Lemaster Carlyle, the president of the country's most prestigious university, and his wife, Julie, the divinity school's deputy dean, are America's most prominent and powerful African American couple. Driving home through a swirling blizzard late one night, the couple skids off the road. Near the sight of their accident they discover a dead body. To her horror, Julia recognizes the body as a prominent academic and one of her former lovers. In the wake of the death, the icy veneer of their town Elm Harbor, a place Julie calls "the heart of whiteness," begins to crack, having devastating consequences for a prominent local family and sending shock waves all the way to the White House.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Turpin's reading of Carter's second novel is sublime. In a book where each character's race is important, capturing that fact for the ear alone is a balancing act to be taken quite seriously. The story opens with a body found on the roadside by Julia Carlyle and her university president husband, Lemaster (both had minor roles in Carter's The Emperor of Ocean Park). It turns out to be an ex-lover of Julia's and a possible blackmailer of Lemaster. What ensues is a gripping tale of race, murder, politics, conspiracy theory and secret societies that revolves around a 30-year-old case involving a dead white girl and an accused, now dead, black attacker. Turpin's prowess in the aural world is apparent, not only when nailing regional accents but in much more subtle ways, like a conversation between two women of roughly the same age who are clearly distinguishable from each other by one's slight smoker's rasp. The story is literate and fast-paced, and Turpin's well-rounded characters keep the fire fueled.
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.
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.
From Bookmarks Magazine
Featuring the setting and two minor characters from his best-selling debut novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park, Stephen L. Carter has crafted a literary thriller peppered with shrewd observations about wealth, power, race, culture, and politics. Several critics were disappointed with the murder mystery, citing a melodramatic plot with too many characters. However, the Washington Post declared, "Let's be honest: No one should read a Carter novel for the mystery." Indeed, Carter's astute dissection of the upper-class black milieu and his scathing portrait of the subtly racist community surrounding the university shine brightest, offering a compelling exploration of ethics and power. Fans of his first novel will certainly welcome his second.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
70 of 75 people found the following review helpful
By J. Belt
Format:Hardcover
After Emperor of Ocean Park, I could hardly wait for a second book from Stephen Carter. I even emailed him once to find why it was taking so long (no, he didn't respond) and so when I found out his new book was coming out last week, I rushed to my local bookstore (coupons in hand) and started reading. Once again, Carter has delivered an intriguing mystery while providing juicy tidbits about life in the rarified atmosphere of rich black intellectuals.
However, as much as I loved reading all 556 pages (whew!), I found that about halfway through the book, I started getting lost in all the details. There is just so much information he includes that after a while they start to detract from the story. More than once I thought "And who is this again?" Not that any of that stopped me from reading, it's that with so many characters, so many events, so much repetition, I was relieved to finally get to the big reveal. Yes, it was worth it find out whodunnit and why, but there is another message Carter delivers that members of both the darker nation and the paler nation will likely find themselves admitting, even if to no one other than to themselves.
My favorite scene in the book? When Julia finds herself in an unfamiliar neighborhood, knocking on doors and understanding that it's race, not money/class/privilege that people see first. And that truth is not lost on her.
However, as much as I loved reading all 556 pages (whew!), I found that about halfway through the book, I started getting lost in all the details. There is just so much information he includes that after a while they start to detract from the story. More than once I thought "And who is this again?" Not that any of that stopped me from reading, it's that with so many characters, so many events, so much repetition, I was relieved to finally get to the big reveal. Yes, it was worth it find out whodunnit and why, but there is another message Carter delivers that members of both the darker nation and the paler nation will likely find themselves admitting, even if to no one other than to themselves.
My favorite scene in the book? When Julia finds herself in an unfamiliar neighborhood, knocking on doors and understanding that it's race, not money/class/privilege that people see first. And that truth is not lost on her.
79 of 88 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Does Knopf still employ editors? This book has a fascinating plot, but following it is like trying to find a jewel amid waist-deep weeds. There are just too many irrelevant characters, pointless digressions and tiresome, unnecessary details. At 556 pages, this book is about 200 pages too long, and slogging through it becomes a chore. Yes, Mr. Carter displays many wonderful turns of phrase, and yes, savoring a literate work by a black author who knows the racial score is very satisfying, but the knowledgeable reader must fight the urge to shout "For God's sake, man, get on with it!" The premise of this book is unique and brilliant; the execution, however, falls short.
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The characters in this book were very compelling, especially Julia Carlyle, the wife of the university president, and her daughter. Mrs. Carlyle is an elitist African American raised at Dartmouth College and now an assistant dean at an Ivy League divinity school. As she works to uncover what is behind the murder of an ex-lover, she learns - for lack of a better term - how the other half lives. In her world, things get done because of who she is and to whom she is married - someone bothers her and he loses her job; she is an assistant dean without getting a degree - in her stratus it is who you are that matters. That group of "who you are" clashes with the more typically portrayed white privileged class which sets up the mystery portion of the book.
The book is a mystery only secondary to the exploration of the class strata among African Americans and how that compares and mirrors the white classes. The mystery is one for which Oliver Stone would be proud. It is conspiracy upon conspiracy upon complicity mixed with antagonism among whites and blacks and blacks and blacks. The black elite strata is manifested in elite clubs who pull strings behind the scenes in our society. Mr. Carter disavows the existence of such clubs in an afterword.
The characters truly carry this book, because it is s-l-o-o-o-w. I kept waiting for it to heat up; after all there are murders, conspiracies and intrigue, but somehow all of that was overcome and the pace remained slow throughout.
This is an intriguing look at American society from an elite black's view, which is a rare one to see and experience. Unfortunately, the slow pace detracted from the work.
The book is a mystery only secondary to the exploration of the class strata among African Americans and how that compares and mirrors the white classes. The mystery is one for which Oliver Stone would be proud. It is conspiracy upon conspiracy upon complicity mixed with antagonism among whites and blacks and blacks and blacks. The black elite strata is manifested in elite clubs who pull strings behind the scenes in our society. Mr. Carter disavows the existence of such clubs in an afterword.
The characters truly carry this book, because it is s-l-o-o-o-w. I kept waiting for it to heat up; after all there are murders, conspiracies and intrigue, but somehow all of that was overcome and the pace remained slow throughout.
This is an intriguing look at American society from an elite black's view, which is a rare one to see and experience. Unfortunately, the slow pace detracted from the work.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Valuable Reference Work
Many prior reviews found this work too long, with too many characters. This was my first reaction since I was expecting a murder mystery. Read more
Published 1 month ago by M. H. W.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and convoluted
Having read the third book first and then the first, I found this one not nearly as concise and strongly written. Read more
Published 1 month ago by P. Block
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love the way Carter writes
My first encounter with Stehpehen Carter's fiction was in 2003 as a teenager.
It took me a week and a half but I thumbed my way through "The Emperor of Ocean Park," a superb... Read more
It took me a week and a half but I thumbed my way through "The Emperor of Ocean Park," a superb... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Greenwood
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Follow-up to The Emperor of Ocean Park
I took a chance on Stephen Carter when I found a buy two get one free in a chain bookstore. While his first book was filled with excessive cultural explanations that slowed the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Tom G
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vivienne Diane Neal, Writer/Author
An excellent read focusing on the Carlyles, a wealthy African American family and the puzzling murder of an economics professor who left something that everyone wants. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Vivienne Diane Neal
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ivy League intrigue
I am white. My middle child is black. So I have a sort of fascination with black culture, wondering where my child will end up fitting in. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Paul A. Mastin
3.0 out of 5 stars
Put it down after 300 pages
This book had some intriguing elements, enough to keep me going just under 300 pages. Small college town, black upper-class social groups and their history, a murder with... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Daniel Holland
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very slow start, but it got better with time!
I read this book as part of my monthly book club reading. I must admit, for the first 2 weeks, I kept falling asleep trying to plod through the first 200 or so pages. Read more
Published 14 months ago by TM
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Decent Follow-Up
This is a solid outing that is not as good as Emperor of Ocean Park but not as bad as Palace Council or Jericho's Fall. Read more
Published 23 months ago by J. Smallridge
4.0 out of 5 stars
Long and involved, but more or less unique
I've read a lot of books. Many of them are mysteries, with different settings and characters, and I like the idea of a writer who writes books in different settings, with... Read more
Published on August 19, 2010 by David W. Nicholas
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