Scan barcode
A review by cosmicbookworm
Take The Long Way Home by Rochelle Alers
Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and the author, Rochelle Alers, for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review of "Take the Long Way Home.” I was interested in this novel for it’s historical fiction value. “Take the Long Way Home” is a mix between historical fiction and romance. While Rochelle Alers is a prolific and well loved author this is my first exposure to her work. I appreciate the opportunity.
“Take the Long Way Home” is a valuable piece of historical fiction. The story begins with the main protagonist, Claudia Patterson, traveling home to visit after living the largest portion of her life in Italy as an Italian citizen, and takes us through several phases of her life. The sections of the book are titled after the four men who helped define Claudia's life.
Claudia was born in 1940 in the all-Negro town of Freedom, Mississippi, during a time when to be Black was to be unsafe due to racial tension and the violence forced on the Black community by Whites in general and and especially the KKK. Her family was unique in that her parents were the successful owners of a barber shop and beauty salon, and her maternal aunts have chosen unconventional lives, choosing not to marry. We are quickly brought back to the beginning of the story where Claudia and her grandmother save the life of a White teenager who grows up to be a leader in the KKK organization. Denny Clark has been beaten and left for dead by his father and Claudia’s grandmother nurses him back to health. Even though her life has been somewhat sheltered living an an all-negro town Claudia becomes unsafe because of the complexities brought on by her connection to a White boy.
Claudia leaves her rural community and goes to live with one of her aunts who is a teacher who teaches her multiple languages and takes her to visit the other aunt in France. Claudia goes to college, marries, and brings her husband home to Mississippi where he is killed due to his work as a civil rights attorney. Claudia then leaves the south and we follow her through her life as she makes her way to New York and then Italy. Opportunity presents itself due to the multiple languages taught her by her aunt.
At times the story is unrealistic but Claudia is a lovable character and Rochelle Alers does a good job of telling the story of her life while weaving in a variety of racial US history.
“Take the Long Way Home” is a valuable piece of historical fiction. The story begins with the main protagonist, Claudia Patterson, traveling home to visit after living the largest portion of her life in Italy as an Italian citizen, and takes us through several phases of her life. The sections of the book are titled after the four men who helped define Claudia's life.
Claudia was born in 1940 in the all-Negro town of Freedom, Mississippi, during a time when to be Black was to be unsafe due to racial tension and the violence forced on the Black community by Whites in general and and especially the KKK. Her family was unique in that her parents were the successful owners of a barber shop and beauty salon, and her maternal aunts have chosen unconventional lives, choosing not to marry. We are quickly brought back to the beginning of the story where Claudia and her grandmother save the life of a White teenager who grows up to be a leader in the KKK organization. Denny Clark has been beaten and left for dead by his father and Claudia’s grandmother nurses him back to health. Even though her life has been somewhat sheltered living an an all-negro town Claudia becomes unsafe because of the complexities brought on by her connection to a White boy.
Claudia leaves her rural community and goes to live with one of her aunts who is a teacher who teaches her multiple languages and takes her to visit the other aunt in France. Claudia goes to college, marries, and brings her husband home to Mississippi where he is killed due to his work as a civil rights attorney. Claudia then leaves the south and we follow her through her life as she makes her way to New York and then Italy. Opportunity presents itself due to the multiple languages taught her by her aunt.
At times the story is unrealistic but Claudia is a lovable character and Rochelle Alers does a good job of telling the story of her life while weaving in a variety of racial US history.