Kathie G. (prtyof10) reviewed on 10/20/2009 + 75 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

In 1927 Louisiana, Rev. Hale Poser arrives in the bayous of Pilotville, looking for his roots. In the swamp beyond the cypress lies a lingering evil. For years it slept in dreadful isolation. Now comes Hale Poser, and it will sleep no more.


At the beginning, Rev. Hale Poser arrives in Pilotsville, La., the story appears to unfold in a familiar way: a stranger of humble means comes to a Southern town, scandalizes it and, in true Christ-figure fashion, changes the lives of everyone there forever.

However, a series of twists and surprises quickly pulls the reader into unexpected territory that is at once entrancing and painful to behold. Set during the great Mississippi flood of 1927, this novel does not simply explore racism, faith and poverty, but somehow inhabits them, mostly by way of Hale's journey. Told from the perspective of several characters, Hale's first days in Pilotsvillehas come to find the parents he never knewreveal something close to utopia: black and white residents working and living together congenially, and almost equally, while the beneficent white man who essentially owns the town keeps all the ugliness of Southern racism at bay. Nothing is quite as it seems, and the miracles, revelations and moments of despair lead its characters to some disturbing conclusions. Atmospheric, well-paced and powerfully imagined.

One to add too any personal library!!!
Fantastic!!!!

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