavery. In any case, A Long Way From home is one of those books that I'm glad I read although I really couldn't wait to get to the ending, not because this was a horrible book, but because I really wanted to know how things ended up and because I really, REALLY wanted to know if Susan obtained her freedom before the book ended! Yes, this book can make you angry from time to time, but, don't let that stop you from reading a fantastic story!

Rating:
Summary: Be patient and you will be in for a THRILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Although the initial momentum of this book is slow and some of the expressions Connie Briscoe uses are too contemporary for this historical work of fiction, once this book takes off it soars. Susan, who is renamed Susanne by her slave owners, is the main protagonist of this story even though the reader is introduced to her mother and grandmother first. And it is her story that Briscoe masterfully creates. At various points in her story I held my breath, exhaled deeply and truly grieved for this charater. I started to read faster towards the end, anxious to discover Susannes fate, and was sorry that the book ended. So be patient with the first couple of chapters, since Briscoe has to set the historical scene, then sit back and allow the story to engulf you.

Rating:
Summary: An intimate look into the lives of three powerful women.
Review: Briscoe gives us an opportunity to become personally acquainted with three generations of slave women from a Montpelier, Virginia plantation. In addition to experiencing the harshness of slavery, we also get to see what goes on in their day-to-day lives and how the reluctant dream of freedom that began in the first generation, becomes a welcomed reality in the end. An excellent not-to-be-missed book to stir the emotions!