From Publishers Weekly
In an arresting examination of race and heritage, Askew (The Mercy Seat) mixes historical fact with compelling fiction. From the ominous opening scene to the race-segregated society of 1920s Tulsa, Okla., the reader is carried along on a journey of fragmented memories and introduced to characters with shadowy motives and even darker secrets. Althea Whiteside is 13 when her mother, kicked by a calf during pregnancy, gives birth to Japheth, the only boy in a family of seven girls. His portentous entrance into the world is just the beginning of his influence on Althea's life and the destruction he will leave in his wake. Years later, Althea has left her impoverished family and married dashing oil baron Franklin Dedmeyer. She's content to be his pampered, social wife, taken care of by servantsDincluding Graceful Whiteside, a black woman whom Althea views with alternate fascination and repulsion, as she slowly realizes that the two share more than a surname. A mysterious letter, a double lynching and Japheth's sudden intrusion into Althea's life set in motion events that draw these characters closer to one another and to the great fire and race riot of Tulsa in 1921, a murderous rampage that ran most of the blacks out of town and left hundreds dead. Written from multiple perspectives the narrative is at times difficult to follow, but Askew's bold and disturbing chronicle of greed, racial hatred and intrigue rewards patient attention. Her proseDrich, leisurely, gracefulDengages all the senses and encloses the reader in a bell jar of heat, hate and budding violence. By the novel's end, all the voices coalesce into a vivid account of the riot, during which the various characters' hubris and heroism are exposed. Agent, Jane Gelfman. Author tour.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Beginning with a horrifying birth scene of fictional 13-year-old Althea Whiteside's brother and ending with the aftermath of the explosive, factual 1920 Tulsa, OK, race riots, Askew (Mercy Seat) has crafted an emotional portrait of the frailties of family and racial relationships. Althea flees her bleak family background to Tulsa as the wife of would-be oil baron Franklin Dedmeyer. Yet she cannot escape the secrets that she carries. Althea's relationship with her African American maid, Graceful, will unravel her carefully crafted existence, as well as awaken her to a bond she and Graceful share that will terrify yet ultimately save her. Askew is skilled at characterization and description, and the reader viscerally feels the anger, evil, fear, anxiety, tension, grief, and love of the characters. The description of the Oklahoma landscape and Tulsa homes of both black and whites is as clear as a photograph. The overall tone of this novel is ominous; there is simply no doubt that the repressed emotions of the characters will ultimately gush forth just as violently as oil from an Oklahoma well. Highly recommended.
-DBarbara L. Roberts, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Pheonix Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
