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A review by kblincoln
Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson
4.0
4.5 stars, actually.
Just before WWII, a Russian Mobster named Victor becomes the fulcrum around which a trio of folks gifted with "the hands"-- a touch based sense of truth or ability to unerringly throw knives or future--and constrained by their race into Victor's criminal orbit.
Dev is East Indian, Phyliss/Pea passes for white, and Tamara who is dark enough that the only path for her vision of a Club full of artists and culture is through Victor's world, is black. They all have secrets, and they all are manipulated by their hands as much as racism.
Phyliss is tired of killing for Victor, and Dev makes a choice out of love for her that puts her on a cursed path that only Tamara can really understand or change.
Johnson's books always pass for me a in fever of tangled love and hate, nuanced BIPOC experience, and a sense of history from the time period. That's no different here. There's the atmosphere of the Club, the cruelty and violence of Victor, and the bonds of love between the three main characters. There's not a lot of plot because what matters most is the most recent history of each of the main three characters-- their reaction to their hands, how they've chosen a dangerous life path, their motivations for trying to distance or not distance themselves from Victor. This is what Johnson excels at, and when the story seems to change tone two thirds of the way through the book by isolating Phyliss and Tamara, it felt a little bit like the story lost its way. Thus the minus half point.
Still, I go into Johnson novels expecting to run the gamut of emotions and fall in love with the complicated characters. That's what she delivers here.
Just before WWII, a Russian Mobster named Victor becomes the fulcrum around which a trio of folks gifted with "the hands"-- a touch based sense of truth or ability to unerringly throw knives or future--and constrained by their race into Victor's criminal orbit.
Dev is East Indian, Phyliss/Pea passes for white, and Tamara who is dark enough that the only path for her vision of a Club full of artists and culture is through Victor's world, is black. They all have secrets, and they all are manipulated by their hands as much as racism.
Phyliss is tired of killing for Victor, and Dev makes a choice out of love for her that puts her on a cursed path that only Tamara can really understand or change.
Johnson's books always pass for me a in fever of tangled love and hate, nuanced BIPOC experience, and a sense of history from the time period. That's no different here. There's the atmosphere of the Club, the cruelty and violence of Victor, and the bonds of love between the three main characters. There's not a lot of plot because what matters most is the most recent history of each of the main three characters-- their reaction to their hands, how they've chosen a dangerous life path, their motivations for trying to distance or not distance themselves from Victor. This is what Johnson excels at, and when the story seems to change tone two thirds of the way through the book by isolating Phyliss and Tamara, it felt a little bit like the story lost its way. Thus the minus half point.
Still, I go into Johnson novels expecting to run the gamut of emotions and fall in love with the complicated characters. That's what she delivers here.