Song Yet Sung: Summary and book reviews of Song Yet Sung by James McBride, plus links to an excerpt from Song Yet Sung and a biography of James McBride.
Song Yet Sung
by James McBride
Hardcover: Feb 2008,
368 pages.
Paperback: Jan 2009,
384 pages.
Nowhere has the drama of American slavery played itself out with more tension than in the dripping swamps of Maryland's eastern shore, where abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, born less than thirty miles apart, faced off against nefarious slave traders in a catch-me-if-you-can game that fueled fear and brought economic hardship to both white and black families. Trapped in the middle were the watermen, a group of America's most original and colorful pioneers, poor oystermen who often found themselves caught between the needs of rich plantation owners and the roaring Chesapeake, which often claimed their lives.
The powerful web of relationships in a small Chesapeake Bay town collapses as two souls face off in a gripping page-turner. Liz Spocott, a young runaway who has odd dreams about the future of the colored race, mistakenly inspires a breakout from the prison attic of a notorious slave thief named Patty Cannon. As Cannon stokes revenge, Liz flees into the nefarious world of the underground railroad with its double meanings and unspoken clues to freedom known to the slaves of Dorchester County as "The Code." Denwood Long, a troubled slave catcher and eastern shore waterman, is coaxed out of retirement to break "The Code" and track down Liz.
Filled with rich history-much of the story is drawn from historical events-and told in McBride's signature lyrical storytelling style, Song Yet Sung brings into full view a world long misunderstood in American fiction: how slavery worked, and the haunting, moral choices that lived beneath the surface, pressing both whites and blacks to search for relief in a world where both seemed to lose their moral compass. This is a story of tragic triumph, violent decisions, and unexpected kindness.
I found Song Yet Sung such a good, old-fashioned read - dramatic plot,
broad characters, redemptive themes - that I wanted it to be perfect.
Unfortunately, it suffers from a few facile conclusions and implausible
resolutions, and the central dream motif becomes heavy-handed as the novel
progresses. Still, so engaging are its many merits that choosing to forgive its
minor flaws offers the possibility of an up-all-night read that runs much deeper
than the usual fare. (Reviewed by Lucia Silva).
Cleveland Plain Dealer - Sharon Broussard
[T]his book sings when McBride keeps to rough, colorful language .... Too bad that in 360 pages, McBride's shallowly written characters don't make us care.
Minneapolis-St Paul Star Tribune - Cherie Parker
McBride has wrought an action-packed, romantic and suspenseful drama of slave times .... Although Song Yet Sung is ostensibly about slave times, Cosby's rant against the morals and tastes of the hip-hop generation are implicit throughout ....
Song Yet Sung pits slaves against slave catchers and "good" slave owners against the innate immorality of slavery in a tale that is surprisingly adventure-heavy yet still finds time to suggest that 21st-century black people aren't living up to the sacrifices their ancestors made to be free.
Washington Post - David Anthony Durham
In a complex, ever-tightening, increasingly suspenseful web that rises toward a dramatic climax. Mixed in with the action, McBride shows the complexity of his characters' inner lives and dilemmas -- particularly his black characters .... The novel does have its weaker moments. At times McBride's exposition seems rushed, as if he's got more information to give than time to give it. His action scenes can feel like stage directions for a film ....While McBride may not have his fictional character's prophetic gifts, he does have the ability to captivate, compel and challenge those of us still working to shape those tomorrows.
Entertainment Weekly - Troy Patterson
[T]ends to spiral into irrelevance ... undermining its textured take on history and its re-creation of how blacks aided fugitives. B
San Francisco Chronicle - Bob Blaisdell Song Yet Sung, about slavery in 1850 on the swampy coastal reaches of Maryland, is grander and more ambitious and sentimental than the previous two books. Anyone looking for trendy fiction from the 50-year-old author will be annoyed; this is period lit-fic, and the research, as in Miracle at St. Anna, is usually so well digested and trustworthily presented that it's inconspicuous.
Library Journal
The pace of the action is slowed by implausibility, repetitive and often cartoonish description, fairly obvious anachronisms, and a tremendous amount of unnecessary detail to the exclusion of the feelings of the (mostly flat) main characters.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. [A] thoughtful meditation on the nature of freedom and...sharp social commentary on contemporary America. McBride hasn't lost his touch: he nails the horrors of slavery as well as he does the power of hope and redemption.
Kirkus Reviews
McBride has fashioned a myth of retribution and sacrifice that recalls both William Faulkner's sagas of blighted generations and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. Explosively dramatic.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Kate O'Donnell Good dreams and live nightmares The first page offered surprising futuristic ideas, compelling me to continue reading. However, as soon as the author referred to the "eastern shore" not capitalizing E and S, I had my doubts but was willing to allow for his choice of... Read More
Rated of 5
by Beverly Song Yet Sung I recently read this book over a two day period. As a lover of historical fiction I always enjoy a story that takes me to a different place. This time I was taken to the Maryland Eastern Shore of the 1850's. We learn about this self contained... Read More
Quilts hung out in a rainstorm, barrels stacked in careful sequence, boats
tied to the dock with five knots facing one direction, songs of freedom and
warning, a blacksmith's hammer ringing out in an undetectable sequence; all are
evidence of the secret codes of the Underground Railroad: cryptic communications
used to facilitate the safe passage of escaped slaves. The Code is central to
Song Yet Sung, it's the mysterious, rhythmic backbone of the story, as much
a mystery to the main character as it is to the reader. Much of the Code
consisted of seemingly innocuous words or phrases that held greater meaning,
e.g.: "The wind blows from the south today" warned that slave hunters were nearby.
As with many oral histories, legend has mixed with fact, and details about the
Code are disputed among historians.
Particularly controversial is the hypothesis that quilts were used to send
coded messages, especially since none of the quilts have survived. Hidden in Plain View:
A Secret Story of...
'Though I've read countless novels, I had never read one like this ... told in a chorus of completely unexpected voices, as befits the first novel from a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter' - Washington Post.
This is a story about men whose lives began in slavery, who weathered the Civil War; newly freed men who have to fight for their liberties, hoping the federal government will come to their aid. But after a deadly racial massacre, once-proud families are left to deal with the wreckage and find the strength to push on.
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(626 words).
Cleveland Plain Dealer - Sharon Broussard
Library Journal
of 5
by Kate O'Donnell
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