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Summary: I cannot say enough good things about this book
Review: This is the author's fictionalized account covering her matrilineal line for several generations from slavery, through the Civil War and the Great Depression era in central Louisiana. I liked that she provided authentic family photos, baptism and Census records, bills of sale, newspaper articles and other bits of real information she uncovered while researching her family tree.I'd been meaning to read this book for a couple of years, but there was a part of me that was apprehensive, believing there would be aspects which would really upset me. I both looked forward to and dreaded this book because my matrilineal heritage has similar origins. Pleasantly, what I found was a story of triumph rather than victimhood. That's not to say she whitewashed any of the horrible things that happened, she simply did not choose to make them the main focus. Rather than detailed accounts of rapes and beatings, Tademy focused on how the family endured, and how these women used whatever was within their means to make things a little better with each passing generation. She also did a good job of portraying the complex, and often contradictory, relationships between the whites, blacks, mixed race, and freed people of color, and the ways in which these relationships evolved over time. This is one of the most important books I have ever read.
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Summary: Best Oprah book I have read!!!
Review: After I finished this book I was very sad because I missed all the characters in the story. I felt I had a relationship with every one of them. This was a great story! I would give it 10 stars if I could. I usually read Oprah's picks because many times she will pick a book that shows you a side of life that you would not normally see. I have read books about slaves before but this book left me feeling like I lived inside the homes of those women and experienced everything they did first hand. I was even dreaming about the characters in this book. I can say that books rarely make me cry but when Palmire's children were sold to another Cane River family I could not help but cry. This book will stay with me a long time. It is a hard story to forget because it is about real people and real circumstances. Lalita Tademy is a great writer and I look forward to reading her next book!
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Summary: My opinion of Cane River
Review: I do not know why, but I could not really get into this book. I usually enjoy narratives such as this, but I just could not enjoy it to the fullest. I think it took me almost a week to finish it (I read Alex Haley's Queen in a matter of hours!). My recommendation is read it, and draw your own conclusions. I am not sure if this is Ms. Tademy's first book or not, but if it is, I'm sure her 2nd try will be better :-)
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Summary: The second book of my life that made my heart cry...
Review: Lalita Tademy said that her ancestors forced her to write this book, especially Philomene, and surely they did. This is an all encompassing historical story that is told as a fictional account of the story of Lalita's family through the voices of generations although it rings with truth. Lalita took whatever historical papers she could, starting with a bill of sale and uncovered the story of her blood, focusing on the lives of the women in her family. It is a story that is relevent to everyone, slaves, freed slaves and slave owners. It dwells on the the personal relationships between blacks and whites and the offspring of these relationships.
Although this is a story of the brutallity of slavery it is not a 'slave story'. It is however a story of unbelievable strength, endurance and above all love. The love that would drive a mother to hope that if her children were lighter skinned than herself their life would be so much better than hers. And this whole book is under this perception.
It brought a new understanding of the light skin dark skin situation within the African-American communities, and how it was a decision of survival made by our fore-mothers. And for those that are not of the darker hue, it might bring an awareness of a conflict that exists within the African-American community that you might not have been aware of before. When I had finished reading this book I cried, as I came to understand the courage, love and selflessness that my people had shown so that I might be where I am.
Surely now I have a responsibility to live a better life, and any book that stimulates such depth of thought, is surely worth reading.
Thankyou Lalita.
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Summary: Amazing story...based on history and rich characters
Review: I read this book in no time flat! The research the author did must have been tremendous. Tademy brought these women to life, and of course she had never met them. What a gift to give her family by honouring them in their past. I live in Canada and slavery is not as large a part of our history as what it has been in the US. (although it did exist) In school, we really never learned about this sad part of history and my sources have only been in movies and TV. This book brought slavery and its tragedy to life. What it must have been like to have your family sold off and seperated. I cannot imagine it, yet Tademy documents it and you know it happened and it was real. You will love Elisabeth, Suzette, Philomene and Emily; four generatations of strong women to admire and cry with. This book was a wonderful read, and worth 5 stars.
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Summary: Poignant story
Review: Impressive debut novel spanning the history of five generations. From the plantation to freedom, the story is overflowing with tales and rich descriptions of the times. This is a thoroughly delightful way to spend time. At its conclusion you'll be left wanting more of this wonderful tale. The characters are endearing and you are made to feel that you are there walking beside them. Beautifully written novel.
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Summary: Creole family history thru 5 generations
Review: Cane River begins with Suzette, daughter of Elizabeth, a house slave belonging to a Creole cotton planter family. Suzette's girlish aspirations for perhaps being freed to marry and live her own life are cut short when, at age 13, she is taken as the mistress of a cousin of her owners - and she eventually bears him 2 children.
From there, the tale goes forward to follow the life of Philomene, Suzette's 2nd child, then her daughter, Emily, and finally to her children. Through each successive generation, the girls' skin color becomes paler and paler by the diluting quality of white planter's blood.
This tale is author Tademy's attempt to create her own Louisiana family history. She quit a high-level job in the technology industry to explore her roots and then to write this book - a novel, but with lots of truth to back up the story line. Family archival photographs help us see these characters as far more than just people defined by words; they become real in our vision as well as in our imagination.
Stunningly successful first book.
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Summary: Amazing Family History
Review: Cane River was recommended to me, and I read it not really knowing what to expect. It turned out that I could not put it down. The story was incredible. It was about four generations of women, some born into slavery, and how they stived for a better life for themselves and their families. I very much enjoyed Cane River. What an awesome family history! Lalita Tademy did an wonderful job of telling her family's story. It helped me to better understand the importance of family and appreciate my own.
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Summary: Inspiring!!
Review: I read this book in two days. Lalita took the lives of four powerful women in her family and wove them into a beautiful tapestry. Of all the women, Philomene was the one that spoke to me the most. I thoroughly admire her as a woman who did what she had to do to protect her family in the face of insummountable odds. If I could have one-fith of her courage and determination! This book is a treasure that families of every color should have. P.S. I e-mailed Lalita through her web site and her sister replied. Good news - there is another book coming out, but this time Lalita traces her father's roots. I can only expect greater from her with this new book.
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Summary: Writing your own genealogy
Review: I've never been interested in genealogy because I thought it was merely names and dates. However, Tademy has taken the factual information she found on her family and woven a likely history around them. Using birth dates, slave-purchasing dates, etc. she constructed the story of her family in a poignant and remarkable manner. I could give life to the dates and events of my ancestors in the same manner someday. She inspired me!
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