Customer Reviews

Long Way from Home, A

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I hate reading time pieces, and I hate books whose subject remotely deals with slavery, but I loved "A Long Way From Home." The idea of weaving a story from the perspective of a young girl, and from the female ancestory line was very creative and inventive. I read the book in five hours. I was captivated by the ingenious way that Connie told her story. BRAVO! Don't let the subject matter deter you from reading this novel..it's the method of writing that will interest you.

I normally do not have an interest in books of this era, however, a close friend suggested I try it. I just completed this work and it was excellent. It was totally different from Ms. Briscoe's other works, which I read. I am a native of Virginia and I found the historical information to be spellbounding. The characters were believable and they received my compassion and yes, sometimes anger at their actions. I thought she went from generation to generation smoothly without alot of cumbersome, insignificant information added. I was overjoyed at the end, especially to discover the author's relationship to the characters. I recommend this book to all fans of Connie Briscoe. You will be in for a treat.

I could not put this novel down. I just read from begining to end without stopping. I was fascinated. What really impressed was the research behind the novel. The novel fits in well with what is known about those times.

Hi Connie,
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all three of your novels, but "A Long Way From Home" touched me in a particular way. At first I wasn't sure how well I would be able to relate, obviously being so far removed from that time, but just after the first paragraph, I felt I could identify with Clara in so many ways. While reading, I felt very close to Susie, Clara, and Susan, almost like I was back there with them as they endured the pain and suffering of slavery and weathered the "storm" of the Civil War, which eventually resulted in freedom for Susan and Ellen. Of that I was glad. Thank you so much for blessing all of us with the story of your ancestry and may God continue to give you these wonderful ideas for novels.

I thought the book to be an excellent and uplifting read. I was a little disappointed with "Big Girls Don't Cry." That particular book was definately not one of her best pieces of work. "A Long Ways From Home" reminded me of a Black version of "Gone With The Wind", only this time from a slaves perspective. Not many black authors write from a historical perspective. Connie Briscoe paid tribute to her ancestors by detailing the harshness and brutatily that slaves often endured. A key point that was referenced in the book was the differences in mentality between the house slaves and the field hands. The lighter skinned house slaves were preferred over the darker skinned field hands. House slaves often emulated their white masters as thinking themselves superior simply because of their skin color. The author mentioned at the end of the book that part of the story was fact and fiction. She had to put herself in her great-great-great aunt and grandmother's position and write based on how they must've felt growing up in those turbulent and rough times. I enojoyed this book immensley, and I look forward to reading more of Ms. Briscoe's work.

Set in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, A Long Way from Home is a multigenerational story of slavery, freedom, and the indestructible bond of love and family, witnessed through the lives of three memorable African-American women: Susie, her daughter Clara, and her granddaughter, Susan.

A Long Way From Home by Connie Briscoe while fictional is based on Briscoe's female ancestors who were house slaves at Montpelier, the plantation of Dolly and James Madison. Because the book details the lives of women who were house slaves vs. Field slaves one is provided a different perspective on an often overlooked group of people who did exist...and it appears had different ideas about slavery and freedom. Which to me is not farfetched or any different from what many of us experience today. Even though we can leave...we often stay in situations such as relationships, jobs, etc. because of the security they provide. We're often times afraid of the unknown and as such seek comfort and a false sense of relief from that which we know. Additionally, A Long Way From Home showed that subtle divisions existed among country slaves and city slaves, American-born blacks and African-born blacks. So while people of color were slaves not all of them acted the same or even thought the same.

A Long Way From Home graphically recreates the life of slaves and owners and is a poignant, and powerful story told from a different perspective. Once I started reading it, I was able to finish the book in one setting as the story was well-written, the characters were believable, and the storyline provided a stirring account of the everyday lives of slaves before and after the Civil War. The only disappointment was the ending ...I wonder if a sequel is forthcoming?

I have to say I was reluctant to read this book, cause I did not think I would like a book about slavery. But after hearing Ms Briscoe talk about the book at a recent booksigning I felt better about picking it up. I truly enjoyed this book. Ms Briscoe wrote about what she thought the thoughts of her great aunts would have been based on family history and research. The dilemna of being free or remaining a servant was well thought out. I truly enjoyed reading about Susan growing up and also about her mother and grandmother. I would recommend this book as it is an very good read about a very difficult time.

The first thing I noticed about this book was not the synopsis, but the fact that Ms. Briscoe lives in Falls Church, Virginia, very near the home of my mother. Then I read the book cover and decided I had to check it out of the library (sorry to the author and publisher, but I'm broke). Family history is a family hobby (inherited from my mother and grandmother, ironically enough), and this is the kind of the book I've dreamed of writing.

As usual, reality did not live up to expectation. Although there are a lot of good things about this book--I was impressed that not all of the characters actually wanted to be free, a piece of realism (if you doubt me, see "The Slave Narratives" or other first-person accounts) often ignored. The beginning was engrossing, but my interest waned as the book went on. For one thing, the story jumped from scene to scene, without enough transition to make the leap worthwhile. This may have been a stylistic thing (the story tore the reader from a scene without warning, as slaves were torn from their families), but it could have been better executed. I love happy endings, but this one felt like a Movie-of-the-Week--one minute the Civil War is still going on, the next the curtain falls on a happy reunion. I hope Ms. Briscoe will keep writing about her family--true stories bring history to life--but she needs to do a little more work before releasing the next one.

"A Long Way From Home" is the second novel that I've read by this author. I was very curious about her ability to write a convincing story of this nature, regardless of the fact that she claims to be a decendant of James Madison's slave family. It certainly was a departure from "Big Girls Don't Cry", but well worth the time. I thought the book gave the reader a fairly realistic picture of the life and times of pre-Civil War slavery. Ms Briscoe reveals the horror of slavery adequately without excess. Any African American of southern ancestry is acquainted with what we, as a people, endured. I particularly liked the way the author continued to tell the story after the ending of slavery, showing you how this event affected both races in their daily lives. It was very sad that Susan had to allow her marriage and motherly roles to be so compromised, but, indeed this was done or one paid a cruel price. The book held my interest from beginning to end. I definitely recommend this author if you want your reading to be worthwhile.

This was my first Connie Briscoe novel and as it was worth every minute I spent turning those pages -- I'll definitely be in the market for another Briscoe story, and I thank the members of my book club (the Final Word Literary Guild of Fort Washington, MD) for recommending it to the group. Only if you have a penchant for stories of history, particularly African American history and moreso, the slave era, can you have an appreciation for this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the lives of a generation of slave women, getting to know intimately their day-to-day lives and the experiences of growing up a slave. The ultimate reward, of course, was witnessing their slow walk to blessed freedom. The reunion between the long separated sisters is touching. My absolute favorite and memorable characters were the sisters Susan and Ellen, the handsome Mr. Oliver Armistead, and Daddy Walker the hero. I promise you the reader that you won't be disappointed in this book or the author's ability to bring the story to life.