Song of Slaves in the Desert

by Alan Cheuse

"The Legacy of Slavery
The Loyalty of Family
The Lure of Love"

He has no history in the rice fields, no background in being a master. Plantations are as foreign to him as the African plain that birthed the slaves his uncle owns. Surely, though, he knows his own heart. She has no say in his decisions, his day, his life. She doesn't even have a say in her own. But when Nathaniel Pereira plunges into the murky mysteries of freedom and survival in the suffocating Southern heat, Liza can see how she might change her life forever.

Tracing the thread of slavery from sixteenth-century Timbuktu, "Song of Slaves in the Desert "explores one man's struggle to understand a world where honor is in short supply yet dignity cannot be sold. His mission in peril, his mind nearly undone, Nathaniel's obsession binds him to his fate more tightly than chains ever could.

"Cheuse shows that in one way or another, we all experience slavery, and that freedom is never given but must be taken at all cost. The book's epic vision is deeply human and humane."
Helon Habila, author of "Waiting for an Angel "and "Measuring Time"""

"Alan Cheuse, one of our most respected men of letters, has written a daring, provocative novel. Some readers will be captivated by his depiction of the horrors of slavery and Jewish involvement in the peculiar institution, and others will be troubled and perhaps even offended, for the subject of race in America is always controversial, but no one who reads "Song of Slaves in the Desert "will emerge from its pages unaffected."
Charles Johnson, author of the National Book Award winner "Middle Passage"""

"A novelist's dream is to conjure up a whole world, one the reader can tumble right into and inhabit. I fell into Alan Cheuse's "Song of Slaves in the Desert "like that. I confess I felt a twinge of envy at Cheuse's success, his fully imagined song and its people. But the envy immediately gave way to gratitude for having had the chance to enter and treasure the world he's made here."
Josephine Humphreys, author of "Dreams of Sleep"""

"Cheuse passionately evokes a vanished world of master and slave, Jew and Gentile, all hurtling toward the tumult and destruction of war. The novel is full of the loss and longing that come with a world divided forever, people from their people and from their past. Fascinating."
Lynn Freed, author of "The Servants"' "Quarters"

A masterful writer skilled in both accuracy and nuance, Alan Cheuse grapples with the nether parts of our history, the murky boundary between right and wrong, and the wild tendency of love to break free.

For more than two decades, Alan Cheuse has served as NPR's "voice of books." He is the author of four novels, including "The Grandmothers' Club, The Light Possessed," and "To Catch the Lightning "(winner of the 2009 Grub Street National Prize for fiction), several collections of short stories, and a pair of novellas. He is also the editor of "Seeing Ourselves: Great Early American Short Stories "and coeditor of "Writers Workshop in a Book.""

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Africa, Historical, Poetry, Jewish, Ebooks

500 pages, Hardcover

First published February 8, 2011

About the author

American writer and critic.
For more than two decades, Alan Cheuse has served as NPRs voice of books. He is the author of three novels, including The Grandmothers Club and The Light Possessed, several collections of short stories, and a pair of novellas recently published in The Fires. He is also the editor of Seeing Ourselves: Great Early American Short Stories and co-editor of Writers Workshop in a Book. Stories and co-editor of Writers Workshop in a Book."
Forthcoming in March, 2015, the novel
Prayers for the Living...
Born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Cheuse grew up in a Jewish family, the son of a Russian immigrant father and a mother of Russian and Romanian descent

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books I wasn't sure if I would like, but couldn't put it down! All in all, I really did enjoy it, in spite of some of the changes I wish the author would have made. I felt the beginning was a bit disjointed, with a little too much information. In the beginning it was difficult for the reader to connect the very different stories together as part of one plot. As the story progressed, I found it easier to understand the true meaning of the first part of the book. The story was most powerful, though some times very graphic. Some of the reviewers on Amazon and at our library web page were offended by the details, I was not! I suspect much of the flavor of the presented information to be most accurate.
Most of the story is set in the pre civil war period.... the cast of characters playing off one another are Jewish Americans and slaves. If you like historical fiction, I encourage you to read this.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two very interesting stories that combine about a family from Africa who is brought to Charleston in the slave trade, and a family from Holland who lives in New York. The New York family has a brother who lives in Charleston and who owns a plantation, and sends his son to check out if it is a good value. The story has great messages about freedom, love, and interpersonal relations.

[Kathleen Kelly]

I just could not get into this book.

[Toni Wyatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this work hard to immerse myself in because of the way it was put together. At first, we start out many, many, many generations ago. Then it vaults forward to just before Civil War time and leaves the lineage we had been following.

Then, it continues to flip flop back and forth periodically with no rhyme or reason.

When the story becomes about a northern Jewish man having to travel south in order to evaluate whether or not his father should invest in his brother’s plantation, it gets problematic for me. The entire story had been following a female lineage, and then we are following Nate, a man who has a girlfriend back home, but finds himself lusting after a slave girl named Liza.

In my opinion, Nate is part of the problem. I felt terrible for Liza, and I thought Nate was a selfish pig just like his cousin.

All in all, there are some decent parts, but it was like walking through quicksand to get to them.

2.5 stars rounded up here.

[David]

Excellent book, a slow but gripping read, multi-dimensional characters; it's about slavery but it doesn't take a moralistic stance rather than let its characters explore the nuances and leave you to make sense and draw meaning from the stories. Well written, perhaps sometimes over the top in some of its lyrical passages but I enjoyed it and would recommend.

[Leethel Farmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book held my interest. I made me think about my ancestors and what they endured fare me to be here.

[Sherry Schwabacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ THIS BOOK!

[Cina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was a good book. It was four stories that created one story of a families struggle through slavery. On one side you learn about the plight of the slave woman, her cross to bear, to have children not born from love but from slavery and rape, to yearn for freedom and hope for and the stories of other slaves that these women interacted with. Then you have the story of the slave owners family, unlike most southern families these owners are Jews, themselves persecuted and enslaved now owning slaves. The religious fight between is it right or wrong, to own, to bed, to mistreat. The premise of this story is very good but there is a lot of filler, the read like thoughts of the characters of the book but it could have been something that was weened a bit. There were a few plot twist which made up for it but getting to those twist was a slow journey. This was on the level of The Help and Wench...good idea but the voice of the characters were lost in translation, coming from a perspective that the author could not grasp. It would have been better if he had focused on the slave owners and male slaves.

[Haley Whitehall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I try to read as many books I can relating to slavery. This one was unique because the owners are Jewish and their family understands what it is like to be persecuted. This was a slow read that I never could get into. Lots of filler, descriptions, characters thoughts. If some of this had been weeded out the book would have been faster paced.

It was told from four points of view, both master and slave, but none of the characters really came alive for me. There wasn't much plot either. It reminded me of Wench, and more recently released Wash, but I think this was the least engaging.

[Shawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is VERY RARE that I do not finish a book once I've started it. In fact, even if I'm not a great fan, I'll finish it simply because I believe I owe it to the book, the author and myself to do so. Just couldn't sludge through this one. The constant changes in perspective are distracting and I found the writing style so full of unnecessary flourish, that this lover of words became tired just THINKING about picking the book back up the 3 times I did to give it a go. No thanks...

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok novel-- interesting basis for a story but I had a hard time getting interested in the part of the narrative based in Africa because the characters kept changing and perspective did not seem reliable or believable. The rest of the story I liked to an extent but I would be interested to learn more about the historical accuracy. The ending was enjoyable because it was a little unpredictable.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had great hope for this book since it dealt with Jews, who were slaves in Egypt, owning slaves in the south. But, I found it a great disappointment. Almost sll of the characters seemed stereotypical and the plot was unrealistic. The moral dilemma of owning slaves was just mentioned in passing and never really explored in depth.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally gave up on this. It was well-written and I thought I'd find it interesting, but it just wasn't holding my attention. I really didn't care for the way it switched perspectives so often and it spent too much time on the slave owner instead of the slave.

I've got too many other more interesting things waiting for me right now. I might go back to it later, but I really doubt it.

[Crystal Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliantly researched and written; difficult to put down. Cheuse's book shows that slavery in the New World was - at least partially - a direct product of slavery in Africa, and follows the lives of several generations of strong women (and a few men) from the same family through several generations.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading this book after 350 (of 500) pages. It shows such despicable behavior...I just didn't have the stomach to keep reading. And there's something about it that did not ring true.

[Gypsy Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book club selection. No quotable quotes collected.

[Linda Furrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not care for this book, it was very confusing at first. Than just seemed to go on and on.
It wasn't one of those books I look forward to coming home from work and curling up and read.

[Anne Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very lyrical, with maybe the most vile, despicable antagonists I've ever read.

[Alison]

kindle 459 slavery

[Sharon Meier · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hard to follow. Confusing

Stopped reading about 15% into book. I still had no idea what's the story about. Disappointing to say the least.

[Falene · Rating 3 out of 5]

very long - interesting though

[Penny]

I read so many reviews that said one of the characters is the "most vile ever".... I am not sure I want to finish this. There's enough darkness out there right now.