White Doves at Morning

Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: James Lee Burke's "White Doves at Morning" is richly written, peopled with well-drawn characters and beautifully atmospheric.

It is an historical novel set in the Louisiana bayou country during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Fictional characters mingle with true-life figures---abolitionists, slaves, overseers, white trash, secessionists, madams and war profiteers. And. we see the origin of Angola Prison.

The dialogue is magnificent, the moods created extraordinary and the pace is rhythmic.

I found it compelling reading that engaged me from start to finish.

The white trash villains are particularly despicable. The central protagonists, while flawed, are easy to cheer for.

JLB maintains his high standards.

Rating:
Summary: Masterful
Review: Just because the usual characters aren't here, don't pass this one by. History, colorful characterizations and plenty of action, together with Burke's skillful language, make this a must read. The author maintains his reputation as one of our finest writers.

Rating:
Summary: The present and the past
Review: Same high quality product, just a different flavor:

This novel rates five stars for high quality but four (maybe fewer) for readers who expect more Robicheaux adventures or their nineteenth century counterpart. It does not have the drive and focus of earlier novels. Nor does it have the lyric pace found in Cold Mountain which deals with similar events (largely the return home of the soldier.) Most offputting is a chapter structure a bit like "meanwhile back in New Iberia." Still, this novel is an enjoyable read and has a revealing role in Burke's canon. It is a different branch, or maybe root, of the tree of James Lee Burke's wonderful, old live oak of a bibliography. His recent novels, digging deeper and deeper into the past, have pointed in this direction. All of his work seemed tied into one whole, but the tie was elusive for me until this novel of events surrounding the outbreak and aftermath of the War Between the States came on the scene, revealing Burke's sense of the presence of the past in our lives.

The direction of much serious twentieth century American fiction has been autobiography - however well disguised. Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Steinbeck all went there. Burke and Grisham , and others, have been there recently. After all a good writer writes what he knows. One terminus of autobiography inevitably is geneology. What a rich possibility exists there! For geneology naturally stimulates imagination about food, clothing books, even the sounds and smells of everyday life. The present may, as Faulkner seems to insist, grow out of the past, but what the past was can only be reconstructed by fiction. Here is the trade of the novelist, and what a novelist like Burke can do is thrilling.

Burke picks that era, 1860-1865, and the rich ethnic and social mix of Louisiana and conjures up abolitionists, slaves and overseers, plantation owners, madams and merchants, a blockade runner, and, centrally, Willie Burke, son of Irish immigrants, not sure why he is fighting. Battle scenes have a touch of Henry Fleming and a touch of Saving Private Ryan. Some problems are the result of mere mischance: the disasterous effect of the blue uniforms of some Louisiana militia units. Burke, though, seems determined to look beyond at the wickedness and good of individuals, even in these situations, and the behavior of roving bands of local thugs as well as "Spoons" Butler's soldiers gives a picture of chaos that happens when a war is lost. At times evil seems to prevail, yet self doubt is the test of individual worth, and numerous characters are engaged in ethical struggle leading to surprising results.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely NOT A Phone Book...
Review: The arrival on bookshelves of anything written by James Lee Burke is a reason for celebration in my household-- as well it should be, for the man is arguably the finest living craftsman of eloquent prose in America today. At my own book signings, my oft-repeated line is that I'd read a phone book written by James Lee Burke.

But I have to confess, I hesitated before taking home a copy of WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING, Burke's most recent release. After all, it features neither Dave Robicheaux nor Billy Bob Holland; it is not a reprinting of what I consider Burke's Golden Age of fiction, the stuff he wrote in the 1960s (which still staggers, with its literary mastery) before disappearing for almost two decades.

WHITE DOVES is, rather, a Civil War novel-- not surprising, in a way, to any reader of Burke's other fiction. His fascination with both combat in general and the Civil War in particular is evident in much of his writing. Nonetheless, for the reader eagerly awaiting the next return of Streak or Billy Bob, the thought of instead plunging into a... historical novel? ...might give pause to even the most ardent James Lee Burke fan.

It shouldn't. Within a half-dozen pages, it is evident that the master is in rare form here. Burke's lyrical, evocative prose quickly sweeps the reader into a story that is impossible to put down.

It helps that much of the setting is familiar ground: Burke's beloved Louisiana bayou country, specifically the New Iberia of 1861 - 65. The smells and sounds of what will, in a century or so, be Dave Robicheaux country, will be immediately recognized by any Burke aficionado-- a timeless land of live oaks, hanging air vines and mosquitoes buzzing in the marshland shadows.

It also helps that many of the character names we've become accustomed to in the Robicheaux chronicles are also present-- this time, as living characters who flesh out the fables and anecdotes and events that later will be passed down to Dave Robicheaux and from him, to we readers. We meet the Negro freeman and slave owner Jubal Labiche, whose skin color will make no difference to the soon-to-be-invading Yankees. We meet brothel owner Carrie LaRose and her brother, the brawling, pirate-minded Jean-Jacques LaRose, both shrewd Cajun entrepreneurs who deal in contraband and live by their own rough code of ethics. We meet Ira Jamison, whose sprawling Angola Plantation will later become Angola State Penitentiary.

And while we do, we realize that we already know their descendants, themselves familiar from the Burke/Robicheaux series: the twin Labiche daughters of another generation, one of whom will be executed for the murder of her molester; the LaRose descendant, elected Louisiana governor only to die in a last effort to save his doomed wife in a pyre that was the LaRose mansion; even the Angola Prison which is so often plays a key dark role in Burke's Robicheaux tales.

It is a masterful device, this intermingling of our recollections from other novels and other storylines, that in less capable hands could have failed miserably. But Burke handles it with ease, even to the point of centering the story on his own ancestor, one Willie Burke.

If there is any flaw in WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING, it is the distinctly too-abrupt conclusion with which Burke has provided us as an epilogue. Here, in a departure from the seductive rhythms, eloquence and rich characterization which Burke uses elsewhere so well, the author merely ticks off, one by one, a digest of the ultimate fates of the characters. It is a decidedly less-than-satisfactory conclusion for the reader; worse, it does a disservice to the characters in this novel. Burke's skill has turned them into living people about whom we now care, and whom he appears now to casually discard.

And it is in this sole failing that WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING gives every James Lee Burke fan a reason for optimism.

We want more than Burke's closing has left us-- far more than the brief, tantalizing, much too incomplete information on the balance of these characters, these lives. We want the author to take us back: back to antebellum New Iberia, back to these characters, back to this compelling chronicle of a time and a place that he has drawn so well.

I don't know if WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING was intended as the first in a new, ongoing series; given the amazing talent that is James Lee Burke, I can only hope so.

Earl Merkel

Rating:
Summary: This may very well be James Lee Burke's finest work to date
Review: The creator of David Robiceaux and Billy Bob Holland returns to historical fiction in a work set in Civil War-era Louisiana.

James Lee Burke has reached that stage where his name has become synonymous with his most successful literary creation --- David Robiceaux. Burke's Robiceaux novels have now spawned imitators and fans eagerly await the next installment in the series. In some instances, these fans become bitterly disappointed when a work bearing Burke's name on the spine does not contain a Robiceaux story therein. The series is so engrossing and well done that it is easy to forget that Burke's earliest writing dealt with other, occasionally historical, plots. In WHITE DOVES AT MORNING, he returns to that genre.

WHITE DOVES AT MORNING is a stand-alone novel, thus giving Burke freedom with his characters that he does not entirely have with the Robiceaux books or the Billy Bob Holland novels. One reads WHITE DOVES AT MORNING with no expectations other than that there will be a well-told, engrossing story. Burke has taken this freedom and run with it and, in the process, has created what might well be his finest work to date.

WHITE DOVES AT MORNING is set primarily in rural Louisiana during the Civil War and early Reconstruction. The primary characters are, as we are told, on the inside front cover, ancestors of Burke, though it is not immediately clear how much of the tale told within is family lore and how much is torn from the whole cloth of Burke's imagination. There is in all probability a healthy mix of both. Despite the change in subject matter, Burke continues the theme that runs through the Robiceaux novels --- that the rich are evil and can only transcend their circumstance with a healthy dose of guilt. This worldview, alas, is wearing rapidly thin --- there is no inherent evil in wealth, any more than there is a particular inherent nobility in poverty --- and Burke's incessant dwelling on the premise almost distracts from the beauty of his writing. Similarly, his presentation of the cause of the Civil War --- that it was fought over the issue of slavery --- is worse than simplistic; it is simply incorrect. The magnitude and beauty of Burke's writing, however, is such that one can easily suspend disbelief when encountering these issues and appreciate the beauty of this work.

The beauty and contrast within WHITE DOVES AT MORNING lie primarily in its characters. Robert Perry and Willie Burke, despite their disparities of background and opinion, join the Confederate Army while not sacrificing their principles, as well as their commitment to Abigail Dowling, a Massachusetts abolitionist who had come to Louisiana several years previously to aid in the battle against yellow fever. Burke also forms a friendship, unlikely for that time and place, with Flower Jamison, a beautiful young slave who is owned by Ira Jamison, owner of Angola Plantation and, though he refuses to admit it, Flower's father. Burke secretly teaches Flower how to read and write, an act that places both of them in danger. Flower becomes the catalyst from which much of WHITE DOVES AT MORNING proceeds. She finds herself the object of desire of Rufus Adkins, the overseer of her father's plantation and a source of unspeakable evil. Adkins and Burke, cast together in combat during the Civil War, are uneasy comrades. They wear the same uniform, but are by no means on the same side.

It is this conflict, woven throughout WHITE DOVES AT MORNING, that is the ultimate manifestation of Burke's ability to present through implication the complexity of relationships against a backdrop of social and moral difficulty. There are also passages here which bring to mind some of the best work of Cormac McCarthy, particularly when the author describes the horror of battle and its physical and emotional aftermath. The end of the war, however, does not herald the end of the terror. Burke, Flower, and Dowling find themselves caught between the conquering army of the North and the dreaded night riders --- the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia of which Adkins, ever the lowest common denominator opportunist, is a member.

WHITE DOVES AT MORNING ultimately demonstrates the rippling effect that an act of bravery and simple kindness --- in this instance, Burke's instruction to Flower in reading and writing --- can have upon people over time. Fans of Robiceaux who eschew this work simply because their favorite Cajun detective is not its prominent feature will only cheat themselves. At the same time, those who are unfamiliar with Burke's work will find WHITE DOVES AT MORNING far more than an introduction to a new author. This work, in time, will perhaps become the most highly regarded of all of Burke's efforts.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Rating:
Summary: A vivid portrait of the Civil War and its aftermath
Review: The rare winner of two Edgar Awards for best crime fiction of the year, James Lee Burke is the author of 21 previous novels including Jolie Blon's Bounce, Bitterroot, Purple Cane Road, In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead, and Black Cherry Blues, and a collection of short stories. He lives with his wife in Missoula, Mont., and New Iberia, La.

Burke is best known for his novels (11 installments) about Dave Robicheaux, a psychologically scarred homicide investigator for the New Iberia, La., sheriff's department. A recovering alcoholic, this moody and broody Cajun cop battles his own demons while apprehending evildoers.

The Dave Robicheaux series and the newer Billy Bob Holland series have garnered glowing accolades for James Lee Burke: "the poet of the mystery novel," "the Graham Greene of the bayou," "Eudora Welty crossed with Conan Doyle, William Faulkner crossed with Elmore Leonard," and "the Faulkner of crime fiction."

Burke's latest novel is a departure from the crime genre. Set during "the greatest epoch in American history," the Civil War, White Doves at Morning is a historical novel that depicts the first day of the bloody battle of Shiloh, at Pittsburg Landing near Savannah, Tenn.

With sweeping brushstrokes, Burke paints vivid pictures of the firestorm near Shiloh church ("the place of peace"); the peach orchard, where peach blossoms, cut by minie balls, fell like snow; the desperation at Bloody Pond; and the furious charges along a sunken road, at a hot spot known as the Hornet's Nest.

The author also brilliantly delineates the arrogance of power, pride, and prejudice on the home front in places such as New Iberia and New Orleans, La. In Chap. 10, Burke writes, "Willie wondered why those who wrote about war concentrated on battles and seldom studied the edges of grand events and the detritus that wars created."

The battle of Shiloh looms large in this story, but the author's main concern is to describe the effects of the Civil War on "the peculiar institution" of slavery, and the flotsam and jetsam created in the war's wake.

In one were asked to cite a quotation for the frontispiece of this book, it would be from the Pentateuch: "The sins of the fathers are visited upon their children unto the third and fourth generations" (Exodus 20:5).

As usual, Burke creates colorful characters and superb dialogue. By employing all the five senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling), he paints a graphic tableau of time and place.

Some of the main characters are: Willie Burke, who enlists in the 18th Louisiana from duty rather than conviction in the correctness of the cause; Ira Jamison, owner of Angola Plantation and the largest slave owner in the state; the archvillain Rufus Atkins, Jamison's white trash henchman; the beautiful slave girl Flower Jamison, Ira Jamison's illegitimate daughter whom Willie Burke teaches to read; Abigail Dowling, a Yankee abolitionist from Mass., who risks her life freeing slaves via the Underground Railroad; and Carrie LaRose, owner of New Iberia's only bordello.

There is a cameo appearance by "that devil" Nathan Bedford Forrest, slave trader in Memphis, scourge of Union troops, and, in the Reconstruction Era, night rider in the Ku Klux Klan.

The conclusion of the novel seems abrupt: an Epilogue attempts to tie the loose ends together. I shall not reveal the name of the following tragic figure, but his fate is a good example of the poet's words: "The mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small."

Here is the passage from the Epilogue: "After a while his business associates were bothered by an odor the nostrums and perfumes he poured inside his gloves could not disguise. The lesions on his hands spread to his neck and face, until all his skin from his shirt collar to his hairline were covered with bulbous nodules. His disfigurement was such that he had to wear a hood over his head in public. His businesses failed and his lands were seized for payment of his debts. When ordered confined to a leper colony by the court, he fled the state to Florida, where he died in an insane asylum."

Although White Doves at Morning is atypical of Burke's usual work, the quality of his writing maintains its same high standard and engaging style. James Lee Burke is one of the best authors on the contemporary scene.

Roy E. Perry of Nolensville is an amateur philosopher, Civil War buff, classical music lover, chess enthusiast, and aficionado of fine literature. By trade he is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville Publishing House.

NOTE: The title of this book is taken from a doleful song sung during the Civil War, and, specifically, on the eve of the battle of Shiloh: "White doves come at morning / Where my soldier sleeps in the ground. / I place my ring in his coffin, / The trees o'er his grave have all turned brown."

Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: This book is a good read. It does not tell both sides of the story of the Civil War. It does give you an insight of the terrible time when our country fought against one another.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: This is one of the best novels I have ever read. Burke's writing is excellent and the plot development is really perfect. For anyone who is interested in the same themes of mystery I suggest reading Descent into Illusions. A very good, but not very well know known novel by Paul Omeziri published by PublishAmerica.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but overbaked
Review: This review is based on the audio book, NOT the written word. I thought it might make a good companion on a long trip to visit relatives. Everything you look for in the writing of James Lee Burke comes through--AND MORE. Will Patton is the most amazing reader of audio books I have ever listened too. After several hours in the car as we approached our distination I found myself slowing down and avoiding the direct route to try to finish listening before arriving--sadly, my wife caught me, so the conclusion had to wait until after the visit. Even if you've read the book, Patton makes it worth a listen, too. His accents are dead on the Louisiana dialect Burke writes!

Rating:
Summary: Listen to the Southern Whisper
Review: This review is based on the audio book, NOT the written word. I thought it might make a good companion on a long trip to visit relatives. Everything you look for in the writing of James Lee Burke comes through--AND MORE. Will Patton is the most amazing reader of audio books I have ever listened too. After several hours in the car as we approached our distination I found myself slowing down and avoiding the direct route to try to finish listening before arriving--sadly, my wife caught me, so the conclusion had to wait until after the visit. Even if you've read the book, Patton makes it worth a listen, too. His accents are dead on the Louisiana dialect Burke writes!