Customer Reviews

Out of the Night That Covers Me

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In 1950s Bainbridge, Alabama, eight-year-old John McMillan suffers the devastating loss of his beloved mother when she suddenly dies. Some might have considered John a mama's boy because of how close he was to her, especially since his father was already dead. John's Aunt Nelda brings him to her home in Lower Peach Tree in Alabama's Black Belt. However, John is shocked by the living conditions where there is no indoor plumbing or electricity. Even worse is the treatment John receives from Uncle Luther, who makes him slave outdoors all day, sells his last connections to his mom, and simply beats him at any moment.

John meets Judge Vance, president of the Planters and Merchants Bank Lower Peach Tree, who makes reasonable loans to the local "colored" community. His actions leave white landowners outraged. While working assorted jobs for the Judge, John discovers that "the coloreds" are moving in large numbers to the northern cities, especially Chicago. John wonders how the dirt poor colored are paying their way, but believes somehow that Tuway, the Judge's right-hand man, is accomplishing the impossible feat.

OUT OF THE NIGHT COVERS ME is an insightful, well-written coming of age novel that brings to life 1950s rural Alabama just before the Civil Rights push. John is an interesting character who struggles along. The support cast provide a vivid look at a bygone era, though Pat Cunningham Devoto overkills the historical elements. Still this tale and its predecessor (MY LAST DAYS AS ROY ROGERS) will provide much enjoyment to those readers who relish Southern tales like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

Harriet Klausner

In her stirring debut novel, "My Last Days as Roy Rogers," Pat Cunningham Devoto gave evidence that she was on the verge of giving voice to an extremely compelling period in our national history, the decade immediately following the end of World War II. Devoto's focus on the onset of the civil rights movement, as witnessed through the lives of poor, rural Southerners, Black and white, described the turmoil of racial injustice, class friction and personal autonomy in a compelling narrative voice. Her second novel, "Out of the Night that Covers Me" is an exceptional work, one written with rare compassion, special insight into the eternal struggle for personal integrity, and convincing accuracy about the impact of racism on the lives of members of an isolated rural Southern community. The novel has been favorably compared to "To Kill a Mockingbird" and deserves that praise.

Spindly John McMillan, whose secure, urbane life with his widowed mohter abruptly ends with her premature death, emerges as one of the most beloved youthful protagonists of Southern literature. Suffused with a quiet suffering, he comes to live with his repressed and avaricious Aunt Nelda and her brutally vicious husband, Luther. Devoto spares little detail as she describes John's descent into the hellishly collapsed environment of his new sharecropping home. Ignorant, bound by poverty and tradition, and hopeless, the Spraig family is the antithesis of what he has envisioned for his life. That sudden reversal of fortune, the agonizing realization that brutality and stunted aspirations will be his lot in life create an enormous empathy for the protagnoist.

Although brilliant characterizations abound in "Out of the Night," the novel gains its power from a narrative that grabs the reader and refuses to relinquish its grasp until the inexorable and terrifying conclusion permits the reader to understand the path John will lead in his adult life. John's quest for understanding -- his life, his new family, his relationship with African-Americans -- and his absolute strength in confronting pain, humiliation and injustice receive comprehensive scrutiny.

Readers will also be impressed by the author's subtle use of symbolism. Each of the most admirable characters in "Out of the Night" are physically or emotionally flawed; yet it is the very disfiguration which presentes each character with unique beauty and dignity. The Judge, a solitary compassionate white man whose vision of racial degradation forces him to treat African-Americans with financial dignity in his role as a bank chairman, is blind. Tuway, an African-American whose unique skin coloration has led to his ability to bridge disparate worlds, overcomes ostracism to emerge as a genuine leader. John, whose skin literally falls off his body after his grisly initiation into the life of a sharecropper, toughens his body but opens his soul to the possibility (and only a possibility) of racial amity.

The reputation of Pat Cunningham Devoto will grow as she crafts more novels which treat the crucial issues of racial justice and personal self-determination. "Out of the Night that Covers Me" should become one of our national literary staples, a book which, when read by families or shared in classrooms, will become one of those shared experiences which illuminate and educate.

This book is a study of contrasts. It is, at the same time, troubling to read because of the violence and depravity that it so well depicts and lovely because of the human qualities it illustrates. John, raised in a privileged home, finds himself orphaned and in the care of his white trash relatives who are tennant farmers in rural south Alabama. The change in his life is shocking...but the way he adapts is touchingly beautiful. John's friendship with the Judge is another strong theme -- his tie to the life he used to know, and more. His life at "the Bend" with the runaway blacks teaches him lessons about tolerance and teamwork, and his respect for Tuway, the odd and mysterious black man who can cross the line into the white man's world so easily is well described. The author writes convincingly of the region, the people, and the history. She has a beautiful style that is easy to read, and yet impressive for its control and mastery of language. This coming-of-age novel could someday rank beside "To Kill a Mockingbird" as one of Alabama's best offerings to literature. It's a book that's truly hard to put down.

Characters that I care about and insight into people and into a period of history. That is how I judge a good novel and this book rates very high on all counts. Beginning with the boy John who grabs our hearts on the first page, we then get to know a world of conflicted very human adults of both races who must deal with life in the highly restrictive 1950's Alabama Black Belt. If you cannot imagine what life in a small Alabama town would have been like or what life in a black community in the south Alabama swamps was, here is your chance in a highly readable, personal story. Readers of the author's first book, My Last Days as Roy Rogers, will find the author has grown into even more clear character development and strong story line in her second novel. You will be sorry to turn the last page.

While this is a book that evokes images of the deep South during the 1950's, it's message spans time and place. Typical Southern characters are described in detail, giving the reader a sense of actually being inside their surroundings as well as being inside their minds. This is a novel that describes coping with whatever life hands you and using it to become stronger. The main characters overcome their adversities and grow into positive human beings. The reader's empathy is elicited and a warm feeling evoked. By the end of the book, you feel glad that you read it.

I rarely write a review, though I read many. The review that takes the book almost page by page is not a helpful review to me. I would rather see that the reader was totally captivated by the book, the words, the story. "Out of the Night That Covers Me" is such a book. Ms Devoto's first book "My Last Days as Roy Rogers" was the same. A delicious read.

The name put me off and I still do not understand the title in relationship to the book and titles are important. But when I saw it was the same author I knew I wanted it.

Stories of the south are interesting because of the different lifestyles that southern's seem to have had (or so it seems to me) It is a thought provoker. I personally like a book that has substance that stays with me, one that makes me think not only of the past but of the future.

When I have a book that I don't want to end, I know I have read a book that I would recommend. This one is that and then some!

I have read many best selling and award winning novels and found them wanting. One wonders sometimes - "Why did this book get an award." My question about OUT OF THE NIGHT.... is "Why didn't it get an award?" As a student of the South, this book gives an interesting look at the South of the 1950's and the changing social norms. Change is a major theme in the book and it would be interesting to discuss with a book club or with students the examples of change. The characters are well developed, although I thought some of the black characters were not as well developed. It would be interesting to do a comparison of Aunt Nelda and Mrs. Vance. Although they appear much different, they have much in common. And likewise between John and Little Luther. The book is magical and a wonderful read and would be excellent for a book club. It could give rise to great discussions and the edition I have has questions included. Don't start it unless you have time to read the whole thing. For those who liked TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD it's a must read.

Simply one of the most finely crafted novels I have read in years. Ms. Devoto's style in Out of the Night draws the reader into the 1950s as she unveils the story of a young boy's maturation. John is a character not soon forgotten as we follow him on his journey from a sheltered boyhood to the threshold of maturity. We laugh with him and cry with him, while we long to comfort him.

The readers meets many memorable characters, seeing them through John's naive eyes. As we learn more about these characters, we realize that appearances are not reality. This juxtaposition keeps the tension level high, making it impossible to put the novel down until the last page is turned.

This novel draws the reader into the twists and turns of the plot until the haunting climax finally brings the loose ends together, an ending not soon forgotten. Ms. Devoto has mastered her craft and I highly recommend this novel to people of all ages.

An extraordinary exploration of racial attitudes, bravery, universal truths, and a boy's emotional journey. I know that sounds like pretty heavy stuff but that is just the point, this is a book about nothing less than the formation and developement of a young boy's moral character.

However, the story is told in such a mesmerizing and atmospheric way you don't feel weighed down as if you are reading a morality play. This book is like all great stories, you enjoy the read so much that you don't realize all the lessons you have learned for several days afterwards.

Only then do all the ideas and ironies and contradictions and affirmations and joys and sadness and failures and victories come bubbling forth into your consciousness. This book is transforming for the characters within the book and the reader without.

I could not put this one down. I loved watching the main character, John, evolve into something that he would never have become but for the events beautifully detailed in this story. This book stayed with me for days after I completed it. I am recommending "Out of the Night" as an excellent read for young and old because it teaches us that our trials often open the door to incredible journeys which lead us to wonderful places we would never dream possible.