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Dickinson Family Saga #2
A Reckoning: A Novel
1855, the Dickinson farm, run by brothers Benjamin and John, is visited by a Northern abolitionist who secretly distributes compasses, maps, and knives to the people enslaved there. Bry is the first slave to flee, determined to find his mother and daughter already in Canada. His escape inspires a dozen others.
Without their labor, the farm falters and is forfeited to the bank. John Dickinson, who is also a circuit-riding preacher, gathers his flock into a wagon train to find a new life in the west. But he carries a dangerous secret that compels him to abandon the group at the last minute, and his wife, daughters, and thirteen-year-old son, Martin, must now face life on the trail without him. After a fateful encounter along the way, Martin and Bry will hatch a plot to get Bry safely to Canada, but each member of the family will be irrevocably changed by the journey. Told with astonishing empathy, A Reckoning brilliantly re-creates an America that the undefiled beauty of its lands; the grand mix of settlers and Native Americans, blacks and whites; and people leaving one life behind for another they can only just begin to see.
Without their labor, the farm falters and is forfeited to the bank. John Dickinson, who is also a circuit-riding preacher, gathers his flock into a wagon train to find a new life in the west. But he carries a dangerous secret that compels him to abandon the group at the last minute, and his wife, daughters, and thirteen-year-old son, Martin, must now face life on the trail without him. After a fateful encounter along the way, Martin and Bry will hatch a plot to get Bry safely to Canada, but each member of the family will be irrevocably changed by the journey. Told with astonishing empathy, A Reckoning brilliantly re-creates an America that the undefiled beauty of its lands; the grand mix of settlers and Native Americans, blacks and whites; and people leaving one life behind for another they can only just begin to see.
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2017
12 people are currently reading
989 people want to read
About the author
Linda Spalding
27 books41 followersLinda Spalding, Kansas-born Canadian fiction and nonfiction writer, often explores world cultures and the clash between contemporary life and traditional beliefs. Born in Topeka, she lived in Mexico and Hawaii before moving to Toronto, Ontario in 1982.
Spalding's work has been honoured numerous times. Her non-fiction work, The Follow, was shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award and the Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize and she has since received the Harbourfront Festival Prize for her contribution to the Canadian literary community.
Her novel, The Purchase, won the 2012 Governor General's Literary Award.
She has two daughters and is currently married to novelist Michael Ondaatje. Linda, her daughter Esta, and Michael are also on the editorial board of the Canadian literary magazine, Brick.
Spalding's work has been honoured numerous times. Her non-fiction work, The Follow, was shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award and the Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize and she has since received the Harbourfront Festival Prize for her contribution to the Canadian literary community.
Her novel, The Purchase, won the 2012 Governor General's Literary Award.
She has two daughters and is currently married to novelist Michael Ondaatje. Linda, her daughter Esta, and Michael are also on the editorial board of the Canadian literary magazine, Brick.
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February 25, 2018"A Reckoning", by Linda Spalding:
Up on Soapbox:
First of all, because this is an issue for me, this novel does not contain quotation marks. This slows down the flow of the narrative since the reader has to re-read parts of paragraphs to determine what was said out loud, what was an internal thought, and which character spoke. Spalding is a beautiful writer; her prose often poetic, I don't understand this trend to eschew quotation marks which causes frustration for many readers.
Down from Soapbox.
"A Reckoning", set in the late 1850s (in the years leading up to the Civil War), is the story of the Dickinson family and the slaves that they buy, sell, own, exploit, mistreat, rape, maim, and murder. Plantation owner Benjamin Dickinson is cruel, callous and immoral (and he doesn't care), while his half-brother, John, a Methodist preacher and manager of the plantation, is more subtly cruel and immoral; by that I mean he has a few pangs of guilt while proving to be a coward of epic proportion. Descriptions of life on the plantation are vivid, horrifyingly graphic, and entirely believable.
The catalyst for the subsequent plot is an abolitionist from Canada, who knows escaped slaves from the Dickinson plantation, who travels there to find out more of their stories, and also to urge the Dickinson's slaves to flee to freedom in Canada (where they can't be caught and returned.) The Dickinson plantation, completely dependent on slave labor, is in peril of being foreclosed upon.
That's just the jumping off point! This novel is full of action: things happen! The narrative follows several characters, providing more than a mere history and geography lesson; each character experiences many suspenseful, dramatic, and emotional scenes. We follow an escaped slave searching for family, a boy and his pet bear, an abandoned mother forging out with her children to the west with all the travails that entails. There are wonderful, enlightening, and horrific descriptions of Westward Expansion: the Cumberland Gap, wagon trains, pioneers, farmers, and merchants, ship wrecks, Indian attacks and Indian succor. And almost characters themselves, are our powerful American rivers, which were both the path to freedom, and the deathly peril.
Gripping and insightful
Up on Soapbox:
First of all, because this is an issue for me, this novel does not contain quotation marks. This slows down the flow of the narrative since the reader has to re-read parts of paragraphs to determine what was said out loud, what was an internal thought, and which character spoke. Spalding is a beautiful writer; her prose often poetic, I don't understand this trend to eschew quotation marks which causes frustration for many readers.
Down from Soapbox.
"A Reckoning", set in the late 1850s (in the years leading up to the Civil War), is the story of the Dickinson family and the slaves that they buy, sell, own, exploit, mistreat, rape, maim, and murder. Plantation owner Benjamin Dickinson is cruel, callous and immoral (and he doesn't care), while his half-brother, John, a Methodist preacher and manager of the plantation, is more subtly cruel and immoral; by that I mean he has a few pangs of guilt while proving to be a coward of epic proportion. Descriptions of life on the plantation are vivid, horrifyingly graphic, and entirely believable.
The catalyst for the subsequent plot is an abolitionist from Canada, who knows escaped slaves from the Dickinson plantation, who travels there to find out more of their stories, and also to urge the Dickinson's slaves to flee to freedom in Canada (where they can't be caught and returned.) The Dickinson plantation, completely dependent on slave labor, is in peril of being foreclosed upon.
That's just the jumping off point! This novel is full of action: things happen! The narrative follows several characters, providing more than a mere history and geography lesson; each character experiences many suspenseful, dramatic, and emotional scenes. We follow an escaped slave searching for family, a boy and his pet bear, an abandoned mother forging out with her children to the west with all the travails that entails. There are wonderful, enlightening, and horrific descriptions of Westward Expansion: the Cumberland Gap, wagon trains, pioneers, farmers, and merchants, ship wrecks, Indian attacks and Indian succor. And almost characters themselves, are our powerful American rivers, which were both the path to freedom, and the deathly peril.
Gripping and insightful
March 28, 2018
First, let me say that I am REALLY fed up with authors/publishers comparing themselves to classic authors to sell books. As she is my favorite author, living or dead, I have read EVERY Willa Cather book out there. This author writes NOTHING like Ms. Cather. NOTHING!
On that note, on to my review. This book and its characters were boring. Plain and simply boring. I felt the author did a poor job in character description/interaction to allow for engagement by readers. For the first quarter of the book, I was trying to sort out who all the players were. This was not helped by a very poor moving storyline.
This was one of those books that it agitated me that I can't abandon books before reviewing.
On that note, on to my review. This book and its characters were boring. Plain and simply boring. I felt the author did a poor job in character description/interaction to allow for engagement by readers. For the first quarter of the book, I was trying to sort out who all the players were. This was not helped by a very poor moving storyline.
This was one of those books that it agitated me that I can't abandon books before reviewing.
April 19, 2018
Second book I have read in a year with extremely long paragraphs and no quotation marks anywhere. Why have we given up on following proper writing technique?
July 20, 2018
While I did enjoy the story, it was hard to follow at times. I believe that there's a lot to be said for how many narratives going on here, I just wish there was some more organization.
October 16, 2019
I found Linda Spalding's previous novel, "The Purchase," powerful and dramatic. This novel, following some of the same characters in the years ahead, is also in the end powerful but finds itself tangled in its early stages in too many personalities and plot complications.
Eventually, however, the book concentrates on Bry, the slave child of Bett in the first novel, and his difficult journey to escape slavery and find his mother in Canada; it also focuses on John Dickinson, his wife Lavinia, and their children as they are forced to find a torturous route west to Kansas when their land in Virginia is lost through John's brother's failures and betrayals.
John is a travelling preacher whose treatment of his wife and children is abusive, reflecting his own fundamentalist religious beliefs. And much of the book traces Lavinia's struggle to stand up to him, and the ultimate freedom of his two sons whose liberation shapes the whole family's future. This part of the novel captures the dangers and disasters that trekking to new western farmlands could bring. Much of the journey makes for grim reading, not least because of John's domineering and unlikeable character. The challenges of transitioning the conflict-ridden frontier is also conveyed vividly by Spalding.
Bry's story is told with force, too -- especially his relationship with an Indian woman who comes to direct his travels across the many rivers and lakes that lie between Bry and Ontario. The escape to the north has been recounted in other novels, but this linkage between black and Indian refugees gives a special dimension to the dramatic story.
Overall, I enjoyed this book -- the writing is excellent and the resolution of both journeys is heart-rending. The tragedy that was slavery is sharply presented and the abuse that came with hard-edged religion is underlined.
Eventually, however, the book concentrates on Bry, the slave child of Bett in the first novel, and his difficult journey to escape slavery and find his mother in Canada; it also focuses on John Dickinson, his wife Lavinia, and their children as they are forced to find a torturous route west to Kansas when their land in Virginia is lost through John's brother's failures and betrayals.
John is a travelling preacher whose treatment of his wife and children is abusive, reflecting his own fundamentalist religious beliefs. And much of the book traces Lavinia's struggle to stand up to him, and the ultimate freedom of his two sons whose liberation shapes the whole family's future. This part of the novel captures the dangers and disasters that trekking to new western farmlands could bring. Much of the journey makes for grim reading, not least because of John's domineering and unlikeable character. The challenges of transitioning the conflict-ridden frontier is also conveyed vividly by Spalding.
Bry's story is told with force, too -- especially his relationship with an Indian woman who comes to direct his travels across the many rivers and lakes that lie between Bry and Ontario. The escape to the north has been recounted in other novels, but this linkage between black and Indian refugees gives a special dimension to the dramatic story.
Overall, I enjoyed this book -- the writing is excellent and the resolution of both journeys is heart-rending. The tragedy that was slavery is sharply presented and the abuse that came with hard-edged religion is underlined.
October 22, 2017
I have to admit to being biased as this style of writing does not appeal to me. I strongly dislike paragraphs that are 1-2 pages long and a lack of dialogue punctuation. However, the characters were compelling enough to fight thru it. I really wanted to know what was going to happen to them all. So the character development was wonderful.
July 20, 2018
A novel, set in 1855, a turbulent time in American history. (Several states established personal liberty laws to counter the negative impact of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850; and southern states established slave codes). A story of a white slave-holding family; some of the slaves make a run for freedom, and when the bank forecloses on the farm, the remaining slaves are given letters of manumission even though the bank claims them as property. The story follows Bry, one of the enslaved men who heads to Canada and freedom, and also John, who grew up as a childhood playmate of Bry until Bry was put to work in the fields. John became a preacher, and was married with four children, but also impregnated one of the enslaved women and was tortured by his lust for her. Author Linda Spalding, a white woman, explores the various impacts and experiences of everyone in John's family as they leave everything behind and head West in a wagon. One of John's sons raises a pet bear, and Bry teams up with an indigenous woman in his quest for freedom; in other words, this is a story that reflects all of the elements of the "frontier" at a time when white colonists were pushing West, displacing indigenous people and alienating them from their land, and slavery was heading towards abolition. At times the story felt chaotic and that there were no satisfying endings, but that is exactly the story that is being told. As a white author, I appreciate Spalding's focus on the complicity of the white people in the story, and their relationship to slavery and colonialism at a pivotal time in colonial history. The author has obviously done a lot of background research to write this book, and has my great respect for both her choice of topic and her skillful reckoning / rendering of it.
October 16, 2018
I really enjoyed this book, even though I almost stopped reading it, after a few chapters. One of the reasons I did not give the book 5 stars is that the author does not use punctuation marks, to indicate someone is speaking. So, when I first started the book, it was a bit confusing & it put me off, for a while. I could not tell when someone was simply thinking about something or when they were actually speaking to a person. Well, this can be a bit off-putting, & I almost put the book down, feeling a bit annoyed with it. I am so glad I did not do that but, instead, continued with it. After maybe 30 or 40 pages, I realized I no longer had any trouble with it. I guess the odd style finally grew on me. And it actually enhances the story, giving the entire story a bit of a surreal feel to it. So, if you start this book & don't like the lack of punctuation marks, keep reading; you may be pleasantly surprised.
The other reason I did not give the book 5 stars was the fact that I felt a couple things were left hanging. I can't say much, without giving anything away, but there were a couple of characters I felt needed some more closure, as to what happened to them.
Moving past those 2 items, the story, itself, was wonderful. It was done in a way where each chapter was from the point of view of different characters. One might be the son, the next might be the mother & so on. So, the reader gets a fuller sense of their experiences, as it affects each person.
It's definitely worth reading, & I look forward to reading more of Ms. Spalding's books. :)
The other reason I did not give the book 5 stars was the fact that I felt a couple things were left hanging. I can't say much, without giving anything away, but there were a couple of characters I felt needed some more closure, as to what happened to them.
Moving past those 2 items, the story, itself, was wonderful. It was done in a way where each chapter was from the point of view of different characters. One might be the son, the next might be the mother & so on. So, the reader gets a fuller sense of their experiences, as it affects each person.
It's definitely worth reading, & I look forward to reading more of Ms. Spalding's books. :)
July 19, 2018
This was a hugely intriguing book. This book had so much nuance and so many stories that were interwoven. The mother, who finally learns to be on her own and assert dominance with her family, the slave, who frantically tries to cross rivers and borders, the boy, who refuses to leave his pet bear, the father, metaphorically cuckolded and grasping straws at his masculinity. So much happens. The family self-destructs after a birdwatcher meets with them and helps set their slaves free (yay!), and what unfolds afterwards is just this incredible, horrifying spiral of a description towards the loss of status and masculinity.
The characters, especially the mother and the son, were just so real and their struggles were so relatable on the aspect of love and independence. Overall, I found myself very impressed with a book I originally felt cautionary towards due to its topic matter. But as a story about a family that's so clearly dysfunctional it's just overall astonishing.
Review cross-listed here!
The characters, especially the mother and the son, were just so real and their struggles were so relatable on the aspect of love and independence. Overall, I found myself very impressed with a book I originally felt cautionary towards due to its topic matter. But as a story about a family that's so clearly dysfunctional it's just overall astonishing.
Review cross-listed here!
May 15, 2021
After reading The Purchase some 7 years apart with the result of greater appreciation, I was eager to hear more about this family. I found it a struggle, maybe because I'd forgotten too many names, connections and the many that were 'imposed upon'. This closing on a family history left me a bit unsatisfied as the story jumps from members, events and time periods. Credit to the author for the research, piecing together possible scenarios.
Finish I did with a clearer imagery of the paths taken to reach freedom for some or to reach a sod house on the plains of Kansas Territory. This has given me renewed respect for my ancestors leaving Ohio after 1850's in much the same manner, eventually reaching Junction City KS. How they survived is desperation, determination and astonishing wonder. A few stories have survived.
I am partial to the first book.
Finish I did with a clearer imagery of the paths taken to reach freedom for some or to reach a sod house on the plains of Kansas Territory. This has given me renewed respect for my ancestors leaving Ohio after 1850's in much the same manner, eventually reaching Junction City KS. How they survived is desperation, determination and astonishing wonder. A few stories have survived.
I am partial to the first book.
May 18, 2018
Hard to read, because everyone was so cruel in the past. The parents were mean to eat h other and to their children. Everyone was vastly to the slaves, and don't even mention the Indians. And then it's K.T., Kansas territory when the nickname for the place was Kansas, bloody Kansas. And the challenges. One word for that and it is overwhelming. But you have to finish, absolutely have to see who makes it it and who doesn't, and the facts are true, the history lesson cogent, and when you are done-- well then, you can look at the refrigerator and the car and just be grateful that it all happened to someone else.
June 12, 2021
Spalding has written a sequel to The Purchase; the continuation of the Dickinson family. Once again, her novel has some very interesting historical information taking the reader on a journey as more settlers migrate west and the political unrest of pre- civil war is growing.
The reader learns what happened to many of the characters in The Purchase and follows some of the next generation as they lose their farm through speculation and over extending credit with the banks.
I did find some of the chance encounters a little difficult to believe would happen in the vast prairie of the US. However, it does make for a good narrative.
The reader learns what happened to many of the characters in The Purchase and follows some of the next generation as they lose their farm through speculation and over extending credit with the banks.
I did find some of the chance encounters a little difficult to believe would happen in the vast prairie of the US. However, it does make for a good narrative.
August 31, 2021
This is the first Spalding novel I've read, but it won't be the last. Set in 1855, the story begins in Virginia, but the most interesting portions take place as a freed slave heads to Canada to find his family, and the sister-in-law of the slave's owner, now dead, and her children head west to Missouri to start a new life, abandoned by husband/father at the beginning of the journey as he embarks on a search of his own. The mix of people each set of travelers encounters is fascinating, and the hardships and setbacks they face and overcome... Well, what to say, when today's Americans are frustrated by a shortage of toilet paper in the grocery store.
November 19, 2017
4 - 4 1/2 stars.I won this book from Good Reads First Reads in return for an honest review. Spalding's "The Purchase" tells us the story of a Quaker man who ends up owning a slave and what that choice does to him and his family. This book is the companion to it, following the family years later and showing how a choice made by one man a generation or so ago, affects his descendants in so many ways. This was a very good read and I enjoyed getting to find out what happened to Daniel's family.
May 26, 2018
A Reckoning... American traveling settlers encounter slavery issues and disease. I'm still not entirely sure what this story is about after reading the entire novel. The characters lack dimension, there are too many indistinguishable characters, and the story rambles on various accounts; although very descriptive, I was confused. Numerous misspellings due to speech drawls and uneducated characters frustrated me. No quotation marks included to distinguish between speakers and internal thoughts.
June 8, 2018
This story is set in Virginia in 1855 where John Dickinson is forced to move his family after his reckless brother has wasted the families resources and the farm is lost to the New York city bank. The family packs up what little they have left and join a wagon train west. There are many perils on their journey to both themselves, those they travel with and the slaves he set free. A very interesting and enjoyable story of our nations pioneers.
October 9, 2018
The first part of the story starts in 1855, Virginia, on a farm with two brothers, their families, and a handful of slaves. Bleak. A nightmare period in history, awful people with few redeeming qualities. I was motivated to continue reading by the story of the youngest son and his bear. The interweaving of nature and the harsh living is vividly told, but just didn't feel any emotional uplifting in this tale of woe.
July 28, 2022
This could have been a good novel about the movement of settlers to the Kansas Territory, & the flight of runaway slaves from the South to Ontario on the underground railway in the 1850s. Unfortunately the writing style is vague,& I often wondered why the author couldn't be more focussed & precise in her descriptions of place & person. I never could get a clear mental image of what she was writing about
August 19, 2017
Set in the 1850's this novel follows families in their travels north to start over and in the case of slaves, to freedom. Some of the people are looking for family that circumstances have divided them. This was a fantastic book to read.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
July 16, 2018
This author has an unusual writing style for me, but I got used to it quickly and it dragged me in to the story. Towards the end, I could not put it down. I had to know what the 'reckoning' was. My only complaint is that I think the book could have/should have been longer. I want to know more about Martin and Cuff and Patton and their parents. Very intriguing, but I'm left wondering...
August 24, 2018
Beautifully written! I had to read this because her other book I read “The Purchase” where I knew nothing about and turned the pages as quickly as possible as I could not stop reading it! This also was a wonderful read... struggles and hardships a family endures to find a better life! Okay, while reading this novel I did think of Ingle’s family on Little House 🏡 on the Prairie!! Just saying 🐨
September 6, 2018
The story was interesting, but I'm not a fan of the style -- long paragraphs, no quotation marks. It took me a while to get into the story and get the characters straight, and I think quotation marks would've helped. I do like that most of the chapters were short, which made it a bit easier to read.
December 7, 2018
Drawn in by the writing that was both spare and lyrical. I hadn’t read The Purchase, the preceding title, however this didn’t make The Reckoning any less accessible. Spalding shared at the Heliconian lecture that the story emerged from the imagining of the lives of her grandfather’s grandfather’s families. It seems everyone in this story had to make a journey, both real and metaphorical.
April 11, 2019
This book was difficult to read. The lack of quotation marks a lot of difficult sentence structures made it difficult. I was also disappointed that at least two major events took place between the chapters, so I missed out on the emotions I would have felt if the author had took me through them. I do realize that all of this reflects the chaos of the story.
September 19, 2019
Another beautiful and haunting story by Linda Spalding. I recommend that you read the prequel, "The Purchase" even though the story here stands alone because it will give you a greater appreciation since both are based on her family's actual history. And, yes, they really did bring a bear with them to Missouri!
August 21, 2017
Thank you for this book. I received it as a Goodreads Giveaway. I did try but I just couldn't get in to the book. It just didn't draw me in. It wasn't horrible but it just wasn't a book that I enjoyed. Others might love it. Give it a try and see what you think for yourself.
September 17, 2017
I felt that I should have read The Purchase before reading this book as I found that it had a lot going on it with all the stories for the characters that were entwined. I won an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher as part of the Goodreads Giveaways program.
September 18, 2017
This is a book you need time to think about as you read it. It is a troubling time in 1855 history. The characters are reckless, deep, troubling and you want to know what is going to happen to them all on their journey. This story is worth reading.
October 9, 2017
I am halfway through this book and frankly, I don't care what happens to any of them. I'm done. The writing is lovely at times and then choppy as new characters and circumstances are introduced. I just can't give it any more time.
It's a shame because I liked The Purchase.
It's a shame because I liked The Purchase.
November 13, 2017
I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I did find this to be a very slowly paced book and a bit difficult to get 'into'. However I liked learning about the history and the human struggles of that time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews