Comfort: A Novel of the Reverse Underground Railroad

by H.A. Maxson, Claudia H. Young

The year 1816 in Delaware and surrounding states was known as “the year without a summer” due to debris from the eruption of Mt. Tambora that tainted most of the Northern hemisphere with chill and darkness. This time of chill and darkness provides the setting for this ambitious tale of people divided by the institution of slavery, ignorance, greed and social isolation and the triumph of a few people of character over impossible odds. Historians H.A. Maxson and Claudia H. Young bring alive this little known time and place in America. Their collaboration results in a memorable tale of loyalty and betrayal, compassion and cruelty, and of dauntless courage and creativity. Comfort is a talented young seamstress who has worked to buy her freedom from slavery from her benevolent owner, an Irish immigrant and former indentured servant. Her husband Cuff is an unwise, irresponsible and weak man who sells his wife to pay his gambling debt. When Comfort falls into the hands of the reprehensible dealer of human flesh Joe Johnson, she is sold south to Virginia, to a cruel master and poor manager. Comfort’s stalwart friend Esther, is a slave whose skin is pale enough for her to pass as white. Esther possesses an extensive knowledge of “Roots”, the native art of using plants for therapeutic and not-so-therapeutic purposes. Esther pairs with Pompey, a mute freed slave who is clever and resourceful, to escape her sadistic owner, travel south to find Comfort and help her find her way back to freedom and her baby girl. Comfort tells the story of how shared morality and character can lead to unlikely partnerships in intrepid heroism. This extraordinary work by veteran authors sets a new standard for interpretation of the reverse underground railroad.
 

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice work of historical fiction. I think that it could be enjoyed by young people as well as adults. Overall, I enjoyed it and would easily recommend it. My biggest criticism of the book lies in the overall execution. Comfort starts with dramatic action in the present. Then, we are abruptly taken back in time to the beginning of the story, and we work our way chronologically forward until we rejoin the present action. On a mechanical level, the device works perfectly. The story flowed smoothly, and it is easy for the reader to understand the transitions. It should have served as an interesting way to present the plot, but it didn't work for me. The opening action in the book set up Cuff, one of the major characters, as the villain. I disliked Cuff so much that I didn’t care about his backstory. About a quarter of the book is dedicated to his character. Every word I read about Cuff beyond what he actually did to set everything in motion was a waste of my time. For me, 1/4 of this book was wasted telling me about Cuff when I really wanted to hear about Rachel, Esther and Comfort. These were wonderfully written characters of whom I did want to know more about.

I think that my take on this might be a great deal different than other people’s. It is, probably, just a matter of my own tastes and the kind of characters that interest me. It definitely wasn’t about the writing. The writing is solid. I suggest that you try out Comfort for yourself.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a different read. I have never read about the reverse underground railroad before. The main characters are Comfort, a former slave given her freedom, Esther, a slave who could and did pass for white and of Rachael, a former indentured servant from Ireland who also paid for her freedom and formerly owned Comfort. Without giving anything away, the story is about Comfort and her freedom that was soon lost and of Esther's journey to find her.
The story could have a better ending as I felt they needed to end the book and then quickly ended it but overall I highly recommend this book. It won't take long but a good story.

[Marci · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads giveaway. The book was interesting and kept my attention.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy from a Goodreads Giveaway, in turn for a review, along with pointing out any errors that should be fixed for future copies.
This historical novel, with a third person omniscient narrative, will leave your heart both broken, scarred, and fluttering with the unexpected character development throughout. When reading this novel by H.A. Maxon and his cousin, Claudia H. Young, I was a bit confused with the timeline of the story. After finishing it, I understood it to be a flashback, but I feel there should be a better way to present that.

Also, I have noticed a few grammatical errors. Throughout the book, the dialogue from two different people are shared in the same sentence. If a different character is speaking, there has to be a new sentence. Page 264 is a good example of this, and also needs a quotation mark on the 6th paragraph.
Pg 179: A chapter mark that interferes with text in the novel.
Page 126: "Theylost" should be "they lost."
Page 28: There needs to be a space after a comma in "her,hands."

Other than these few grammatical errors, I recommend everyone to read this book to empathize and hold a point of view for the people who had similar point of views as Comfort.

[Hazel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads. Thank you very much!

I like the story, I thought it was interesting and liked the premise of it, though I felt that the execution of the story was lacking and that is why the rating it received from me. It was confusing to read at the beginning of the story how she got sold back into slavery, then to jump back and to learn how it came about, I felt that the middle of the story just sorta rambled on with different thoughts and remembrance's from different POV's that really had no bearing on the story or advancing the plot. I felt that too much of the story was placed on Cuff, after all the story title was Comfort, I had wanted and hoped to read about her more so than what we ultimately received. Also for me the ending felt rushed, the story was a slow meandering one and then boom, done.

All in all I thought this book was ok, nothing spectacular, but a good read, though if your looking for action, and perhaps a little drama you will not find much of either in this book.

[Beverly Hogate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book!

I loved this book! It was the intermingling plots and the depth of characters that kept my interest to the end. I was touched with a heartfelt sadness for the abuse these slaves endured. I highly recommend this book.