Rating: 
Summary: Excellent - Thought/Provoking
Review: I can't believe this is her first book. Tademy has done a superb job in documenting her family's history through fictional narrative. This story was moving and interesting throughout the book. Tademy expressed her ancestors' struggles so clearly that I felt moved to tears many times. Philomene was the strong heroine who so clearly understood what she had to do to keep this family together - that's why she stood out so clearly in Ms. Tademy's spirit while she did her research. Three African-American women, Suzette, Philomene, and Emily, who put family first and did what they had to do, given their circumstances, to survive, and yes, also succeed. While reading, I suddenly began questioning some of the stories passed down through my family, and now I'm encouraged to begin searching my own family roots and passing this vital information on to my children. Thanks Ms. Tademy, you did a fantastic job !
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful debut!!
Review: I was almost halfway through this book when Oprah announced that she had selected it for her club. This is the best book that I have read all year. The author's way of blending fiction and personal family history is extraordinary. This book really puts a real face on slavery and the abuses that so many suffered. I cannot say enough good things about this book; it is absolutely wonderful!!
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful, Captivating Book
Review: It is hard to believe that this is Lalita Tademy's first book. She is an excellent author and I stayed captivated with her book from beginning to end. I hated for the book to end, but after reading it, I have a new respect for African-Americans and Creoles. It is so hard to imagine a time in America's history when people were treated so harshly yet came out of their circumstances so strong. Ms. Tademy is blessed to have such a heritage in her family and to be able to trace it like she has. I highly recommend this book for the novel that it is but also for the history. It will keep you enthralled through the characters and their strength and courage. Thank you Ms. Tademy for sharing your family with us.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Starts Here
Review: Growing up 'black' in America means little to Americans of African heritage. Most of us don't know what countries in Africa our ancestors came from and we know even less of the reasons why our history has all but been ignored. Except for a paltry 28-day, month-long acknowledgement in February; does anyone really know what it means to be black in this country? As an American of African heritage I was lucky enough to discover some of these answers. Lalita Tademy touches on the deep, passionate and criminally painful truths of our lives in this country. She could have written my story for they are practically identical. Read this book and let it touch your soul. She writes about history and makes you wonder why it's taken so long to see this story in print. This is a solemn and serious book that leaves you craving the answers to questions about your own history. Don't deny yourself!
Rating:
Summary: Finally
Review: Finally, I have actually read a book before Oprah picked it for her book of the month. I am so excited, her readers will absolutely love this book. I am also equally happy for the author, Lalita Tademy, who quit her job on faith to write her first novel. What a winner! River Cane deals with an issue surrounding slavery that unfortunately still affects us greatly today. The subject of the mulatto slave and the "high yellow" negro. I may not have liked the way in which the lighter negro was viewed in this book; saying such things as your lighter color will get you further in life or don't go out in the sun, it will mess your skin up, but I do respect the authors' decision to openly discuss this sensitive topic. It is a shame that even today this lighter skin vs dark skin topic is still very much alive and with us; despite James Brown's "I'm Black and I'm Proud! Cane River is a wonderfully written novel and a beautiful tribute to the authors' ancestors. It will make you sad to think how things were and just how far we have come today. Many thanks go out to the author for capturing this difficult, yet marvelous story.
Rating: 
Summary: A compelling, fictionalized family history.
Review: After researching generations of her family members who lived on Cane River in Louisiana, Lalita Tamedy chose to tell their stories in a fictionalized form, emphasizing the affects of slavery on the women of the family.Elisabeth, Suzette, and Philomene are all in turn subjected to sexual relationships with white men. As slaves, these women do not have the option of saying no, unless they are willing to risk their lives. But these women realize that they can push for some benefits as the result of these relationships, the most desireable being freedom. From one generation to the next, the offspring become lighter in skin color, which Suzette especially views as a positive. Yet the children in this family seem to be stuck in a kind of social and economic limbo, for once slavery is abolished, they are still not accepted by local whites and they often cannot find other "quality" blacks to marry. Even in freedom, the women of the family often settle for common law marriages with white men, which have to be hidden from the rest of the white community. This is for the most part a well written novel, although in spots the dialogue is a bit stiff. But the time and place come across wonderfully, and the final chapter serves as a very sensible ending.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent historical fiction
Review: African American historical fiction is extremely difficult to find. This is a find! Rarely have I read a story so demonstrative of the burdens of the slave family and so loving and compassionate at the same time. Many times I found tears in my eyes at the suffering the family endured. At other times, I found myself angry for the women in the family who were being used and used up! Tademy was wise to leave Silicon Valley to write this story. How exciting it must have been for her. Pass this book around in your family, as I have in mine!
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking Reality
Review: I read this book a while back so I don't remember all the characters, however, the effect the book had on me will not so easily be forgotten. As an African-American I "felt" this book. I felt the pain and suffering of the family from slavery to freedom, and the pain of separation from other African-Americans based on the degree of blackness. It was a tough read and I really took my time to digest it. I would strongly recommend it to anyone and everyone who wishes to have a sense of what it REALLY was like to live in America during this period. And to better understand, maybe, the mentality of those who believed -- and still believe and practice -- this horrible system of measuring people and determining their worth by the degree of color. It's wonderful that the book held something of a happy ending but that happiness came with a price -- a heavy price. An excellent book! A must read. Great for book club groups. Bravo, Ms. Tademy.
Rating:
Summary: Come Meet the Remarkable Women of Cane River!
Review: This is quite a touching story. The author, Lalita Tadema, embarked on a journey to uncover the story about her family history. While searching she discovered that she was descended from a long line of very remarkable and strong women. She introduces each of her anscestors with feeling and love and allows the reader to get to know and love them too. The story tells of five generations of Cane River women. Elisabeth, Suzette and Philomene all served as slaves in various households around Cane River. They all had partly white families after each had come to the attention of various landowners in the area. It is a case of history repeating itself, but the women had no choice in the matter and had to suffer these sometimes unwanted attentions. Some found true love, some didn't, but all grew stronger through their experiences. In the book we see the life of the slave and the slave owner, the life the people had to live during the Civil War, the time when the blacks received freedom, and the hatred and mistrust displayed by white people towards these people after they gained their freedom. We see families growing up (all made up of women, girls and young boys). Fathers lived with their white wives and children, and only visited their coloured mistresses. Sometimes they provided for them and their children, but sometimes they didn't. These women knew to take what life had to give, and try to make the best of things. They also understood the importance of families to make them grounded and centred. In the last section we get an intimate look at Emily (Lalita's grandmother). Almost white enough to "pass", she didn't feel that she fit in either world. Her longtime lover provided love and security for her for the first years together, but even he had to bow to pressure to not live with his negro mistress and to find a white wife. Emily is strong enough to survive that and much more besides. This is a wonderful, heartwarming story, and I am glad that I met these women.
Rating: 
Summary: A heartbreaking story without the satisfaction of justice
Review: Although it broke my heart many times over, I enjoyed listening to the abridged audiobook version of this story that spans several generations of African American women, beginning during pre-Civil War times and ending in the early 20th century. I was easily able to put myself in their place and feel outrage at their unfair treatment, but as with the characters in the story, it was an impotent outrage at best. I didn't even have the satisfaction of seeing anything resembling justice done in the end, outside of Philamene's psychic "glimpsing" of a better future for her descendants. I vacillated between giving this 3 stars or 4, and definitely would have given it at least 4 stars if the ending had turned out better. But it was still a story worth listening to.
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