lynne's review
Like Trees, Walking: A Novel by Ravi Howard
This was an amazing book.
It takes a real-life event -- the 1981 lynching of young Michael Donald in Mobile, Alabama -- and explores the fictional aftermath of this shocking incident within the black community, as told from the perspective of Roy Deacon, the heir-apparent of one of the local funeral homes.
The outrage, the disbelief, and later the resignation of the community is so well captured; then add to that the twist that it was Roy's older brother Paul who'd found the battered body hanging from the tree; Paul who was best friends with Michael Donald; Paul who was perhaps the one most deeply affected by it all.
And best of all, the book has a rather Sixth Sense-like ending, which will have you going back to the beginning to hunt for the clues you missed the first time around.
A very educational, insightful and satisfying read. Highly recommended!
It takes a real-life event -- the 1981 lynching of young Michael Donald in Mobile, Alabama -- and explores the fictional aftermath of this shocking incident within the black community, as told from the perspective of Roy Deacon, the heir-apparent of one of the local funeral homes.
The outrage, the disbelief, and later the resignation of the community is so well captured; then add to that the twist that it was Roy's older brother Paul who'd found the battered body hanging from the tree; Paul who was best friends with Michael Donald; Paul who was perhaps the one most deeply affected by it all.
And best of all, the book has a rather Sixth Sense-like ending, which will have you going back to the beginning to hunt for the clues you missed the first time around.
A very educational, insightful and satisfying read. Highly recommended!
