A new york times bestseller and oprahs book club pickthe unique and deeply moving saga of four generations of africanamerican women whose journey from slavery to freedom begins on a creole plantation in louisiana. Beginning with her greatgreatgreatgreat grandmother, a slave owned by a creole family, lalita tademy chronicles four generations of strong, determined black women as they. Cane river, lalita tademys literary debut, is a stunning family saga mixed with. Cane river it was here, on a mediumsized creole plantation owned by a family named derbanne, that author lalita tademy found her familys rootsand the stories of four astonishing women who battled vast injustices to create a legacy of hope and achievement. This detailed literature summary also contains topics for discussion and a free quiz on cane river by lalita tademy. The river summary at wikisummaries, free book summaries. As a white woman, with black friends, i found this book by a black woman fascinating, wellwritten and delightful to read. The river is a novel by artist and musician michael neale. Prior to the books publication, neale developed and produced a multimedia presentation incorporating speaking, music, and film called the river experience which he continues to present in a variety of venues. The women of cane river cane river begins with elisabeth tademys great great great great grandmother and focuses on three women marked by her strength, her pride, and her instinct for survival. Get to know your family becaus ethe things they went through and did could amaze you. Lalita tademy has imbued life and blood into her family history, capturing you with her first sentence and only releasing you with her final word. Lalita tademys book, cane river, tells in fictional form the stories of four.
She is a slave living in the cane river area of louisiana. Beginning with her greatgreatgreatgrandmother, suzette, tademy gives. Cane river will be one of those books i will indeed reread. Our most popular guides include quick quizzes, so you can test your retention before. W hen the novel opens, three out of her four paternal greatgreat. This wonderful first novel will not leave one satisfied with just one reading. He lives in the marsh area of kent where the river thames meets the sea.
Red river chronicles her paternal ancestors and their role in the colfax riot of 1873. As the story opens in 1834, suzette has been slapped by madame francoise derbanne, the mistress of rosedew, the. The story begins in 1834 with story of suzette, the authors greatgreat grandmother. Tademy tells suzettes story for about twenty years, including her trial. Thorough summaries and insightful critical analyses of classic and contemporary literature. As directed by congress, the national park service has initiated a special resource study to identify and evaluate alternatives for managing, preserving, and interpreting historic structures, sites, and landscapes within the cane river area of northwestern louisiana, and how creole culture developed in this area. While the connin family goes off to the river to attend the healing service, they take harrybevel along with them. Sevenyearold pip walks through a churchyard on a cold, gray day before christmas, visiting the graves of his parents. The story stretches all the way back to 1834, beginning with tademys greatgreatgreatgreat grandmother, a woman who was born into slavery, living on a plantation off the cane river in louisiana.
Red river is a 2008 novel of historical fiction by lalita tademy, largely based on the history of her fathers family. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of cane river by lalita tademy. He had in his hand a heavy cane, with which he was trifling. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Previously, lalita tademy wrote cane river, which was selected for oprahs book club and is another historical fiction book, this one based on her maternal relatives. Shes a house slave who often works in the kitchen with her mother elisabeth, the cook and family matriarch whose love and wisdom will sustain them all in the years ahead. Cane river 2001 is a fictionalized version of the lives of author lalita tademys female.
Beginning with tademys greatgreatgreatgreat grandmother elisabeth, this is a family saga that sweeps from the early days of slavery through the civil war into a precivil rights souths unique and moving slice of americas past that will resonate with readers for generations to come. Cane river is a 1982 american romantic drama film that was lost until its rediscovery in 20 and its subsequent rerelease in 2018 and beyond. He is even convinced that the pictures in a book called the life of jesus christ for readers under twelve must be accurate because it shows pictures of real pigs not drawings of cute, storybook pigs. The film features the lives of african americans in the us state of louisiana. Cane river oprahs book club by lalita tademy reading. Nonetheless, her parents made sure their household louisiana west maintained a definite noncalifornia edge, including a steady supply of grits, gumbo, cornbread, and collard greens, and a stream of other transplanted southerners eager to share. At dinner, pip secretly stuffs his buttered bread down his pants, which sounds awfully greasy to us. It was chosen as an oprahs book club selection in a blend of fact and fiction, tademy tells the story of four generations of her slaveborn female ancestors elisabeth, suzette, philomene, and emily following their trajectories from the 1830s to the 1930s. The cane river journal is a blog consisting of a collection of stories, research, and writings published by the staff and partners of cane river national heritage area. Authors message the authors message is to get to know your family. Her mother elizabeth works in the kitchen of the plantation rosedew, and when. It was written, produced, and directed by horace b. Cane river tells the story of four generations of africanamerican women.
Welcome to the facebook page of cane river stories, a photo documentary project by photographer thomas meredith. Its the only movie that he directed, and it was made with an all african american cast and crew. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. She spends her days in the derbannes home, which not one of the great plantation homes of the south. Orphaned as a baby, he lives with his sister, georgiana, who is twenty years older than he, and her husband, joe.
The original text of classic works sidebyside with an easytounderstand translation. Cane river is a cinematic valentine straight from the mind and soul of writerdirector horace b. They survived the hard life of settling in the mountains of southwest virginia, the pain and loss of childbirth, disease, economic hardship, the depression. The story opens in 1834, on a plantation on the cane river in louisiana, as suzette turns nine. This summary of cane river includes a complete plot overview spoilers. Her mother elizabeth works in the kitchen of the plantation rosedew, and when suzette is old enough, she learns the ways of the kitchen from her mother. They were women whose lives began in slavery, who weathered the civil war. Cane river is a familial saga that tells the story of the authors ancestors. No fear literature is available online and in book form at.
Her first novel, cane river, was based on her mothers family and was chosen as an oprah book club selection. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading cane river. Cane river 2001 is a fictionalized version of the lives of author lalita tademys female ancestors over the course of four generations. But this changes after shes raped by an older frenchman. In the world that we lived in i thought race was everything, maybe this child would get to lead an easier life than i had, a life of freedom and in a w.
This study guide consists of approximately 38 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of cane river. Lalita tademy was born in berkeley, california, far from her parents southern roots. S ome years ago, lalita tademy left her job as vicepresident of a fortune 500 company to research her colorful family history. The author wrote this book because she learned about her family from her. It is narrated by polly, tademys greatgreatgrandmother, and within the first few pages you instantly begin to understand the depth of investigative work that tademy had to. To see the complete list of this books readalikes, you need to be a member. And then all of a sudden he broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot, brandishing the cane, and carrying on as the maid described it like a madman. Cane river lalita tademy, 2001 grand central publishing 584 pp. The very fact that the author is part of this long history adds to its great appeal. Suzette elisabeths youngest daughter, and the first to discover the promise and heartbreak of freedom. Built from an exploration of her own ancestors, tademys cane river is an impressive melding of historical documents and fiction, pulling together multiple generations of a single family and offering a novel which offers the best of what historical fiction can be. Red river is the continuing story of the tademy family and their road from slave life to freedom. Born into slavery and a world of frenchspeaking slaves, free people of color, and whites, suzette believes in. Do you think that cane rivers historical divisions of class, race and gender have contemporary parallels.
I could see it in philomene the day she was born she was very special. Beginning with her great great great great grandmother, a slave owned by a creole family, lalita tademy chronicles four generations of strong, determined black women as they. Lalita tademys book, cane river, tells in fictional form the stories of four generations of the women in her family. Whether it meant war, peace, or prayer we could not tell. Oprahs book club do you remember the first book she picked. Beginning with her greatgreatgreatgreat grandmother, a slave owned by a creole. Its a waxended cane that she likes to beat him with. Its the summer of 1916, and 15yearold howard leland hutchings, his father, dr. I appreciated the photos that were in the book of the family members that she wrote about, and it gave some new insight and understanding of the slave experience here in. At night sometimes the roll of drums behind the curtain of trees would run up the river and remain sustained faintly, as if hovering in the air high over our heads, till the first break of day. A negative of cane river 1982, which resurfaced two years ago, has connected a disparate group of people across the country. Paul says that he would have liked to place fishing bets with.
William hutchings, and his 5yearold twin brothers, raymond and earl, make the trip from st. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, cane river presents a slice of american history never before seen in such piercing and personal detail. A story of three generations of strong women, slaves and the complexity of their lives, and the importance of family. Published april 1st 2002 by grand central publishing first published january 1st 2001 more details. From that point on, shell take great joy in sneaking out whenever she can to pee on francoises rosebushes. Handpicked recommendations to other books that have a similar writing style or theme to cane river. He reads the old book the compleat angler and tells norman that the author didnt even know how to spell complete. The derbanne plantation was located in cane river, louisiana.
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