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A review by pumpkin_fiend
Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman
2.0
**Since it doesn’t seem to be clearly indicated anywhere: This is a historical novel set in 1930s Georgia. There is frequent use of racial slurs and depictions/references to lynching and slavery.
This is a creeping, atmospheric story that blends Southern gothic and folk horror. Sadly, despite such a strong start, the rest of the novel loses steam and doesn’t live up to its promise. Buehlman is clearly a talented writer and his background in poetry shines through, but at times it felt overwritten and like he was just flexing his ability to write in a rural Southern dialect. This might not bother someone looking for an immersive and meandering slow-burn, but I never really cared for most of the characters and I can’t help but feel that this could have been a hundred pages shorter. This is one of those books that has several endings: Right when it feels like it should end it goes on. And on. And on.
The way that the black characters were written, even considering the historical context of Frank’s POV, was carelessly stereotypical with no real nuance. When Frank was taken and we find out that Hector has raped Eudora and claimed her as his property, I thought really? this is what we’re doing? I thought maybe he was going for some kind of commentary on cycles of violence but Hector and his pack were so brief and secondary that this whole storyline felt gratuitous and half-baked if not outright racist. The Birth of a Nation is white supremacist propaganda, not a blueprint. I wish half the time he spends on the forgettable and interchangeable villagers was instead used to flesh out most of the major plot points and "antagonists". (Seriously, even during major scenes in the final half I had to pause and remember who any of these people were.)
As for Eudora, she read like your typical Hot Gorgeous Wife Who Is Also Stubborn And Really Smart But In A Sexy Non-Threatening Way. She lacked the depth or complexity that would make her relationship to Frank remotely compelling, which seems important when your novel’s emotional poignancy rests almost entirely on its shoulders.
As for Eudora, she read like your typical Hot Gorgeous Wife Who Is Also Stubborn And Really Smart But In A Sexy Non-Threatening Way. She lacked the depth or complexity that would make her relationship to Frank remotely compelling, which seems important when your novel’s emotional poignancy rests almost entirely on its shoulders.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Slavery