David

by Ray Robertson

"God and whiskey have got me where I am. Too little of the one, too much of the other." – David King, Chatham, Canada, 1895.

Born a slave in 1847, but raised as a free man on the world-renowned, African-American Elgin Settlement near present-day Chatham, Ontario, David King is a man whose life has been defined by his violent rebellion against the very person who freed him – the Reverend William King.

Far from the pulpit he was intended to fill as the Reverend King's anointed successor, David has lost his faith in God and humanity. He has also turned his back on both his past and his own people by abandoning the Elgin Settlement for nearby Chatham after a final, shattering confrontation with the Reverend King. Undoubtedly, the most unconventional man in town, David is also – thanks to his illegal after-hours tavern, Sophia's, and his highly lucrative grave robbing business – one of Chatham's richest citizens, white or black, and certainly its best read. Triggered by the news of the elderly Reverend King's death, the middle-aged David is compelled to revisit a past he thought he left behind, but which – as evidenced by his inability to embrace the happiness he so dearly earned – he clearly has not.

Ranging over the early years of the pioneering Elgin Settlement, David's wild, whiskey-fueled early years in Chatham as a factory worker and apprentice grave-robber, and his day-to-day life with his ex-prostitute German lover in present-day, 1895 Chatham,David is a portal to a fascinating, if mostly unknown piece of Canadian history, as well as, the story of one man's search for wisdom, peace, and forgiveness.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Canada

304 pages, Hardcover

Published August 15, 2009

About the author

Ray Robertson is the author of six novels including Moody Food and What Happened Later, a finalist for the Trillium Book Award. He has also published a collection of nonfiction, Mental Hygiene: Essays on Writers and Writing. He is a contributing book reviewer for The Globe and Mail.

Robertson lives in Toronto.

Reviews

[Mmars · Rating 4 out of 5]

My taste - 3.5, but worthy of 4 stars.

I was hoping this book would provide insight into the social history of ex-American slaves in Canada. It did, but I found it more about a man struggling to reconcile his religious and intellectual upbringing with expectations vs. the realities of life's undersides and realities. David's lot in life is a complicated one. Much more extraordinary that the book's blurb makes it out to be.

David's mother was one of fourteen slaves inherited by the Reverend King, who married into the ownership of slaves and abhored it to the degree that he returned to Scotland, was ordained a Presbyterian minister, and then "selected to do missionary work in Canada West. While working among the Black refugees in the area, the man formulates his idea of founding a self-sustaining Black settlement where former slaves will be free not just in form but in function---education, religious, instruction, and economic self-determination the practical prescription for spiritual and material self-elevation and lasting emancipation, a City of God on earth." When his father-in-law passes away, Reverend King pays passage for the slaves freedom to Ohio, and one of the slaves pleads that Reverend King purchase her only son back from a new plantation. He does and this boy is "reborn a man named David King."

His mother lives her entire life providing care for Mrs. King, who is ill and in all appearances, physically estranged from the Reverend. So his mother was inherited. David was purchased. And Reverend King, having lost a young son on his return to Scotland years earlier, finds David both intelligent and well-mannered, and thus grooms him for an exceptional education intending that David become his religious prodigy.

Well, of course things don't go as planned. David lives far from that "City of God." And there lies the underpinnings of the rest of the story as he becomes involved with graverobbing for profit, owns an illegal bar, and partners with a German prostitute.

I had some unease with the book's structure, at times the time frame was foggy and the juxtaposition of philosophical musings and low-life activity nibbled at my comfort zone, but there is certainly an audience for this book and the storytelling is superb. It's unique and worthy of discussion. If the premise of the book is tantalizing and you like food for thought - go for it.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd be happy to give this book six stars.

Please check for plot points elsewhere.

Simply put, a good story well told.

A little detail: Told in the first person it's a coming of age, coming to maturity, and getting pretty close to redemption tale. The characters are well written, real, and develop at a pace; the situations are interesting, sometimes exciting, and laid out in a beautiful, matter-of-fact prose that carries the story with no superfluous drama. Finally, there are two dogs in this book - neither of them narrates, neither of them thinks aloud, and neither are anthropomorphized into cartoons. (Stars for dogs, extra stars for keeping them real.)

I've already sent out one gift copy, I'll probably send more.

Canadian. Deserves a wide audience. And isn't it interesting about Canadians: Robertson Davies, Robbie Robertson, now Ray Robertson. Robert seems to have had a lot of sons.

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary from host book club host: We had a lovely evening last week to discuss David – too bad Nancy, Kathy & Carol weren’t able to join us. Most of us enjoyed the book – many thumbs up - and there was lots of discussion. It’s a bit of history in our own back yard that we didn’t know about. Gail read a description of the settlement from the internet and it was pretty much how the book described it, including Reverend King. The school was indeed the best in the area which confirmed that the character of David could have been so well-read.
Was Mrs. King suffering from post-partum depression? Was David right to have helped his mother and Mrs. King to die? In his authoritarian way was Reverend King just a different kind of Master?
Just some questions we had to spark some interesting conversation.

[Sooz · Rating 4 out of 5]

about a quarter of the way through this novel by Canadian writer, Ray Robertson. the story takes place in the late 1800's in Southern Ontario in a community inhabited by freed slaves. this much is based on fact. Elgin Settlement in Southern Ontario was founded by a Presbyterian minister - Reverend King - who was willed fourteen slaves by his father-in-law. King traveled to the states, set them free and offered to bring them to Canada and help them establish their own community.

i quite like the main characters - David is the son of one of these slaves - his mother having been raped by the man who owned her. David now grown, well educated in the classics, owns and operates an after hours bar and keeps to himself. Loretta a German emigrant,a prostitute and a sharp buisness woman is his companion and lover. she is way ahead of her time.

the book opens with the death of the Reverend King and it soon becomes apparent that there has been conflict between the Reverend and David. i thought the book would revolve around King and the Elgin Settlement, but the author does not rely on the significance of that historical time to bring drama to his story. the story - just as the name implies - is all about David. it becomes more and more a personal tale of one man's quest to live the best possible life he can, knowing what a marvelous thing freedom is.

[Athos · Rating 2 out of 5]

One man's struggle with the spiritual slavery of guilt and resentment. I found most of the characters hard to warm up to, which in turn made it hard to care what happened to them. The other trouble I had with it was that the resolution of David's internal struggles, the whole climax of the book, felt rather empty and worldly. Language-wise it's a very skillful novel, but somehow, that wasn't enough.

[Biblioasis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Give us a book that involves bootlegging, grave-robbing, black history, German prostitutes, and Aristotle—and how can we say no? Seriously. #fivestars

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I'd been looking forward to reading this for the decade that I'd had the beautiful hardcover copy on my shelves. It was a beauty to hold, and behold, and it promised history of one of my favourite kinds: that of the Talbot Settlement in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It's where I grew up (where the main street of every town for a couple of hundred miles is Talbot Street); it's where most of my genealogical research takes me, and I had somehow hoped to atone for not appreciating (I mean, REALLY not appreciating) at the time the local history class that our teacher had developed for our grade 10 curriculum.

Sadly, the settlement had only a bit part and the plot seemed to go nowhere.

[larry l. jerke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual book for me. Took it off the shelf without recommendations. True history of a white minister developing a community of escaped black slaves in the 1800s. Story is told by a black man who starts his own business and never works on anyone elses time. Has a white mistress. Very well written.

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didnt know what to expect from this book but am glad I stuck with it, within its pages I learned more than I thought I would on history and being content in one's own station in life..In this story as main character David King recounts his life from someone's slave to his own man you learn much about our history and abolitionists like the Reverend King who was intent on freeing and educating slaves so much so that he organized and built a community for freed Negroes to learn the best of theology, Latin and the classics--the Elgin settlement, where the community adored, revered and respected him and for what he did and among the residents you get the feel of admiration, dependence and utmost loyalty from the former slaves, all except for the rebel David and in flashbacks he tells of how he went from a strong God fearing community of blacks grateful for their freedom and for the opportunity to learn and work to living on his own, making his own money running an illegal tavern, robbing graves for corpses and living with an equally business savvy German ex-prostitute Loretta..I would never have expected some of the twists in this story and the history lessons scattered throughout were interesting and I truly appreciated this read for so much; there were the thoughtful opinions on how he viewed religion and the passages examined in the bible where slavery was condoned and encouraged for obedience as well as philosophical arguments from the classics of Socrates, Plutarch and more, you learn more about writers and controversial poets like Wiliam Blake, Walt Whitman and more, countless book lover dreams in the loving attention he pays to the acquiring and maintaining of his books, and then there's the actual plot I suppose of the novel in David's reawakening in his faith if you will as he abandons the community and Reverend King when he feels that religion and his ways are just another form of slavery. He questions and self answers so much in this book and there are nuggets of wisdom and truth I could go on and on about, it wasn't and isn't at all what you expect it to be but it is worth reading-recommended...

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book with quite an unusual story. David was born into slavery but had his freedom paid for while still an infant by his mothers owner/rapist. He moved to Canada to live in a town of ex-slaves under the general guidance and political control of white religious leader, the Reverend King (ironic?). But this is no typical slave narrative. David has no real memories of slavery and no real allegiance to the Reverend King. David is an iconoclast and rebel, perhaps even a misanthrope. He falls for a German prostitute and a one eared dog. He reads original Latin and throws away scholarships to the most prestigious Universities in Canada. Needless to say this behavior does not go down well in a town founded on religious principles and dedicated to the uplift of the negro race and survival of ex-slaves.
The story is great and original and I would have given it a higher star rating except that I had problems with the writing style. It reminded me of the new film style of a hand held camera with many "jump cuts". The author often started in one direction only to come up short before a scene played out and jumped to another, and another with many threads going on at once. Of course eventually all of the threads can back together but I found the style a little annoying. I can follow multiple plot lines but the shortness of the scenes before a bit of plot was established was a bit frustrating for me. But if your a fan of this sort of cinema or have a short attention span this style of writing may be for you.

[April Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important book because of its honesty about slavery, race, and the repercussions of slavery. It was also an absolute pleasure to read. Instead of instructing us the author moves us with a story of a very unique man, David, who was given freedom by a white man. In return for his freedom and classical education there are expectations placed upon him that he cannot meet, which are shackles of another sort. David is a very likable character who lives by his own rules. He reminds me of someone I love very much- his conflicted identity, his love of whiskey, his insistence on being his own man, his love of ideas and books. At its core the book is really about the individual's absolute right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness, and what some people were willing to do to have it and ensure it for others.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway...thank you Goodreads! This book was a really good read. I learned a lot about Canadian black history and the Elgin settlement...and it was peppered with plenty of the protagonist's views about slavery and religion, which I enjoyed. It's a fascinating read and the author did a marvelous job creating a complex, interwoven story filled with all sorts of complicated, interesting characters. There were times, though, when I found it to be a bit of a struggle to read, because the pace slowed to a crawl, almost causing me to lose interest. And then it really picked up again and surprised me, particularly toward the end of the book. Overall, it was a very good read, though; it is a complicated, well-crafted book...and I recommend it.

[Lena · Rating 1 out of 5]

One review of this book states it is the story of an angry black man living in 19th century, Ontario.
I bought the book, but as I was reading, I just couldn't feel any real connection to the main character. Some of the writing was interesting, but there is a lack of depth.
So I decided to find out about the author-and there lies the problem.
The author is NOT BLACK.
I am an avid reader (approx. 100 books a year)and yes I am African American. I read books by ALL races, nationalities etc.-A good book is a good book.
What I am saying is that there are some topics etc. that should not be faked and if you don't have a real feeling of the topic, the book can be misleading or more importantly "lack depth"

Feedback please, would like to know how other readers feel

Thanks for reading

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable novel about a Black Canadian living in 19th Century Ontario. He escaped slavery by being purchased as a boy by a Canadian abolitionist who started a community of freed slaves in Ontario. Although free, David, is essentially enslaved to the abolitionist, who pretty much runs the community. David seeks out on his own freedom by distancing himself from that community- intellectually & physically- and becoming a self-made man. Along the way, the author offers well written quotes about Life and adds- like so many Canadian novels- a wealth of supporting characters who contribute to the main character's development. Some interesting history, too. Worth a read!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so well-written that I overlooked my aversion to angst for angst's sake and read the entire book. The plot was utterly boring while the writing captured my complete imagination. I decided to err on the side of generosity and go with four stars. Please don't misunderstand, slavery was and is an abomination and is evil personified. I just don't have much patience for self-pity that lasts well past youth.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so well written I can hardly put it down.
8/2/13: I thoroughly enjoyed the book. However, towards the end it was sometimes disconcerting the way the author took us back and forth between time periods with little warning; the 'current vernacular' was noticeable when it appeared, sounding very unlike what one would expect to hear in 19th century Canada or anywhere else for that matter. But who cares? I loved the book.

[Lorine Kritzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book with a strong and complex main character. And there are so many interesting issues: slavery, the anti-slavery movement, what it meant to be a freed slave, a black/white relationship at a time when it was an act of bravery, just to name a few. In addition, as someone pointed out, the reader learns so much about Walt Whitman, William Blake, and the raid on Harper's Ferry. The choices David had to make are a discussion in themselves.

[Rachel]

Not one of the top 100....but there is a market for it. It is just not for me.

[Wendy]

This was a really pleasant surprise. Wow.

[Cynthia Mcarthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for the Historical Novel Society. Review has been written and sent...I certainly hope it does this book justice!

[Lucille]

Fascinating story that blends historical facts with fiction.