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Jun 18, 2011

Julie H. rated it:

I should divulge that I formerly lived along Cane River (the in-town part) and was given a free copy by our local National Park unit at a public symposium. I started the book that night at bedtime, thinking I'd read for an hour or so, per usual. Well I was up until well after 4:00 a.m. finishing this thing! When I showed up slightly bleary-eyed for class the next day, one of our observant grad students (thanks, Melissa!) asked whether I'd been up all night finishing "the Book of Crack" More...

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Jun 12, 2007

Sammy rated it:

What a gorgeous novel. The key thing is, is that this novel was based on Lalita Tademy's own family history. She calls it fiction, though, because she had to elaborate and add rich detail to the simple stories she had been told of her grandmothers before her.

What shocked me most about this novel was that it was Tademy's first. Her writing seems to reflect years and years of writing before her, it flows so well and the language is so rich. You can't criticize her characters, because t More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2009

Kathy rated it:

Cane River covers 137 years of the author's family history, written as fiction, but rooted in research, historical fact and family stories. The matriarch of the line was the Negress, Elisabeth, sold away from a plantation in Virginia to the backwaters of Louisiana. It was heartbreaking at times to read the stories of her descendants' families as they were torn apart by slave auctions, abandoned by their fathers who were white, and faced the sentence of illiteracy. At the same time, it was i More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 30, 2010

Sally rated it:

Cane River is a wonderful novel, which I highly recommend. I learned a lot about the slave/plantation/small farmer experience of Creole Louisiana. Especially interesting are the details about the gens de couleur libre and the long line of interracial unions (both forced and chosen) among Tademy's ancestors. An important thread that runs from beginning to end in Cane River is the impact of skin color biases within the black community, and Tademy's family specifically.

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2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 10, 2007

Corby rated it:

I don't ever remember reading Roots, by Alex Haley. I do remember liking the miniseries when it came out, more for the experience of understanding how lives so different from my own unfolded in times very different from my own. Cane River is like Roots. Maybe not quite as non-fictional, but nonetheless a compelling story of the lives across three generations of African-american women in the 1800's and early 1900's. It's thick, very thick. It touches upon the issues of "bleaching the li More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 03, 2009

Jamie rated it:

This book will make you appreciate much of which we take for granted everyday. The narrative is told so well- through numerous viewpoints.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 27, 2008

Beverly rated it:

I really enjoy historical novels and this one was very interesting.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 15, 2011

Kathi rated it:

This is a novel based on historical facts. It is a story spanning 137 years & 6 generations of strong women who lived along the Cane River in Louisiana. It's a story of resilience & strength, which takes place both pre- & post-Civil War. Most of the 6 generations of strong women grew up as slaves with the 2nd (Suzette) & 3rd (Philomene) generations being raped by slave owners & in the case of Suzette, a slave owner who wasn't her own. By the 4th generation, Emily, she chooses a white man to More...

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Jun 28, 2011

Anne rated it:

I was a little cautious entering this book. First off, it's an Oprah book choice and those are generally a bit on the depressing side. Secondly, what I knew of the plot of the book was that it was about a family of women slaves during the Civil War era....which could be depresing, graphic, etc. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Granted, some of the situations that happen to the family of women in the book are sad, and make me frustrated that people were ever treated that way, the over More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 07, 2011

Gina rated it:

I loved loved loved this book. The characters were well developed. I felt like I knew them and just wanted to give them a hug if given the opportunity. This book evoked so many feelings; I felt pride, sadness, strength, outrage, triumph, inspiration, and defeat.

Cane River is an unforgettable historical tale of how 3 generations of African-American women survived life before and after the plantation life. Each of these three women, Suzette, Philomene, and Emily have a unique story to t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 30, 2011

Brigit rated it:

I was convinced I'd hate Cane River. Given to me by an acquaintance, I just didn't see a way out of reading it without seeming rude, so I tucked in determined to get it over with as quickly as possible (kind of like eating brussels sprouts).

To my surprise it wasn't so bad. Set in the deep south, Lalita Tademy's novel chronicles four generations of her ancestors, all born into slavery along the Cane River in Louisiana. The heinous nature of what happened to them is both sad and outrageo More...

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Apr 13, 2011

Leah rated it:

I read this one a while ago and did not jot it down in my Book Lover's Diary Journal, so I will relate what I remember. This was an Oprah Book. It has such an interesting backround in that the author Lalita Tademy, wrote this after quitting her job to research her own family heritage. Real documents and photos of the characters, her ancestors, fill the book. The author successfully researched back to her what I think was her great-great-great-great grandmother. A slave.
The narrative is brok More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 02, 2011

Sareen rated it:

One woman who was heading for a high position at SUN microsoft inc. quit her job to research her roots. The story is based on fact (her own family history) with details & perspective added in. Takes us through three generations of women, starting with Elisabeth/Suzette (slaves) and then Philomene (had visions) and ends with Emily (Tademy's grandmother).

Thoughts: The book was a little choppy b/c the author tries really hard to include the facts that she knows. But, I definitely give More...

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Sep 17, 2010

Leslie rated it:

I come from two long lines of strong women. They survived the hard life of settling in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, the pain and loss of childbirth, disease, economic hardship, the Depression, the helplessness of dealing with alcoholism and many other tragedies and difficulties of life. But none of them, to my knowledge, had to suffer the indignities of slavery. Lalita Tademy's book, Cane River, tells in fictional form the stories of four generations of the women in her family.

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0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2010

Linda rated it:

I loved this book. This is a true story that has some fiction in it. A woman who wanted to discover her past decided to do some family history work and wrote a story about her great grandmothers down to her mother. It starts out with women who are slaves and how their lives are controlled by their white owners and the children they bear who come from white men. These women are strong in their own right. I love how they come to realize how important family is no matter the color or origin. More...

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May 02, 2010

Mary rated it:

I was thrilled to find this book about the very area I grew up in: Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, on the Cane River. I enjoyed the story of four generations of a family: women who started out as slaves and had children by French Creole white men. It's a fascinating and not oft-told account of the trials and challenges people of color had to face, no matter how white they looked. The author did tremendous research on her family line and created this work of fiction based on what she felt happ More...

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Sep 09, 2009

AnnaMay rated it:

Wow. I really enjoyed the journey of reading this book. The characters are so real. I like the aspect of it being based on real characters from the author's family history. This gave me a real glimpse of how strength is passed from mother to daughter through each generation. I find it interesting that the strength was discovered amidst the trials. Some were thought to be immune to trouble, but trouble came eventually, as it always does. I appreciated how Tademy remained true to life in de More...

3 comments like

Jun 28, 2010

Anne rated it:

I have 2 personal connections to this book. One, I went to college in Natchitoches, LA, the oldest settlement in the LA Purchase, where the action in this book took place, and two, the author is an aunt of former high school students of mine in Lake Charles, LA. I was attracted to the book by it's name because I recognized it from my college days. I remembered many of the family names of the white people discussed in the book -- they are the names of prominent people who still live in the are More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 28, 2011

Katie rated it:

This book reminded me alot of other similar stories where the author goes through the lineage and slowly points out the differences within each generation. I found many of the characters very engaging and challenging to the world around them. The viewpoints were very different from previous Southern Historical Fiction novels before during and after the Civil War. I thought there were alot of characters mentioned and not much was done with some of them. I understand why the author had to introduc More...

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Dec 23, 2008

Julianne rated it:

This is family history at its finest! Lalita Tademy resigned her career as Vice President at Sun Microsystems to do some genealogical research. She took her findings, used her imagination to fill in some gaps, and created a chronicle of one hundred years of life in Louisiana for the slaves, Creoles, Frenchmen and other whites who lived together and created a fragile and uncertain society. Men were NOT created equal in Louisiana, and the white men fought to promote that idea and preserve the li More...

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Feb 23, 2010

Eileen rated it:

This was a great work of historical fiction! The book is the story of four of the authors predecessors, who lived in Louisiana before and after the Civil War. It was fiction, but based on family stories, geneological records, and research conducted by the author.

I loved two specific things about this book, but first and foremost come the characters - who were by no means perfect, and lived unique and challenging lives. Elisabeth was a slave who had been sold from Virginia to a Creole More...

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Nov 22, 2011

Christina rated it:

Well, I had this book on my shelf because I picked it up as a book that I should read (especially since it was a One City One Book). Then I was flying to Texas and I needed an engaging read to cover the 7 hours total on the plane. This was perfect. I've read my share of "slave women and their relationship with their children" books since that was my undergraduate history focus. This one was okay and I don't consider it a must-read. I did appreciate the creativity of using fiction More...

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Sep 11, 2011

Kendra rated it:

I found this book on the bargain table and picked it up to read when I needed something in between other books. I am very thankful that I read this book…I truly enjoyed it. The author takes the real life people from her family’s genealogy and puts them within a heart breaking and loving story set in the backcountry of Louisiana in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The story deals extensively with racial relations between whites and blacks because throughout most of the book, the characters a More...

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Dec 30, 2008

Ti rated it:

My book group chose Cane River by Lalita Tademy for our January book. This book came out quite a few years ago (2001) and I remember hearing a lot about it when it first came out. Especially since it was an Oprah Book Club pick at one point.

Here's the blurb from Amazon:

"Lalita Tademy's riveting family saga chronicles four generations of women born into slavery along the Cane River in Louisiana. It is also a tale about the blurring of racial boundaries: great-grandmot More...

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Jul 17, 2011

Pam rated it:

This is a fascinating book. IT is actually based on the surviving history of the author's ancestors. That makes it interesting, but the most interesting thing about this book to me, was the interweaving of the races. There was just as much white blood as African American in this family and yet these people had no rights as citizens. They could not own land. The frenchman Joseph Biulles, who was completely devoted to Emily and their children, in the end had to give up the fight and send them More...

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Oct 28, 2010

Michele rated it:

This is a fictional account of the author's own family history. She does a good job of showing how the conditions were for female African Americans during and after slavery in Louisiana. It shows the different class systems that the African Americans had amongst themselves during this time period. The freed blacks were at the top of the class system, the house slaves were in the middle and the field hands were at the bottom rung of the ladder. The women in her family wanted their children to More...

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Apr 07, 2009

Erin rated it:

I really liked this book because the women were so real, their love for their children was palpable and their drive to give the next generation a better life was fierce. I mourned these women and their losses and cheered when they were given a moment of redemption. They move boldly towards an end away from their slave roots, but in their turn are drawn back to the warmth and love of family after disappointments and tragedy grind them down. The way these generations care for each other and honor More...

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Jul 29, 2007

Renee rated it:

The author researched her family back several generation to when they were slaves right up to the present and wrote the history in novel form.

Her writing is not especially good, but from a historical perspective, it's a fantastic story, and an interesting way to really understand what slaves and their descendents went through.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 27, 2009

Kjgled rated it:

This was an interesting insight into another slavery experience. I loved the pictures. I agree with the statement that no two plantations or slavery situations were the same and this really blew all of my stereotypical perceptions out of the water. Slavery is a terrible thing. The ancestor that said, We have nothing, but still have something to lose." was so wise and so right. No wonder the black people are still angry. All of their freedoms were taken from them. It is still interesti More...

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Jul 26, 2011

Leigh rated it:

'Cane River' started out a little slow, but after the first couple of chapters, I was entranced. Loosley based on Lalita Tademy's own heritage, it tells the story of her woman ancestors that bore the yoke of slavery, and then learned to survive, and even thrive, as free women in a society that still denied them most opportunities. Each woman in line from Elizabeth to Suzzette to Philomen to Emily strove to enhance the lives of their children: to make each generation a little fairer in complexion More...

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