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Stand the Storm
Even though Sewing Annie Coats and her son, Gabriel, have managed to buy their freedom, their lives are still marked by constant struggle and sacrifice. Washington's Georgetown neighborhood, where the Coatses operate a tailor's shop and laundry, is supposed to be a "promised land" for former slaves but is effectively a frontier town, gritty and dangerous, with no laws protecting black people.
The remarkable emotional energy with which the Coatses wage their daily battles-as they negotiate with their former owner, as they assist escaped slaves en route to freedom, as they prepare for the encroaching war, and as they strive to love each other enough-is what propels STAND THE STORM and makes the novel's tragic denouement so devastating.
The remarkable emotional energy with which the Coatses wage their daily battles-as they negotiate with their former owner, as they assist escaped slaves en route to freedom, as they prepare for the encroaching war, and as they strive to love each other enough-is what propels STAND THE STORM and makes the novel's tragic denouement so devastating.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published July 28, 2008
20 people are currently reading
504 people want to read
About the author
Breena Clarke
10 books80 followersBreena Clarke's fourth novel, ALIVE NEARBY, is an epistolary novel that weaves back stories of characters from ANGELS MAKE THEIR HOPE HERE (July 2014), her sweeping novel about an imagined mixed-race community, and brings them and their stories into the 21st century. Breena is the author of two historical novels set in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Her debut novel, RIVER, CROSS MY HEART (1999), was an October 1999 Oprah Book Club selection. Clarke’s critically reviewed second novel, STAND THE STORM, is set in mid-19th century Washington, D.C., and was chosen by the Washington Post Book Review as one of the 100 best for 2008. Breena Clarke is co-author with Glenda Dickerson of the play "Re/Membering Aunt Jemima: A Menstrual Show" and is an advisor to the board of A Room Of Her Own Foundation. She has served on the fiction faculty of The Stonecoast MFA program at The University of Southern Maine. Her short fiction has appeared online at Kweli, The Nervous Breakdown, Catapult, and others. She is co-editor of Chicken Soup For The Soul I’m Speaking Now: Black Women Share Their Truth in 101 Stories of Love, Courage, and Hope. She is a co-founder and organizer of The Hobart Festival of Women Writers since 2013 and is an editor of HFWW’s online journal, NOW.
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December 8, 2025
African American Life In Civil War Georgetown
Set from the mid-1850's to about 1870, Breena Clarke's historical novel "Stand the Storm" (2008) tells the story of a persevering African American family that through its own efforts makes the difficult path from slavery to freedom. The story begins in southern Maryland on a plantation owned by one Jonathan Ridley. The primary characters are a woman known as Sewing Annie, who as her name implies is renowned for her skill with the needle, her son Gabriel, and her daughter Ellen. Gabriel is the pride of Annie and inherits much of her talent. Ellen, the younger child, also is gifted at the sewing and embroidering craft, but the mother's heart belongs predominantly to her son.
The book moves between the plantation and Georgetown and Washington. (During the time of the story, Georgetown was a separate municipality from Washington, D.C.) When Gabriel is a child, Ridley hires him out to a tailor in Georgetown, Abraham Pearl, who is reluctant to use slave labor but needs the help. Over the course of years, Gabriel learns the business. He determines to free himself, his mother, and his sister from bondage. With Annie's help, Gabriel is able to save money to purchase his family's freedom from the conniving and dishonest Ridley. The family takes the surname of "Coats" due to their skills as tailors. With the impending war and the influx of people into Washington, the hardworking Coats family achieves a degree of economic success in their business as tailors, embroiderers, and laundresses. The purchase of family freedom occurs relatively early in the novel, but it is only the beginning of the family's troubles.
Besides telling the story of a difficult freedom, Clarke's novel also explores the family and sexual dynamics of the Coats'. The book suggests that Annie is inordinately attached to Gabriel at the expense of both her son's own independence and of Ellen and other women who become part of the family. Annie also sacrifices some of her own sexuality through her overprotectiveness towards her son. Other family tensions arise when Ellen adopts a baby girl under straightened circumstances and both Annie and Gabriel have difficulty accepting the child. Some of the best scenes in the novel are those showing the inherent difficulties of blended families. When Gabriel marries a former abused ex-slave named Mary, Annie leads his way and perhaps plays too large a role in the couple's life. Gabriel and Mary have four daughters in a short time and love them dearly. But both Annie and Mary worry that Gabriel is displeased by the lack of a son. The overriding sexual tension of the novel results from the pervasive sexual abuse of African American women, as shown in Annie, Ellen, and Mary, by slaveholders and by the institution of slavery.
The book offers a good portrayal of life in Georgetown in the years leading up to the Civil War. At the time, Georgetown, and Washington City, had a mixed and highly volatile population of whites, free blacks, and slaves. Poor areas stood side by side with wealth. There was a great deal of southern sympathy in the city, and free blacks were always at substantial risk to their persons and liberties. The military assumed an increasingly large place and the city, and the brothels were ubiquitous. Clarke captures a sense of African American life in the Civil War District of Columbia that may be unfamiliar to many readers. As the story moves forward, Gabriel and another successful African American businessman whom he has befriended enlist in the Union Army. Clarke again offers a description of the hardships that African American soldiers endured during the War that sometimes does not find its way to the history books.
The style of the book varies. It tends to move slowly and the writing can be awkward or stilted. There are long passages of unconvincing introspection by some of the characters, some wandering of theme, and too much dwelling on scatological details. But portions of the book move well, quickly, and poignantly. With its stylistic deficiencies, "Stand the Storm" still offers a thoughtful portrayal of the strugle from slavery to freedom in the Washington, D.C. area during the Civil War era.
Robin Friedman
Set from the mid-1850's to about 1870, Breena Clarke's historical novel "Stand the Storm" (2008) tells the story of a persevering African American family that through its own efforts makes the difficult path from slavery to freedom. The story begins in southern Maryland on a plantation owned by one Jonathan Ridley. The primary characters are a woman known as Sewing Annie, who as her name implies is renowned for her skill with the needle, her son Gabriel, and her daughter Ellen. Gabriel is the pride of Annie and inherits much of her talent. Ellen, the younger child, also is gifted at the sewing and embroidering craft, but the mother's heart belongs predominantly to her son.
The book moves between the plantation and Georgetown and Washington. (During the time of the story, Georgetown was a separate municipality from Washington, D.C.) When Gabriel is a child, Ridley hires him out to a tailor in Georgetown, Abraham Pearl, who is reluctant to use slave labor but needs the help. Over the course of years, Gabriel learns the business. He determines to free himself, his mother, and his sister from bondage. With Annie's help, Gabriel is able to save money to purchase his family's freedom from the conniving and dishonest Ridley. The family takes the surname of "Coats" due to their skills as tailors. With the impending war and the influx of people into Washington, the hardworking Coats family achieves a degree of economic success in their business as tailors, embroiderers, and laundresses. The purchase of family freedom occurs relatively early in the novel, but it is only the beginning of the family's troubles.
Besides telling the story of a difficult freedom, Clarke's novel also explores the family and sexual dynamics of the Coats'. The book suggests that Annie is inordinately attached to Gabriel at the expense of both her son's own independence and of Ellen and other women who become part of the family. Annie also sacrifices some of her own sexuality through her overprotectiveness towards her son. Other family tensions arise when Ellen adopts a baby girl under straightened circumstances and both Annie and Gabriel have difficulty accepting the child. Some of the best scenes in the novel are those showing the inherent difficulties of blended families. When Gabriel marries a former abused ex-slave named Mary, Annie leads his way and perhaps plays too large a role in the couple's life. Gabriel and Mary have four daughters in a short time and love them dearly. But both Annie and Mary worry that Gabriel is displeased by the lack of a son. The overriding sexual tension of the novel results from the pervasive sexual abuse of African American women, as shown in Annie, Ellen, and Mary, by slaveholders and by the institution of slavery.
The book offers a good portrayal of life in Georgetown in the years leading up to the Civil War. At the time, Georgetown, and Washington City, had a mixed and highly volatile population of whites, free blacks, and slaves. Poor areas stood side by side with wealth. There was a great deal of southern sympathy in the city, and free blacks were always at substantial risk to their persons and liberties. The military assumed an increasingly large place and the city, and the brothels were ubiquitous. Clarke captures a sense of African American life in the Civil War District of Columbia that may be unfamiliar to many readers. As the story moves forward, Gabriel and another successful African American businessman whom he has befriended enlist in the Union Army. Clarke again offers a description of the hardships that African American soldiers endured during the War that sometimes does not find its way to the history books.
The style of the book varies. It tends to move slowly and the writing can be awkward or stilted. There are long passages of unconvincing introspection by some of the characters, some wandering of theme, and too much dwelling on scatological details. But portions of the book move well, quickly, and poignantly. With its stylistic deficiencies, "Stand the Storm" still offers a thoughtful portrayal of the strugle from slavery to freedom in the Washington, D.C. area during the Civil War era.
Robin Friedman
October 11, 2009
Breena Clarke's Stand the Storm centers on the story of "Sewing Annie" Coats and her son, Gabriel, expert tailors who manage to purchase their freedom at the cost of entering a less than lucrative business arrangement with their former owner. Nonetheless, hard work and thriftiness allow them to purchase Ellen (Annie's equally talented daughter) and her daughter, Delia. Prosperity reigns but the clan is happy for only a short while. The threat of re-enslavement looms at every corner as the reality of the times are made clear with the risk of being illegally captured by "pinchers" and sold South never to be seen again. There was also the ever-changing laws and complicated slave/freeman policies that deceitful slave owners misuse to extort and exploit freemen, not to mention the nerve-wrecking uncertainty of their status living in a district surrounded by slaveholding states as the country enters the Civil War.
The history lessons are supplemented with interludes of courtship and conflict featuring some colorful, charismatic and lovable, yet sympathetic characters who serve as love interests and arch nemeses for Annie and Gabriel. Luck and courage are also factors in their adventures propelling the "freedom train." Their industrious and ingenious survival skills are demonstrated during their humiliating encounters with whites and other undesirables. Unsurprisingly, for a story rooted in this era, the ugliness of racism and sexism are a given and Clarke does not skirt the realities of the degrading, violent sexual abuse that women and children of color endured at the hands of slavers, owners, or any white male in a position of authority. However, through Delia, the author broaches the sensitivities of colorism and the complications that it brings to the Coats's household.
Told largely from the freedmen's perspective in Washington's Georgetown district, this literary novel will appeal to Historical Fiction buffs in that it evokes the cadence and archaic vocabulary of the antebellum era and elicits the bittersweet nostalgia that comes with it. The author conjures poignant images to transport the reader back to the bustling rat-infested waterfronts, the narrow, muddy thoroughfares lined with trendy businesses and salacious bordellos, and the horrors of blood-soaked, body-littered battlefields. It is these circumstances that prompts a forlorn Annie (depressed when her beloved Gabriel joins the Union Army) to reminisce about her early years enslaved on the plantation and yearns to return to perceived safety, quiet, and comfort of it. The author continues down this conflicted path as she delves into the complicated familial interrelationships of the Coats clan, the ramifications and hardships of a (slave) mother's love, and its ultimate affects on the ties that bind. This title is well researched and recommended for literary, historical fiction fans or those interested in the challenges of African Americans in the antebellum period.
Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
July 25, 2008
The history lessons are supplemented with interludes of courtship and conflict featuring some colorful, charismatic and lovable, yet sympathetic characters who serve as love interests and arch nemeses for Annie and Gabriel. Luck and courage are also factors in their adventures propelling the "freedom train." Their industrious and ingenious survival skills are demonstrated during their humiliating encounters with whites and other undesirables. Unsurprisingly, for a story rooted in this era, the ugliness of racism and sexism are a given and Clarke does not skirt the realities of the degrading, violent sexual abuse that women and children of color endured at the hands of slavers, owners, or any white male in a position of authority. However, through Delia, the author broaches the sensitivities of colorism and the complications that it brings to the Coats's household.
Told largely from the freedmen's perspective in Washington's Georgetown district, this literary novel will appeal to Historical Fiction buffs in that it evokes the cadence and archaic vocabulary of the antebellum era and elicits the bittersweet nostalgia that comes with it. The author conjures poignant images to transport the reader back to the bustling rat-infested waterfronts, the narrow, muddy thoroughfares lined with trendy businesses and salacious bordellos, and the horrors of blood-soaked, body-littered battlefields. It is these circumstances that prompts a forlorn Annie (depressed when her beloved Gabriel joins the Union Army) to reminisce about her early years enslaved on the plantation and yearns to return to perceived safety, quiet, and comfort of it. The author continues down this conflicted path as she delves into the complicated familial interrelationships of the Coats clan, the ramifications and hardships of a (slave) mother's love, and its ultimate affects on the ties that bind. This title is well researched and recommended for literary, historical fiction fans or those interested in the challenges of African Americans in the antebellum period.
Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
July 25, 2008
December 23, 2009
I didn’t really like this book. Some parts were better than others. It reminded me of Lalita Tademy’s book. I wonder if this one also is based on a true story? It doesn’t flow like a novel does. And the writing patterns were jarring. Like the two sentences that decsribed Gabriel and Mary drowning. The last sentence of the paragraph just said: They Drowned. I almost missed it completely. I guess it was an interesting tale of the Civil War as told from the perspective of this family but again, there were some unsettled things. Like why did Gabriel always distrust Delia so much? Where did that come from? And the preference Annie gave to hr son – his being the lord and master of everything. Was this about how men subjugated women even in the midst of discussing the race issues? This is why it kind of felt like an essay about a specific family drawn from historical documents – there was no real narrative flow or closure on the personality quirks. No connection between taking the girls to school and then just drowning on the way back. And the old plantation owner gets the tore back (no severnce). I thought it was interesting that Delia ended up kind of saving them all. So although the book was about being black, there was a huge undercurrent about black women and their life, and how they actually supported the superiority of men over them. I liked the ray of hope at the end – everyone going south to help educate all of their people. The way to catch up to the other race.
On Breena Clarke’s website the description of the book (probably written by the publisher) talks about the tragic denouement – I didn’t find it tragic as much as surprising, and then hopeful in the way that they found a way to turn their situation into a positive one. If it was supposed to be tragic it should have been written better.
On Breena Clarke’s website the description of the book (probably written by the publisher) talks about the tragic denouement – I didn’t find it tragic as much as surprising, and then hopeful in the way that they found a way to turn their situation into a positive one. If it was supposed to be tragic it should have been written better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2009
This book is about a black family who lived in DC before and during the civil war. I wanted to like this book and parts of it I liked, however, on the whole it wasn't very good. The writing is difficult at times and the characters were hard for me to connect with and really like. Then at the end it got boring and I almost didn't finish it. In about 7 pages the author has about 10 major things happen and the book ends. Weird. Plus, there was too many rape scenes and I can do without rape scenes.
May 27, 2018
The story dragged along way too much to the point where Gabriel and his mother could no longer see themselves as free. The midpoint of the story has an inundation of RATS!! And it becomes clear to Gabriel that he would lose the negotiation with their former master, and might find himself slave again.
March 30, 2021
This book is about a family of Black people from Virginia who were born into slavery and bought their way out through their skills in the fabric arts. The family of Sewing Annie and her children Gabriel and Ellen (and eventually their children) were skilled craftspeople who produced clothing, quilts, embroidery, knitting, and dying and spinning yarn. Their master, Mr. Ridley allowed them to move to Washington--first Gabriel as an apprentice for a tailor, and later his mother and sister when Ridley bought the tailor shop and provided his nephew as the proprietor. It felt like sweet revenge when the family managed to hide their production of making military uniforms and make enough money to buy their freedom from the depraved Ridley.
The writer, Breena Clarke, does not cover the story of how these people existed with any pretty embellishments. She describes rape, beatings, torture, and other brutalities that Black people of the time were forced to endure. She does not shy away from the discrimination within the Black community over colorism or gender. She makes sure that we know how Black people had to defer to white people of any class or station. I could feel the exhaustion in this relentless oppression and in how hard they had to work just to survive.
The Civil War and Lincoln's assassination are also described in how the Black people of Washington felt when seeing Black regiments of soldiers and Lincoln's casket in the funeral route. I liked to read this perspective.
There are many comments about how this book ends. While it was a bit shocking, to me it felt consistent with the rest of the book. Ms. Clarke does not hide from the realities of life and she mentions them all -- birth, death, passing gas, blood on clothes, diarrhea, and more. Another writer might focus on the prettier aspects of life, but I appreciated that this was gritty and real.
The writer, Breena Clarke, does not cover the story of how these people existed with any pretty embellishments. She describes rape, beatings, torture, and other brutalities that Black people of the time were forced to endure. She does not shy away from the discrimination within the Black community over colorism or gender. She makes sure that we know how Black people had to defer to white people of any class or station. I could feel the exhaustion in this relentless oppression and in how hard they had to work just to survive.
The Civil War and Lincoln's assassination are also described in how the Black people of Washington felt when seeing Black regiments of soldiers and Lincoln's casket in the funeral route. I liked to read this perspective.
There are many comments about how this book ends. While it was a bit shocking, to me it felt consistent with the rest of the book. Ms. Clarke does not hide from the realities of life and she mentions them all -- birth, death, passing gas, blood on clothes, diarrhea, and more. Another writer might focus on the prettier aspects of life, but I appreciated that this was gritty and real.
June 17, 2024
Exquisite writing rich with historic detail, a compelling plot, and well-defined characters. This is the kind of book that stays in your memory forever. I look forward to reading the next two.
December 21, 2012
“The boy’s proficiency with needlework was clear from the first, and Pearl was surprised. Would Ridley have hired him out so reasonably if he’d known how skilled the boy was? He’d had practice taking instructions and following steps to the letter and he was agile and accomplished at simple sewing. Pearl realized right away that this little Gabriel was a competent hand for tailoring.”
The story begins when little Gabriel, a slave boy, is hired out to a Jewish tailor in Georgetown. It is a handful of years just prior to the civil war, and the nation’s capital is on the border between north and south. In Stand the Storm, Breena Clarke weaves a well-researched tale of a slave who strives to better himself and earn freedom for him and his family.
This book was a pleasure to read on so many levels. The story was captivating from the first pages. There is a tremendous sense of time and place in this novel. Clarke manages to capture the essence and struggles of a black family in this American city. There is so much wonderful history presented here. Despite having read quite a bit on the issues of slavery and the civil war, there was so much I learned reading this book. That’s quite a coup! Also, despite the travails, I didn’t find it a depressing book. In fact, I found myself cheering for every small success and grabbed on to the same hope that Gabriel did.
The story begins when little Gabriel, a slave boy, is hired out to a Jewish tailor in Georgetown. It is a handful of years just prior to the civil war, and the nation’s capital is on the border between north and south. In Stand the Storm, Breena Clarke weaves a well-researched tale of a slave who strives to better himself and earn freedom for him and his family.
This book was a pleasure to read on so many levels. The story was captivating from the first pages. There is a tremendous sense of time and place in this novel. Clarke manages to capture the essence and struggles of a black family in this American city. There is so much wonderful history presented here. Despite having read quite a bit on the issues of slavery and the civil war, there was so much I learned reading this book. That’s quite a coup! Also, despite the travails, I didn’t find it a depressing book. In fact, I found myself cheering for every small success and grabbed on to the same hope that Gabriel did.
May 9, 2019
Stand the Storm is a novel about urban slaves in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC in the years just before and during the Civil War. Annie Coats and her son Gabriel are sent from the Maryland plantation of Jonathan Ridley to be hired out to Abraham Pearl, a white tailor. Under Pearl. Gabriel learns to be a first class tailor and businessman, and also how to conduct himself around Pearl's white customers. Life is good. Mother and son are not quite free, but Pearl is a good master.
Jonathan Ridley decides that managing a tailor shop might make a good career for his unenergetic nephew Aaron, and so buys Pearl out, leaving Gabriel and Annie to work for Aaron.
Luckily, Aaron likes the money and being in town better than he likes the actual work of the shop, and leaves Annie and Gabriel to their own devices. Annie and Gabriel work, and work and work, to earn money to buy their freedom, to build their own business inside Aaron Ridley's shop, and to build a family. Clarke doesn't pull any punches. She makes sure readers know exactly how slaves and freedmen were treated, the rapes, the casual beatings, the humiliation, the precariousness of life, and all the machinations of the body and how they were handled in the mid 19th Century.
Jonathan Ridley decides that managing a tailor shop might make a good career for his unenergetic nephew Aaron, and so buys Pearl out, leaving Gabriel and Annie to work for Aaron.
Luckily, Aaron likes the money and being in town better than he likes the actual work of the shop, and leaves Annie and Gabriel to their own devices. Annie and Gabriel work, and work and work, to earn money to buy their freedom, to build their own business inside Aaron Ridley's shop, and to build a family. Clarke doesn't pull any punches. She makes sure readers know exactly how slaves and freedmen were treated, the rapes, the casual beatings, the humiliation, the precariousness of life, and all the machinations of the body and how they were handled in the mid 19th Century.
December 16, 2009
This novel follows a family before, through and after the Civil War. Very interesting novel. I learned a lot about the time period -the author did an excellent job of weaving history into the narrative. It was very difficult to read (emotionally) at times but well worth it.
The rhythm of the language in the book was challenging for me to become accustomed to initially, but did not keep me from enjoying the book. Once I got the rhythm, I was amazed at the language and how it boosts the enjoyment of the reading. Wonderfully well written, gut-wrenching, intense book. There were times when I felt I was standing there watching it all because Clarke did such a fantastic job of describing the scene and putting it into perspective for the reader.
I've read a lot of books about slavery and this time in history but I really enjoyed the perspective of this one and there were moments when I felt as if I'd been punched in the gut by the pure cruelty of some of the experiences described in the book but, overall, it is the story of a family. An interesting family with interesting dynamics that I enjoyed reading about. Really good book that I definitely recommend!
The rhythm of the language in the book was challenging for me to become accustomed to initially, but did not keep me from enjoying the book. Once I got the rhythm, I was amazed at the language and how it boosts the enjoyment of the reading. Wonderfully well written, gut-wrenching, intense book. There were times when I felt I was standing there watching it all because Clarke did such a fantastic job of describing the scene and putting it into perspective for the reader.
I've read a lot of books about slavery and this time in history but I really enjoyed the perspective of this one and there were moments when I felt as if I'd been punched in the gut by the pure cruelty of some of the experiences described in the book but, overall, it is the story of a family. An interesting family with interesting dynamics that I enjoyed reading about. Really good book that I definitely recommend!
September 17, 2009
This is the story of Sewing Annie who is put under the tutelage of Knitting Annie to learn her skills on the Ridley Plantation. When Knitting Annie dies, Sewing Annie takes up the the black smith by whom she has a boy, Gabriel, and a girl, Ellen. By teaching them her skills, she hopes to save her children from the fields. At 10, Gabriel is sent to Washington DC to apprentice to a tailor. The tailor moves on after selling the shop to the Master. The Master's nephew is put in charge of the store with Gabriel, Sewing Annie, and Ellen running the business.
This is the story of the strength and love of family from before and through the Civil War and after. It is heartwarming and gut wrenching and well worth the read.
The rhythm of the language threw me for a bit from time to time but did not stop me wanting to find out what would happen to this family.
I could feel most of the characters and understand their motivations and enjoyed their growth. The novel is portal into time period well known but from a different vantage. It is so well worth the read.
This is the story of the strength and love of family from before and through the Civil War and after. It is heartwarming and gut wrenching and well worth the read.
The rhythm of the language threw me for a bit from time to time but did not stop me wanting to find out what would happen to this family.
I could feel most of the characters and understand their motivations and enjoyed their growth. The novel is portal into time period well known but from a different vantage. It is so well worth the read.
January 20, 2009
Amazing details pull you back centuries and make your surroundings seem almost unreal as you read. But, like so many amazing stories, full of disgusting details- this one about rape. At any books end, I ask myself what this book brought to my life. I already knew the historical facts. I've read moving stories about slavery and the lives of those subjected to it. I think the disgusting images it put in my mind outweigh any of the images of exemplary attributes of her main characters. And to top it off, it doesn't end right. I HATE that. Killing people off doesn't make you Shakespeare.
There are more uplifting books out there, just as beautifully written, that won't leave you feeling a little raped yourself.
There are more uplifting books out there, just as beautifully written, that won't leave you feeling a little raped yourself.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2022
I really enjoyed reading this book. I appreciate that this is a story about Black people and that it is told from their perspective. I love the setting - Washington, DC, and Georgetown, DC. Although a lot of research must have gone into the carefully told details of life in the 1850s to 1870, the story really carried me; this is the way I can understand history.
Passages I liked:
p194: Annie drew knitting needles from the slit pocket in her skirt. She pulled them from deep in the needlewoman's hiding sleeve--a place every daughter of Dorcas would cut into her clothing. (reference to Dorcas in the book of Acts in the Bible - she sewed)
p210: It sobered Ellen to realize Nanny and Gabriel had not shared her embrace of the illusion that she was Delia's mother. When the child was given to her, she'd taken her and taken the story. Aye, she had fashioned her own story, with Delia at its center. But Nanny and Gabriel did not see it this way! And Ellen realized that she was at the place that would crush her heart no matter which turn she took.(recognition of adoption issues)
Passages I liked:
p194: Annie drew knitting needles from the slit pocket in her skirt. She pulled them from deep in the needlewoman's hiding sleeve--a place every daughter of Dorcas would cut into her clothing. (reference to Dorcas in the book of Acts in the Bible - she sewed)
p210: It sobered Ellen to realize Nanny and Gabriel had not shared her embrace of the illusion that she was Delia's mother. When the child was given to her, she'd taken her and taken the story. Aye, she had fashioned her own story, with Delia at its center. But Nanny and Gabriel did not see it this way! And Ellen realized that she was at the place that would crush her heart no matter which turn she took.(recognition of adoption issues)
November 5, 2025
Bottom line, too much farting, not enough commas.
This book has been floating around my house for years. I took it on a trip and finished it quickly. It was a Civil War/Slavery story, with strong characters and complex sentences. I am no grammar expert, but I read a lot, and this was not an easy reading book. I had to stop and parse my way through several sentences, due to their length and complexity. I expect the author has her grammar down right, but as a reader, I had a difficult time understanding what some of the sentences meant. The stopping and rereading took away from the flow of the story.
Not sure why all the digestive issues were detailed. Perhaps it was part of the gritty-ness of the times, but outside of "Walter the Farting Dog", it stands as memorable for that aspect.
Overall I enjoyed the story she told, it's an important one.
This book has been floating around my house for years. I took it on a trip and finished it quickly. It was a Civil War/Slavery story, with strong characters and complex sentences. I am no grammar expert, but I read a lot, and this was not an easy reading book. I had to stop and parse my way through several sentences, due to their length and complexity. I expect the author has her grammar down right, but as a reader, I had a difficult time understanding what some of the sentences meant. The stopping and rereading took away from the flow of the story.
Not sure why all the digestive issues were detailed. Perhaps it was part of the gritty-ness of the times, but outside of "Walter the Farting Dog", it stands as memorable for that aspect.
Overall I enjoyed the story she told, it's an important one.
August 18, 2017
Sewing Annie , really knitting Annie, was a Maryland slave who sat and knitted day in and day out. She trained her son, Gabriel, who became an excellent sewer at a very young age. Their master bounded Gabriel to a tailor shop in Washington, DC. Master Ridley still owned Gabriel, but received payment from the tailor. Sewing Annie soon joined the, as did his sister Ellen. Any side jobs allowed them to keep money. So even though they purchased their freedom, they were still bound to Ridley and the tailor shop. It was interesting to follow from a slave's point of view. As much as I like the novel, I also felt there were different story points that were glossed over or not really fleshed out. I would really give it a 3.5 rating.
April 28, 2019
What a powerful story of a strong woman who found ways to defy the master over her and many other negro slaves, seeking to make a way for her value and her children's value to be so great that they wouldn't be separated and they could find a way to earn there freedom. On the verge independence and facing the fears and trials of the civil war; the frustrations that the fight for freedom was always tenuous at best, only to end in the face of her greatest loss, she found a way to stand the storm and to make away for the next generation.
Some harsh realities of slavery and war depicted with crude elegance, the writing style was both cultured and authentic.
Some harsh realities of slavery and war depicted with crude elegance, the writing style was both cultured and authentic.
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February 14, 2020Great book! The Civil War characters etch into your memory with originality and humanity. Breena Clarke highlights the brutality of slavery and the ingenuity of those who survived early African-American history—American history. It informs so much and what a smart, sensitive, original perspective, from a brilliant African-American woman writer! I loved so many choices. The tailor/sewing work setting was such a great devise. The voice—pace, surprises—a page-turner. An important book for today's challenges!
December 14, 2019
Rape scenes throughout the book - which is accurate for the time and the horrific abuse slaves experienced. That being said— the rape scenes would often come out of no where and were written in a way that just felt odd. I’m curious what themes the author hoped the reader would be left with. The end felt very clunky, leaving you with people dead and memories of rape and children dying as a result. Felt like a distraction from the rest of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2022
Clarke sets a story of slaves that gain emancipation in Washington DC prior to the Civil War. The story covers many of the challenges faced by freed people in the nation’s Capitol surrounded by slave states.
Clarke shifts time and place without preamble, leaving the reader scrambling to orient. She adds background to characters that sometimes doesn’t have much to do with the story and sometimes isn’t particularly interesting.
Clarke shifts time and place without preamble, leaving the reader scrambling to orient. She adds background to characters that sometimes doesn’t have much to do with the story and sometimes isn’t particularly interesting.
October 12, 2021
A captivating, intense story about former slave Annie Coats, a seamstress, and her son Gabriel, a tailor, who bought their freedom in Washington's Georgetown neighborhood. I enjoyed it very much and learned a lot about the lives of freed slaves before, during, and after the Civil War.
September 4, 2017
Breena Clarke did her research, apparently. This story of a freed slave and his family set in Washington D.C. feels authentic. It's one of those books I looked forward to reading each day.
June 15, 2021
It was pretty terrible not gonna lie. I wasn’t engaged and it was difficult to follow. Thank goodness I didn’t pay for it but it was a gift.
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August 5, 2022I did not see that coming.
August 22, 2024
Great read
June 30, 2012
Reviewed by Vanessa Dora Murray
Stand the Storm—another exceptional novel from the pen of Breena Clarke, the bestselling author of River, Cross My Heart, an October 1999 Oprah Book Club Selection—has arrived. A riveting tale about enslavement, struggle, sacrifice, and the Coats, a family that manages to buy their freedom, true freedom.
Sewing Annie Coats, the lead character, comes to the realization that slaves with special skills are the last to be sold. So, as the most skilled sewer in her neck of the woods, she does not hesitate to teach her own children, Gabriel and Ellen, every thing she knows about sewing, knitting, weaving, and a horde of other skills. The story unfolds when young Gabriel is sent to work for Abraham Pearl, a kind Georgetown tailor, who teaches Gabriel the ropes of tailoring. In time, the Coats, who become so-called ex-slaves, end up operating their own tailor shop and laundry in Georgetown, a place believed to be heaven on earth for former slaves, but as it turns out, their heavenly paradise is actually a frontier town, with no laws defending African Americans. Stand the Storm will have you laughing, clapping, and crying. It is a remarkable piece of work, Clarke’s best by far.
A native of Washington, D.C., and the recipient of the 1999 award for fiction by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association and the Alex Award, given by the Young Adult Library Services Association, Clarke has managed to cope with the death of her only child which is probably the reason she is able to effectively write about pain and heartache.
Kudos to Clarke!
What did you like best about this book?
Touching, charming, well written.
What did you dislike about this book?
It is all good. Nothing to dislike.
How can the author improve this book?
She can’t. It can’t get any better than this.
Stand the Storm—another exceptional novel from the pen of Breena Clarke, the bestselling author of River, Cross My Heart, an October 1999 Oprah Book Club Selection—has arrived. A riveting tale about enslavement, struggle, sacrifice, and the Coats, a family that manages to buy their freedom, true freedom.
Sewing Annie Coats, the lead character, comes to the realization that slaves with special skills are the last to be sold. So, as the most skilled sewer in her neck of the woods, she does not hesitate to teach her own children, Gabriel and Ellen, every thing she knows about sewing, knitting, weaving, and a horde of other skills. The story unfolds when young Gabriel is sent to work for Abraham Pearl, a kind Georgetown tailor, who teaches Gabriel the ropes of tailoring. In time, the Coats, who become so-called ex-slaves, end up operating their own tailor shop and laundry in Georgetown, a place believed to be heaven on earth for former slaves, but as it turns out, their heavenly paradise is actually a frontier town, with no laws defending African Americans. Stand the Storm will have you laughing, clapping, and crying. It is a remarkable piece of work, Clarke’s best by far.
A native of Washington, D.C., and the recipient of the 1999 award for fiction by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association and the Alex Award, given by the Young Adult Library Services Association, Clarke has managed to cope with the death of her only child which is probably the reason she is able to effectively write about pain and heartache.
Kudos to Clarke!
What did you like best about this book?
Touching, charming, well written.
What did you dislike about this book?
It is all good. Nothing to dislike.
How can the author improve this book?
She can’t. It can’t get any better than this.
September 26, 2012
I was really struck with the beauty of the writers words and how she was able to talk about such a very gruesome time in our country with such elegance and grace. The images were so haunting.
I am white and attend a multiracial church with about 80% of the members being african american the first Sunday at church while reading the book I just sat back listening to my pastor and looked around to see all the beautiful people I was surrounded by and to see what they have overcome. It's also saddening to see why the culture struggles even today with so many single african american women raising children in poverty and as my Pastor stated just last sunday the majority of prisoners in our country today is black men. It gives me a heavy heart.
The book took a turn for me once the civil war started. There was a disconnect for me in that section of the book and I was startled when Gabriel and Mary died on the way home. It was very abrupt. But then, so is life I suppose and the idea that they went through so much tribulation only to die in a time of peace is still mulling around in my head.
I'm confused why the Author decided to throw in the rape scenes and details about the master abusing and even killing one of his slaves during a rape at one point right at the end there? And without letting us see him get what was coming to him.
Overall it was a good read.
I am white and attend a multiracial church with about 80% of the members being african american the first Sunday at church while reading the book I just sat back listening to my pastor and looked around to see all the beautiful people I was surrounded by and to see what they have overcome. It's also saddening to see why the culture struggles even today with so many single african american women raising children in poverty and as my Pastor stated just last sunday the majority of prisoners in our country today is black men. It gives me a heavy heart.
The book took a turn for me once the civil war started. There was a disconnect for me in that section of the book and I was startled when Gabriel and Mary died on the way home. It was very abrupt. But then, so is life I suppose and the idea that they went through so much tribulation only to die in a time of peace is still mulling around in my head.
I'm confused why the Author decided to throw in the rape scenes and details about the master abusing and even killing one of his slaves during a rape at one point right at the end there? And without letting us see him get what was coming to him.
Overall it was a good read.
August 24, 2009
Freedom
STAND THE STORM by Breena Clarke tells the story of slaves Annie, aka Sewing Annie, and her son Gabriel Coats. Gabriel was groomed by his mother to help sew, weave, knit and dye cloth. Gabriel exhibited a genuine aptitude for needlework. Master Ridley, of the Ridley Plantation, decided to hire ten-year-old Gabriel out to the local tailor. Eventually Master Ridley devises a business plan to open up his own business in tailoring. Any extra business that Gabriel would get on his own would be for his own profit. Profits he intended on buying his and his family's freedom.
Gabriel does earn their freedom, making uniforms for soldiers. Gabriel falls in love with a runaway slave, Mary. They eventually get married and have children of their own. Unbeknownst to Gabriel and Mary, just because they are free does not necessarily mean that their children will be.
STAND THE STORM is the story about the individual struggles of the "free" slaves during the time of the Civil War. I found this story to be difficult to read because it moved so slowly. Briefly, early on, the story seemed to pick up...only to slack right back off again. It was hard to get attached to the characters. I usually enjoy historical fiction but this story was just adequate.
Reviewed by: LeonaR
2.5 stars
STAND THE STORM by Breena Clarke tells the story of slaves Annie, aka Sewing Annie, and her son Gabriel Coats. Gabriel was groomed by his mother to help sew, weave, knit and dye cloth. Gabriel exhibited a genuine aptitude for needlework. Master Ridley, of the Ridley Plantation, decided to hire ten-year-old Gabriel out to the local tailor. Eventually Master Ridley devises a business plan to open up his own business in tailoring. Any extra business that Gabriel would get on his own would be for his own profit. Profits he intended on buying his and his family's freedom.
Gabriel does earn their freedom, making uniforms for soldiers. Gabriel falls in love with a runaway slave, Mary. They eventually get married and have children of their own. Unbeknownst to Gabriel and Mary, just because they are free does not necessarily mean that their children will be.
STAND THE STORM is the story about the individual struggles of the "free" slaves during the time of the Civil War. I found this story to be difficult to read because it moved so slowly. Briefly, early on, the story seemed to pick up...only to slack right back off again. It was hard to get attached to the characters. I usually enjoy historical fiction but this story was just adequate.
Reviewed by: LeonaR
2.5 stars
September 23, 2013
Stand the Storm by Breena Clarke is the story of 3 generations of freed slaves who live together and earn their livelihood working in a variety of sewing and knitting trades.
It is hard for me to rate this book. There are several areas of strength for me. I feel the author researched the era very well. I appreciate the details that Ms. Clarke uses in her writing. The picture painted of this period in our country's history was vivid. I also feel the subject matter of freed slaves is one that has not been covered as well in historical fiction. There are many books about the American period of slavery, but not many about the struggles of freed slaves. This book gave me a desire to read more about this era.
There were weaknesses too. As much as I found the topic compelling, I found my mind wandering as I read the book. I had some difficulty with the writing style. Also, I was a bit uncomfortable with the matriarch's obsession with her son. It did not come across as a positive relationship to me. I also did not feel like I was connected to any of the characters. One of the most sympathetic characters for me was the wife of the main character, but she was a relatively minor character.
Overall, an uneven book for me, with both strengths and weaknesses. I will add other books by the author to my to-read list, however.
It is hard for me to rate this book. There are several areas of strength for me. I feel the author researched the era very well. I appreciate the details that Ms. Clarke uses in her writing. The picture painted of this period in our country's history was vivid. I also feel the subject matter of freed slaves is one that has not been covered as well in historical fiction. There are many books about the American period of slavery, but not many about the struggles of freed slaves. This book gave me a desire to read more about this era.
There were weaknesses too. As much as I found the topic compelling, I found my mind wandering as I read the book. I had some difficulty with the writing style. Also, I was a bit uncomfortable with the matriarch's obsession with her son. It did not come across as a positive relationship to me. I also did not feel like I was connected to any of the characters. One of the most sympathetic characters for me was the wife of the main character, but she was a relatively minor character.
Overall, an uneven book for me, with both strengths and weaknesses. I will add other books by the author to my to-read list, however.
June 14, 2011
I wanted to like Breena Clarke's "Stand the Storm," but it became one of those books I just dreaded picking up. The story starts just before the Civil War, centered around an enslaved family with the unique sewing abilities. These skills drive the young Gabriel Coats to Washington DC, who leads a successful tailoring shop with the help of his mother and sister. I could tell from the first page that this was not a story that was going to end well - perhaps that is what prevented me from connecting with the characters in this story.
As for the writing, there were some beautiful images and passages here. However, the story was just so overwhelming in its messages of loss, despair, and devastation. The Coats family repeated finds success, frees themselves from bondage, only to find themselves somehow re-enslaved again. Any glimmers of happiness are quickly overshadowed. Perhaps this is an absolutely true representation - I am not a good judge here - but as a reader, I found this book difficult and painful. I could not truly recommend it.
As for the writing, there were some beautiful images and passages here. However, the story was just so overwhelming in its messages of loss, despair, and devastation. The Coats family repeated finds success, frees themselves from bondage, only to find themselves somehow re-enslaved again. Any glimmers of happiness are quickly overshadowed. Perhaps this is an absolutely true representation - I am not a good judge here - but as a reader, I found this book difficult and painful. I could not truly recommend it.
January 27, 2009
Clarke returns with a bittersweet slavery-era saga Clarke gets the details — emotional, political, domestic, religious — right across the board and crafts complex and appealing characters. Her knowledge of the period and the novel's dense, deliberate narrative create a poignant story about the intricacies of human bondage and its dissolution, built around a family's unshakable faith in one another. The Coats family of "Stand the Storm" are quasi-free Negroes living in Georgetown just before, during and after the Civil War. Breena Clarke has written another stirring work of historical fiction that weaves the passionate, dramatic and uplifting story of the African-American aspiration for true freedom into the great American tapestry.
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