read for The History Sleuth class
Painter's biography of Isabella van Wagenen/Sojourner Truth is expertly researched (with endnotes!) and written. She explores the truth (no pun intended) behind Truth's experiences most mythologized in later accounts and memory, showing Truth's biographical background and involvement in many social and religious movements of the mid-19th century. This biography is both fascinating and well-written.
ARC provided by publisher
publication date: March 19, 2013
Having now concluded this series, I can say the first book definitely outshined its sequels. Not that Fox Forever wasn't an enjoyable read - the plot was exciting, and it was nice to encounter some of the same characters again. But the character development felt a bit flat, I could see some of the stuff coming, and overall, the book just didn't stick in my head like the first one did.
translators: Carol and Thomas Christensen
This reminded me a lot of the themes from other magical realist works, namely The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and Love in the Time of Cholera. But, unlike with Aimee Bender's and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's works, I couldn't get into the story. I'm not sure why the novel kind of fell flat for me - usually I absolutely love the craziness of magical realism - but I just breezed through the book without getting much from the characters and their experiences.
(Like Water for Chocolate)
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