This was the first modern fiction slave narrative that I've read. It's about a runaway slave named Liz who can see the future in her dreams - from the civil rights movement to hiphop. The visions in her dreams help her and other slaves to escape - but not without a great plot. From one scene:"Holding the pike between her front teeth, she drove her head into his beautiful neck full force, drilling the pike deep in, striking the Adam's apple from the side. His roar was muffled by the awful spurt of air and blood hissing out his exposed esophagus."
Isn't that intense?! Liz is chased by several brutal slave catchers, and is helped by an older woman who teaches runaway slaves about the "Code" which helps them to find friends on their path to freedom.
Sometimes this book was hard for me to follow because McBride follows the style of using a long dash to show the start of a quotation, rather than just quotation marks around the dialog. But this was a great story - an interesting twist on a fiction slave narrative with its interwoven commentaries on contemporary culture.
Great!!! It sounds interesting. Why did you include McBride
ReplyDeleteSomeone recommended this book to me; I also knew that he had some bestsellers (Miracle at St. Anna; The Color of Water) so I figured I'd give him a try!
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