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A Girl Named Coco
Inspired by events that shamed and shaped the nation, A Girl Named Coco lays bare the soul of plantation existence, where intense desire and brutal injustice blend like the scents of sweetness and decay in the summer-scorched cane fields of Louisiana.Until..."Once you're in, you're in." Mrs. Hughes's stare bore through Coco. "And eyes and ears will be on you at all times.""I'm ready," was all she could think of saying.Born a free person of a slave mother, A Girl Named Coco courageously searches for her place in the wartime South, until she arrives at the perilous crossroads of the fight to win all their freedom, an impossible assignment in the most wretched corner of America's deadliest conflict.THOUSANDS OF MEN WOULD DO ANYTHING TO GET OUT.A GIRL NAMED COCO WOULD DO ANYTHING TO GET IN.From acclaimed author Jennifer Spurgeon, comes an unforgettable account both horrific and uplifting, soaked in the naked misery and superficial splendor of a time when the worst of America's history could create the bet of American deeds.
390 pages, Paperback
Published June 14, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 27, 2021
Spurgeon transports readers to 1800s wartime South in this layered and engrossing historical.
When the wealthy plantation owner Albert Toussaint bought the young and beautiful Dinah along with four other slaves, he had no idea his life was about to take an unexpected turn. A forbidden romance between the pair brings Coco into the world. As daughter of a Black slave and a White plantation owner, Coco struggles to find her own place in the wartime South, unaware destiny has bigger plans for her.
In addition to spotlighting the masses’ attitudes toward gender and racial and class inequality, Spurgeon injects plenty of credible period details, including life on plantations, the savagery and injustice faced by slaves, the historical events such as seizing of Fort Sumter in South Carolina while depicting the cruelties of war against the unsettling backdrop of discontent.
The story, told over the span of many years, capably interweaves the characters’ dilemmas and runs at a brisk pace, owing to the assured, intelligent prose. Most importantly, Spurgeon excels at creating multilayered, sympathetic characters: she aptly captures Dinah’s voice as a conflicted, discontenting young woman, making her uncertainty comprehensible and charming.
Her portrayal of Albert's efforts to cope with marital stagnation and tormented feelings for Dinah is equally convincing. Coco’s feelings of alienation and her struggles with her identity in the face of her mixed heritage will resonate with many readers.
This emotionally rich novel, full of both sizzling descriptions of life in the summer-scorched cane fields of Louisiana and horrors of slavery, is sure to win a vast array of historical fiction fans.
When the wealthy plantation owner Albert Toussaint bought the young and beautiful Dinah along with four other slaves, he had no idea his life was about to take an unexpected turn. A forbidden romance between the pair brings Coco into the world. As daughter of a Black slave and a White plantation owner, Coco struggles to find her own place in the wartime South, unaware destiny has bigger plans for her.
In addition to spotlighting the masses’ attitudes toward gender and racial and class inequality, Spurgeon injects plenty of credible period details, including life on plantations, the savagery and injustice faced by slaves, the historical events such as seizing of Fort Sumter in South Carolina while depicting the cruelties of war against the unsettling backdrop of discontent.
The story, told over the span of many years, capably interweaves the characters’ dilemmas and runs at a brisk pace, owing to the assured, intelligent prose. Most importantly, Spurgeon excels at creating multilayered, sympathetic characters: she aptly captures Dinah’s voice as a conflicted, discontenting young woman, making her uncertainty comprehensible and charming.
Her portrayal of Albert's efforts to cope with marital stagnation and tormented feelings for Dinah is equally convincing. Coco’s feelings of alienation and her struggles with her identity in the face of her mixed heritage will resonate with many readers.
This emotionally rich novel, full of both sizzling descriptions of life in the summer-scorched cane fields of Louisiana and horrors of slavery, is sure to win a vast array of historical fiction fans.
August 19, 2025
A Girl Named Coco
By: Jennifer Spurgeon
5 Stars
This was a sweeping southern story of slavery, war, love, hate, redemption, and forgiveness. It was a story that began with Dinah as she was placed on auction and sold. Albert Toussaint, a white sugar cane plantation owner, soon buys her and others. This leads to changes in both of their lives, change that will indeed change them both. A life of servitude, love, and pain follows Dinah until the birth of her little Caroline, the mixed "coco" colored daughter of her and her master. The story continues from mother to daughter through turbulent times. Times to be scared and brave, all at the same time.
This was a story, not about just one person, but it was of many. It was raw and real. It painted a picture of slavery that will hurt you, inform you, and certainly shock you. While it shows the bad, it also shows the good. Not everyone was for slavery. There were good people. People helping people, despite ones color. This story was well written and well researched. It was a good book that kept me engaged and intrigued. A dark picture of history told with truth and grace.
***Oh, a side note, that ending pulled a big " WHAT?" Out of me. Did she? Did she?***
Stormi Ellis
By: Jennifer Spurgeon
5 Stars
This was a sweeping southern story of slavery, war, love, hate, redemption, and forgiveness. It was a story that began with Dinah as she was placed on auction and sold. Albert Toussaint, a white sugar cane plantation owner, soon buys her and others. This leads to changes in both of their lives, change that will indeed change them both. A life of servitude, love, and pain follows Dinah until the birth of her little Caroline, the mixed "coco" colored daughter of her and her master. The story continues from mother to daughter through turbulent times. Times to be scared and brave, all at the same time.
This was a story, not about just one person, but it was of many. It was raw and real. It painted a picture of slavery that will hurt you, inform you, and certainly shock you. While it shows the bad, it also shows the good. Not everyone was for slavery. There were good people. People helping people, despite ones color. This story was well written and well researched. It was a good book that kept me engaged and intrigued. A dark picture of history told with truth and grace.
***Oh, a side note, that ending pulled a big " WHAT?" Out of me. Did she? Did she?***
Stormi Ellis
August 27, 2023
I met Jen and wanted to give her book a try it is not m kind of read, but she's good at weaving a story. Some of Coco's adventures, especially during the war, could have been even longer. There were a couple historical inaccuracies but those likely bother me more than they probably would most people and I look forward to our next work.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews