Who would you walk 1,000 miles for? Would you willingly walk into a territory where in all probability, you'll be beaten or lynched? Would you keep a love alive in your heart, even though it had been 15 years since you last saw him/her?
That is at the heart of Leonard Pitts Jr.'s novel Freeman. The Civil War is over, it has been a decade and a half since Sam saw Tilda, but even if he dies trying, he's determined to find her. Or, find out what happened to her, if it's too late.
And so he starts his journey, beginning in Philadelphia and heading into the deep south.
It is so well written and such a compelling story, I relished the waits in the airport earlier this week (I even read in line while shuffling towards the security check) and read each evening in the hotel (I went to a workshop in Chicago).
What book did you read that made your summer sumptuous?
"Achingly brilliant." Wonderful! How I adore books like this, and I so know that desperation to get back to a great read. I've already talked ad nauseum about my favorite summer book, but I just started the one you let me borrow (Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult), and love it so far.
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it all the way to the end. There are some books I read the first line, and then the last line, to see if it would be a good book to buy, but I never do that with Jodi Picoult, since she always puts some twists in her tales, and I don't want to spoil it.
DeleteI love Leonard Pitts's newspaper column, so am not surprised to hear that he has written a good book. I have read some goodies this year, though they were not new publications. I loved "Doc Holiday's Woman" by Jane Candia Coleman, "My Antonia" by Willa Cather, and "Bittersweet" by Nevada Barr.
ReplyDeleteFireblossom--I heard from someone else about Pitts' column; somehow, I've missed it and have never read it, so I will have to check it out.
DeleteI've not read the other two, but I adored Cather's "My Antonia."
Sounds kind of like Cold Mountain. I finished The Hunger Games, but I'm stuck somewhere in the middle of the second book. I just started The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker. Hee hee! If the author didn't use that middle name, she could be a character from Will & Grace!
ReplyDeleteI found the second and third books paled, compared to the first, but I read them all to find out how they ended.
ReplyDeleteI will have to check out what The Age of Miracles is about...
You know I just read Picoult's, Sing You Home and My Sister's Keeper and getting ready to read Between the Lines. I'll have to read this one you just suggested too.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely a worthy read.
ReplyDeleteI finally read The Help this summer, but I may have to check this out, sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteMary--I have been telling everyone about this book. The book group I belong to has been looking for our next book, and this is the one.
DeleteHi Sioux,
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book. Earlier in the summer I read THOSE WE LOVE MOST by Lee Woodruff, and its raw truth blew me away.
Oh no, Donna--another book I'll have to buy (ha). I will have to find that one.
DeleteSounds wonderful. I just read ELizabeth berg's Pull of the Moon.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Elizabeth Berg, and I have not read that one yet. Thanks for the recommendation.
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ReplyDeleteSounds great Sioux - can't wait to pick up a copy! Well, you know the series I read this summer... I just picked up Farenheit 451 last night... remembering Tammy's recommendation. Started it last night - writing is fantastic. I would Little Bee at the very top of my list of "achingly beautiful" books.
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