The Sacred Place [Hardcover]

Daniel Black (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2007

In the summer of 1955, fourteen-year-old Clement enters a general store in Money, Mississippi to purchase a soda.  Unaware of the consequences of flouting the rules governing black-white relations in the South, this Chicago native defies tradition, by laying a dime on the counter and turns to depart.  Miss Cuthbert, the store attendant, demands that he place the money in her hand, but he refuses, declaring, "I ain't no slave!" and exits with a sense of entitlement unknown to black people at the time.  His behavior results in his brutal murder.  This event sparks a war in Money, forcing the black community to galvanize its strength in pursuit of equality.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While spending the summer of 1955 with relatives in Money, Miss., 14-year-old Chicago-raised Clement unleashes hell when he buys a root beer at the general store and refuses to place the nickel in the white female cashier's hand, leaving it instead on the counter. Though his sharecropping grandparents and aunt and uncle try desperately to protect him—his grandfather shoots and kills the men who come looking for the boy—Clement is abducted and his death is inevitable. Patriarch Jeremiah Johnson's pain and anger bring him to call a town meeting, and the town's blacks decide to stand up against generations of murders, lynchings, rapes and other violence. Unfortunately, Black (They Tell Me of a Home) stocks his novel with stereotypes—from the downtrodden blacks to the dumb, bigoted rednecks—who speak in phonetically rendered dialogue ("What we gon do?"). The clumsy, heavy dose of Christianity and rudimentary portrayal of racism will also limit appeal. (Feb.)
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Review

Praise for THE SACRED PLACE:

“The Sacred Place is a captivating art of storytelling in a time before the Civil Rights Era. This great novel serves as a time machine, helping us revisit our past in hopes of someday reconciling our differences.”--Keith A. Beauchamp, Director/Producer, “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till”

“The Sacred Place is a work of power and depth, reminding us of a recent, painful past that too many of us have tried to forget.”--Trey Ellis, author of Platitudes

“The writing is splendidly mature. It ranks among our best new story-telling. In these pages we can rediscover how to be patient with the Universe and its seeming axiom: Freedom costs!”--Jeffery Lynn Woodyard, Ph.D., Independent Scholar and Researcher

“Readers will wonder, applaud, laugh, cry, and share in those intersections where living history makes lived history not only tolerable, but impressively acceptable.”--Trudier Harris, author of Summer Snow: Reflections from a Black Daughter of the South

“The Sacred Place is a magnificent illustration of the power of his imagination in which the virtues of courage, sacrifice, and, most importantly, spiritual maturity jump off every page.” -Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author, Exodus! Religion, Race, and Nation in Early Nineteenth-Century Black America

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (February 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312359713
• ISBN-13: 978-0312359713
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #431,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, February 14, 2007

By 

M. Evans "Dr. ME" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sacred Place (Hardcover)

Clearly, the reviewer for Publishers Weekly has limited literary knowledge or familiarity with African American southern, rural, tradition and culture. Black shows a clear understanding and appreciation of cultural perceptions and eye dialect. He recreates the speech patterns of each character by deliberately altering `standard' spelling and grammar. His work reminds me of the great Zora Neal Hurston and I am moved by his book.

Black is an awesome folklorist and fiction writer who tells a riveting story about truth, justice, self esteem, fighting for your rights, strength in community, race relations and faith. The dialect and descriptive measures makes each page come to life and I eagerly visualized each conversation and event depicted in the book.

What a wonderful thought provoking novel.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sacred Place...The Sacred Truth, March 4, 2007

By 

An Avid Reader (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sacred Place (Hardcover)

Daniel Black returns to the literary scene with yet another best-selling novel. This story is a fictional account of the Emmett Till tradegy. Dr. Black spins a web of truth (even though it's a fiction novel) that is so 'in your face' that the main stream reviewers are attempting to discredit the story by giving it negative/unfavorable reviews.
I encourage readers to use your own judgement with this one. I am sure we can all agree that TRUTH is a monster. This story is one of faith, community and unity that forces one to look inside. Those who find this story anything other than 'VERY well written' and riveting are probably the same folks who deny that racism STILL exists in 2007.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Dr. Black as much as I did his 1st one (They Tell Me of a Home). The Sacred Place reminds me of the strength of my ancestors and I am proud to know that Daniel Black has the courage to raise certain truths (although in fiction format) that gives readers a different view of racism. This book is one that will stay with you longer after the last page. It's also a story that testifies to the meaning of what (truly) happens when people stick together for what is right.

Fantastic Job Daniel Black. Keep putting pen to paper to creative masterpieces like this one. Continue to allow the ancestors to whisper their stories in your ears.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, February 14, 2007

By 

Toussaint "Cabral" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sacred Place (Hardcover)

This novel is virtuous to the degree to which it encourages possibilities and hopes of living life purposefully. Choosing to act definitively and determinately in the face of oppression and fear are indeed difficult tasks, but Black has dared to imagine what these impediments might reduce to if one faces them head-on. All future race talk should re-imagine this elegant "what-if" odyssey if only as a heuristic "as-if" reflection.