Fayne employs an ambitiously large cast, but because he is not great at character description it can be difficult to remember who everyone is as the novel advances. What stands out most is the feeling of intergenerational connection.
Ambitious, rollicking, heartbreaking, multi-vocal, sometimes narratively overwhelming ... This is a churchy book, with many characters who feel called to preach and/or share the word of God in order to honor their culture and move through the difficulties they face. Although this can feel heavy, Fayne’s out-of-time interludes with the devil provide an often humorous but also poignant reprieve ... The Devil Three Times demands to be read over and over, digested slowly, and discussed with others in order to be fully appreciated and understood. It’s too dense and multifaceted for any other approach.
Drawing broadly on spiritual traditions, folklore, and history, Fayne dramatically reimagines the origins of centuries of Black history and the quest for freedom in the Devil’s unexpected backstory.
The novel’s structure is busy and at times melodramatic, owing as much to soap operas as to Zora Neale Hurston. But the prose is consistently crisp and suffused with a feeling of hauntedness. A complex meditation on Black history with a Mephistophelian twist.
