TBT: Cane River

Cane River

Summary (from LalitaTademy.com): In a novel that combines painstaking historical reconstruction with unforgettable storytelling, Lalita Tademy presents an all too rarely seen part of American history, complete with a provocative portrayal of the complex, unspoken bonds between slaves and slave owners.  Most of all, she gives us the saga of real, flesh-and-blood women making hard choices in the face of unimaginable loss, securing their identity and independence in order to face any obstacle, and inspiring all the generations to come.

Plantation House

Review (5/5 stars): Now this is how you write a family history! This is a truly epic story that spans the lives of 4 generations of women from the same family from the 1830's in rural southern U.S up to the 1930's. The trials and challenges that these woman faced and overcame will humble you.

It's truly heartbreaking to imagine fellow human beings treated as anything less, but it happened, and all we can do now is remember and learn from that tragic time in history where people owned other people and called them slaves.

What struck me most about these women is that so many of them saw a future for themselves that was better than the drudgery they were living. With no reason to hope, that is exactly what many of them dared to do, hope.

Stories like this help me to grasp the incredible progress that has been made in recent times and to fully appreciate the tenacity, the drive, and the accomplishments of people like Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and their predecessors. Their accomplishments could not even have been imagined 200 years ago.

I loved this book, I loved the characters, and I love that Lalita Tademy was able to piece it all together to share it.

Lalita Tademy's great-grandmother, Emily Fredieu and her children

If you want to take a taste before you buy, go to lalitatademy.com to read an excerpt.  There's a great reading group guide and small photo gallery there too!

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