"Song Yet Sung", by James McBride

[Sequoia]

Story-telling at its finest. I hadn't finished the book when I went to the library to get his other book, "Miracle at St. Anna's" (WWII with Nazis and Italians) which Spike Lee is making into a movie.

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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Escaped slaves, free blacks, slave-catchers and plantation owners weave a tangled web of intrigue and adventure in bestselling memoirist (The Color of Water) McBride's intricately constructed and impressive second novel, set in pre–Civil War Maryland. Liz Spocott, a beautiful young runaway slave, suffers a nasty head wound just before being nabbed by a posse of slave catchers. She falls into a coma, and, when she awakes, she can see the future—from the near-future to Martin Luther King to hip-hop—in her dreams. Liz's visions help her and her fellow slaves escape, but soon there are new dangers on her trail: Patty Cannon and her brutal gang of slave catchers, and a competing slave catcher, nicknamed The Gimp, who has a surprising streak of morality. Liz has some friends, including an older woman who teaches her The Code that guides runaways; a handsome young slave; and a wild inhabitant of the woods and swamps. Kidnappings, gunfights and chases ensue as Liz drifts in and out of her visions, which serve as a thoughtful meditation on the nature of freedom and offer sharp social commentary on contemporary America. McBride hasn't lost his touch: he nails the horrors of slavery as well as he does the power of hope and redemption.

[japple]

1. This book is wonderful. Great story and great story-telling.

I love James McBride (esp. The Color of Water). I, too, have just checked Miracle at St. Anna. If you liked Song Yet Sung, you might like David Anthony Durham's, Gabriel. There's another one, but I can't think of the title at the moment.