Four Spirits: A Novel (P.S.) (Paperback)

by Sena Jeter Naslund (Author) "FROM MANY PLACES IN THE VALLEY THAT CRADLED BIRmingham, you could lift up your eyes, in 1963, to see the gigantic cast-iron statue of Vulcan,..." (more)
Key Phrases: four spirits, Aunt Pratt, Aunt Krit, Lionel Parrish (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
During the civil rights conflict, Birmingham, Ala., was notorious for the ferocity of its racial bigotry: peaceful demonstrators attacked with fire hoses and dogs by police chief Bull Connor; the Klan-set explosion at a black church that killed four little girls. The four victims are only background figures in Naslund's (Ahab's Wife) faithful and moving evocation of the city and the era, but they appear to several characters in the form of spirits who promise the reconciliation to come. The novel is constructed as a series of vignettes that follow a dozen or so characters whose lives finally intersect in entirely credible ways, and who serve as emblems of the divided citizens of Birmingham, some who bitterly fought integration and others who persevered in their struggle for equality. As such, it's a panorama of the social landscape of the Deep South during its violent crucible of change. Naslund, who grew up in Alabama, writes with a deep, instinctive compassion for the South's tragic heritage of racial hatred, and an understanding of the high toll paid by people committed to justice. She develops her plot in a leisurely fashion that initially may leave readers somewhat frustrated, but her method eventually pays off in stunning scenes, vivid with action, color and emotion, that recreate both the horror and the heroism. The characters pivot around Stella Silver, a white college student who is horrified by the glee in her community when JFK is assassinated, and who is moved to activism. In its authentic, balanced evocation of daily life across a wide spectrum of the black and white communities, this novel justifies its length and measured pace, and credibly renders the faith and courage that brought redemption to a blood-soaked city.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-The author of Ahab's Wife (Morrow, 1999), a feminist corrective to Moby-Dick, has picked an equally ambitious subject for this novel: the racial injustice, hatred, and horror of Birmingham, AL, circa 1963. With a full cast of fictional characters, and a few historical figures (Police Commissioner Bull Connor, the Reverends Shuttlesworth, King, and Abernathy), Naslund weaves a busy but satisfying story of real and imagined events: lunch-counter sit-ins, fire-hosed demonstrators, police dogs at children's heels. The title refers to the spiritual presence (felt by several characters) of the four young girls who died in the horrendous bombing of their church. One matronly woman "sees" them as honeybees on roses, one bee to a rose. Because of this and other such contrivances, some readers might find the narrative strained, and the principal characters either too good or too horrible. For the most part, though, the author manages to keep this big story under control, in part by employing a measured narrative pace. There is plenty of value here for strong, informed teens. Undoubtedly, some readers will find the novel too slow, or too full of names and events, and thus confusing. But for those who can handle the mature themes, Four Spirits is an excellent history lesson, and a story not soon forgotten.
Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (September 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006093669X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060936693
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #86,160 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Naslund's Triumph, September 15, 2003

By	Genevieve Kazdin "dunes_studio" (Pocasset, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Four Spirits (Hardcover)

Naslund uses her sensuous language to bring alive events surrounding some of the most shameful events in our national history. Her telling of the story of the four little girls bombed to death in a Birmingham church concentrates on those who were there -- those affected by these tragic deaths in many different ways. In short and sparkling chapters Naslund brings these characters to life: Not only those struggling to right the wrongs, but those responsible for committing them. Should you read this book? Yes. If you were not alive during the tumult of the early sixties, you should read this book and think. Yes. If you were alive you should read this book and remember. Always remember. For it is ever true that those of us who do not remember our history will find a way to repeat it.

Naslund, with unimpeachable skill, fictionalizes the horrors, creates recognizeable humans to populate her story, and makes an imperative of remembrance. Naslund's skill is formidable. She is a writer to pay attention to. She knows the human heart in darkness and in light.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking, October 2, 2003

By	A. C. Hughes (Pulaski, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Four Spirits (Hardcover)

Having lived and grown up in Birmingham, AL during this period of its history, this book was of particular interest to me. Ms. Naslund has captured the flavor, the ectasy, the heartbreak of this time in a very ingenious manner, focusing on the lives of some ten to twelve individual people during this time of turmoil and heartbreak. Her chapters are short, which makes the book more compelling and difficult to put down, and the ending is truly magnificent. Ms. Naslund with her latest book continues to add to her reputation as a tremendously gifted and deeply sensitive writer. It is truly a breathtaking and unforgettable novel.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hard to Keep Track of the Characters, January 12, 2004

By	Patricia Kramer (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Four Spirits (Hardcover)

In the author's note, Sena Naslund writes that she wanted to "write about the acts of courage and tragedy" that took place in Birmingham where she was a college student. I feel she did a very good job of portraying the difficult choices people involved in the civil rights movement had to make and the effect of those choices and the courage it took. For this, the book is worth reading.

I had difficulty however with keeping track of the various characters and who they were, for some reason. It is a long book, but even by the end I often felt myself saying, "now who is that again". I just didn't feel engaged with the characters, they are not ones who will stick with me.