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164th out of 4,075 books
—
19,804 voters
Cane River
The "New York Times" bestseller and Oprah's Book Club Pick--the unique and deeply moving epic of four generations of African-American women based on one family's ancestral past.
Paperback, 522 pages
Published
April 1st 2002
by Grand Central Publishing
(first published January 2001)
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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" as she ca...more
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 they are real...more
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 they are real...more
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 inspi...more
Mar 12, 2009
Sally
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone -- the strongly portrayed characters will draw you in
Shelves:
mostly-literary-fiction
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.
San Francisco Bay Area native...more
San Francisco Bay Area native...more
3 likes · like · see review
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 line", the r...more
This book will make you appreciate much of which we take for granted everyday. The narrative is told so well- through numerous viewpoints.
1 like · like · see review
I really enjoy historical novels and this one was very interesting.
I cannot imagine more love for a family than Ms. Tademy has shown by breathing life into her passed-by heritage. In the end, I cared for everyone... I wept with them and celebrated with them... Definitely a book everyone should read!
Cane River is an interesting, if easy book. Lalita Tademy traced her ancestry through four generations of remarkable woman, each struggling for her freedom in different ways. This is their story. First we have Elisabeth and then her daughter Suzette, who is the first to know the joys and the heartbreaks of freedom, her daughter Philomene, Philomene's daughter Emily. All of these women are different, and they all go through different trials and tribulations, but they all have one thing in common:...more
I bought this book on Friday and finished it that Sunday. A story of heroism and the strength of women throughout the generations.
I found it sad as the book went on the family seemed to grow apart. All three original matriarchs seemed to die within a few years of each other, leaving Emily alone n a world that was changing yet still the same. A world where her own two daughters couldn't get married due to the fact that the bleaching of the line had come so far...too far and too proud to marry a...more
I found it sad as the book went on the family seemed to grow apart. All three original matriarchs seemed to die within a few years of each other, leaving Emily alone n a world that was changing yet still the same. A world where her own two daughters couldn't get married due to the fact that the bleaching of the line had come so far...too far and too proud to marry a...more
Lalita Tademy tells of how in the search for her ancestors one in particular, Philomene grabbed her and seem to urge her to follow her quest and bring their lives to meaning through the words of a book. It was such a compulsion that she quit her high paying, high powered day job as Vice President at Sun Microsystems to research and write the saga of Cane River and I as a reader am glad she did.
The story starts at a plantation in Cane River Louisiana in 1834 and follows the brave women who fought...more
The story starts at a plantation in Cane River Louisiana in 1834 and follows the brave women who fought...more
This novel represents my ideal book. True factual history, mixed with fictional events and characters, set in 1840's – 1930's Louisiana. In my opinion the author did an amazing job researching her family's history, and creating a work of fiction based on fact.
This is a story of a matriarchs doing what is necessary to survive pre- and post emancipation.
The most intriguing aspect of this story to me, was although the women were helpless to protect themselves and their daughters against the sexual...more
This is a story of a matriarchs doing what is necessary to survive pre- and post emancipation.
The most intriguing aspect of this story to me, was although the women were helpless to protect themselves and their daughters against the sexual...more
My father had me read this book when I was in high school to stir me away from dating white boys. But I loved it! It's stuck with me over the years as an enduring classic of Mother/Daughter relationships, and the resourceful nature of my ancestors.
It tells the story of three generation of women, mothers to daughters, and how they all three lived very very different lives and separate struggles according to their areas of history: Luzette - who through no fault of her own became estranged from h...more
It tells the story of three generation of women, mothers to daughters, and how they all three lived very very different lives and separate struggles according to their areas of history: Luzette - who through no fault of her own became estranged from h...more
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...more
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 overall...more
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 tell, as th...more
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 tell, as th...more
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 outrageous. And wh...more
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 outrageous. And wh...more
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 broken in...more
The narrative is broken in...more
Apr 02, 2011
Sareen
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Sareen by:
SFPL: One City, One Book campaign
Shelves:
memoir
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 the autho...more
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 the autho...more
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.
The story,...more
The story,...more
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. My fav...more
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 happene...more
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 demonstra...more
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 area.
T...more
T...more
This is a good story. My husband's people are from this area. The Creole people were plantation owners and did very well. Although they were people of color, they were also slave owners. The law at that time said that any off-spring from a free person of color and a slave would be considered a slave in spite of the fact one of their parents was free.
I think this is a great look at how truly awful legalized slavery was. The abomination of slavery was hurtful to individuals, families and of cours...more
I think this is a great look at how truly awful legalized slavery was. The abomination of slavery was hurtful to individuals, families and of cours...more
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
Feb 25, 2012
Christine Boyer
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Slavery, ancestry, family, Louisiana
Recommended to Christine by:
Michelle
This is an easy-to-read, historical-epic-type novel. I liked it. Covers 137 years and 3 generations of women slaves. Writing style is basic & ordinary. In fact, much of it is based on facts from the ancestry of the author so to some it may read too much as an informational/historical reference rather than a story. Yet with my own interest in ancestry, I liked that aspect of it. As I have mentioned before, I try to avoid "Oprah picks", but this one was good (even though it's still all estroge...more
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 life...more
To me, there are a few of books that sum up perfectly the african american experience from slavery to freedom. One of my favorites is J. California Cooper's "The Wake Of The Wind" which illustrates the power of hope and love, and Tademy's "Cane River" is the other. Tademy presents a book of fiction strongly linked to the story of her very own ancestors through the eyes of the remarkable women that predate her. "Cane River" illustrates love, necessity, tolerance, patience, and drive as we follow...more
WOW!What a unique accomplishment by an African-American woman to find her Roots! This book was amazing,weaving the facts with fiction was brillantly executed with the most important element being_how this family stayed together_no matter what!The brutality of Slavery,families being sold and separated,clever ways the women learned to get around this misery,babies,lots of babies,the ignorance of thinking their white roots would save them,hard work,deaths,Civil War,FREEDOM,Yellow Fever,more babies,...more
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| Which of these great women did you like best? | 4 | 33 | Apr 03, 2013 12:31pm |
LALITA TADEMY is a former vice-president of Sun Microsystems who left the corporate world to immerse herself in tracing her family's history and writing her first historical novel, CANE RIVER. Cane River is based on the lives of four generations of colored Creole slave women in Louisiana, women from whom she descended. Oprah Winfrey selected Cane River as her summer book group pick in 2001.
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Jan 20, 2009 01:15am