Reviews

I am always wary when it comes to books written by regular people who decided to discover their family history. They more often than not are of interest only to the authors and their relatives. And they are usually badly written.
Also this was an "Oprah" book, so I was expecting lots of gooey 'women power' yadda-yadda.

I was pleasantly surprised. Wheares Ms Tademy might not win Nobel Prize for literature anytime soon I don't feel I have wasted my time. She doesn't over-romantacise her heroines - something hard to avoid when you write about your ancestors, so she earned one star for that alone. The remaining three stars are for an interesting story and insight into life in Deep South during the slavery and post-Civil War era. The book seems extremely well researched so I trust my vision of that time is not distorted.

oviedorose's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense

5.0

lediamond4's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A slow paced, multi-generational family story told over the course of just over 100 years. Lalita Tademy tells a very special story here, her family’s story. A fictionalized but very realistic version, Cane River is her family’s history. The characters, her family members, are all drawn out wonderfully, so real that it’s easy to feel as though you’re right next to them. It’s a long story, filled with racism, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and so much suffering and death. It’s not an easy read, and sometimes the pace is a little slow. It requires patience at times. But it’s really wonderful too.

darbileigh's review against another edition

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5.0

This is the type of reading that should be required in our schools, I believe.

Here's why:
https://darbisfavoritethings.wordpress.com/2018/02/17/cane-river-by-lalita-tademy/

Definitely a 5 star read!

knoxinsocks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Fascinating and in so many ways exasperating due to relentless (true to life) injustices.

Historical documents and details were often shoehorned into the story, but I think some clunkiness is excusable because of the educational value of the non-fiction elements.

kindlereads's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

It was well written and last book in the 4 AM the genre I can’t have all the sadness that it brings me anymore.

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