Nevermore: Olaudah Equiano, Boys from Biloxi, Covenant of Water, Remarkably Bright Creatures

 

Reported by Rita

 

Having recently read The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox, (which our reader described as a depressing children’s book full of misery,) she wanted to learn more about the slave trade in the Middle Passage. This led her to read the autobiography titled The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Originally published in 1789, Equiano tells of being kidnapped at age eleven and sold into slavery. Before buying his freedom in 1766, he was sold four times and spent many years at sea. His firsthand account of the treatment of slaves in different countries and aboard ships was eye opening. GG

 

The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham tells the story of two young immigrant boys who grew up as friends in Biloxi in the 1960s. The two take different paths as teenagers and eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the law. Our reader said it does a good job of illustrating how two people with similar backgrounds can end up so differently. Good, but not great. It got 3 stars. VC

 

Occasionally, our Nevermore participants treat us to a written review. Here is one such review of The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese along with Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt:

“Despite its intimidating 715 pages, it is a good history of India (setting around Kerala) from 1900-1977 as it follows 3 generations of a family cursed with a "condition" concerned with water & drowning. There are parallel stories with many characters that concern the disease of leprosy as well as how the health care system developed in India. I found the complexities of this multi-layered story worth the read, in part because of the author's beautiful writing.”

“The book Remarkably Bright Creatures is a work of fiction about a giant Pacific octopus, set in Puget Sound, Washington. Though I question all its accolades, it is a worthy quick read.”

 

Also Mentioned:

 

The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America's Future by Franklin Foer

Enough by Cassidy Hutchinson

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me by Richard Fariña

First Lady from the Plains: A Novel of the Revolutionary War by Rosalynn Carter

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Squeeze Me by Carl Hiassen