PositiveNPRBenedict, who is white, and Murray, who is African American, do a good job of depicting the tightrope Belle walked, and her internal conflict from both sides — wanting to adhere to her mother\'s wishes and move through the world as white even as she longed to show her father she was proud of her race. Like Belle and her employer, Benedict and Murray had almost instant chemistry, and as a result, the book\'s narrative is seamless. And despite my aversion to the passing trope, I became hooked.
Isabel Wilkerson
RaveNPRWilkerson has taken what many would consider an indigestible chunk of history -- long and sometimes famously written about by earlier historians and sociologists -- and given us an extraordinarily palatable narrative ... Wilkerson’s personal histories both reflect and deftly illustrate an important part of American history that has only been discussed in clinical ways, sometimes quite famously ... builds upon purely academic works to make the migrant experience both accessible and emotionally compelling ... aluable knowledge as this country continues to navigate the tricky shoals of race.
Thomas Mullen
RaveNPR...pioneer police officers were the inspiration for Mullen's new novel, Darktown, a blend of history, mystery and violence that explores racial tensions in post-World War II Atlanta ... In the beginning of Darktown, a young black woman is killed, and two of the new policemen — against orders and on their own — decide to investigate her death ...some of the tensions described in Darktown — like the ability of white police to injure or kill black citizens with impunity without being charged or punished — sound disturbingly familiar ...a tale about race, policing and corruption that was compelling enough to be snapped up by Hollywood... Moving forward, his heroes in the first novel will retire and be replaced by newer black police recruits in future books, as the story of Atlanta's racial coming-of-age moves into contemporary times.
