Cane River by Lalita Tademy

I almost put this book back on the shelf before buying it. Oprah’s Book Club books have always been hit or miss for me. Thankfully I took this book on with me on our holiday in Mexico. I spent two glorious days laying in the sun, enjoying the lives of these beautifully strong women.

Review:
I loved every minute of reading this book. Lalita Tademy spent years researching her family history, and then used what she found to write a semi-fiction, semi-fact based novel about her female ancestors beginning in the 1800’s while they were still living in slavery. This is one of those rare books that tells a complete story. Each of these amazing, strong women, drew me in to the novel giving an excellent portrait of what a woman’s life in slavery would have been like as well as the Civil War, reconstruction, and the years of discrimination that followed. I was so sad to say goodbye to these characters at novel’s end that I found myself re-reading large sections of the book, unready to move on. I would recommend this story to anyone who has an interest in historical fiction, slavery, and the lives of real women. This is going on my all time favorites list.