Lady's Time

by Alan V. Hewat

Magical realism and haunting mysticism cloud the circumstances surrounding the death of Lady Winslow, a New Orleans woman of mixed racial background who passes for white in the Vermont resort where she teaches music and plays ragtime

338 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 1986

Reviews

[Edward Champion · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of my backburner projects is to read through the PEN/Hemingway winners. And I keep forgetting that there was a time in American literary culture -- not all that long ago -- in which a mediocre white man -- in this case, jazz music critic Alan V. Hewat, who displays almost no aptitude for fiction -- would win an award for "documenting" Black people in fiction. Never mind that Hewat seems more content to prove "how much he knows" about the time period, often with clueless and one-dimensional portraits of the very Black people he hopes to "document" in his role as White Savior as Novelist. Why read Hewat when you can go straight to the likes of Edward P. Jones or Jesmyn Ward? Honestly, this novel wasn't just poorly written. It was OFFENSIVELY poorly written. It's telling that this dweeb didn't write another book after this. I don't know anyone who talks up this book in 2024. It will rightfully be consigned to the dustbins of literary history.

[Sofia B · Rating 5 out of 5]

at the beginning of the book you might feel a litle bit lost... but, while you move foward the story starts taking shape. Finally someone has achieved what i though it would be almost imposible, the writer gave a sound, color and shape to melancholy. I don't wanna give any spoiler, but what i can say is that the characters, the places, the sound, the emotions are so amazing that you feel when the story changes, but not lost, just embraced you at one point where you can't put this book down until it finish, you might think that the book could have another ending, but it's the final note from the wonderfull song that is played during the whole book.

[Ana Martinez-Prantte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me llamó la atención la temática de la novela, así como el espacio y el tiempo en el que se desarrolla. Lastimosamente, desde el inicio, el relato es aburrido, lento, poco creativo. El relato es forzado. Parece ser que el autor no conoce el contexto ni la cultura de sus personajes.