Sweetsmoke (edition 2008)

David Fuller's first novel follows Cassius, a slave on the Virginia tobacco plantation Sweetsmoke. As the American Civil War rages on the periphery, Cassius spends his days tending to carpentry needs on the plantation and taking advantage of the small amount of freedom granted to him by the plantation master, Hoke Howard.

After a close friend is murdered, Cassius vows to find the killer, even though he risks the few things he holds dear in the process.

At its core, Sweetsmoke is a decent novel, especially coming from a new novelist. But the quality fluctuates through, which leads to a lot of headaches. Fuller often intercuts some well crafted intrigue with laborious descriptions of minutia, almost like he's trying to prove he did his historical research (in case you're wondering, he did). This is especially true for the first half of the novel; it's almost tough to make it through a few pages without grumbling.

That said, it picks up near the end, and the bittersweet conclusion works quite well in the context. Fuller also paints some compelling characters; he does a nice job of showing how multifaceted these people are.

Sweetsmoke was a fairly promising read, even though it had lapse of cluttered, over expository dialogue and descriptions. But some of the good elements made it worth trudging through. ( )

Sweetsmoke is David Fuller’s debut novel set on a Virginia tobacco plantation in July 1862. The Civil War erupts through the South and we are introduced to Cassius, an experienced carpenter and slave to Hoke Howard, owner of Sweetsmoke plantation. Cassius’ skills go beyond carpentry; he was secretly taught how to read and write by a freed slave named Emmoline Jolie. Emmoline was Cassius’ mentor and protector after a horrific incident occurred in his past that almost cost him his life. When Emmoline is shockingly murdered Cassius becomes consumed in avenging her, even if it puts him at risk.
David Fuller spent eight years meticulously researching this novel and it shows. It is rich in its descriptions and characters. The writing is beautifully elegant, composed with emotion and passion. The main plot is a murder mystery, but the layer upon layers of great characterization unveils talented storytelling. Some readers had trouble with the speech of the slaves not being placed into quotation marks. This was awkward at first for me but I came to understand that Fuller was trying to signify the separation and dehumanization of slaves. They were merely property, disposable at any point and time.
Unforgettable characters and a powerful novel. Highly recommended. ( )

Superb book. Set in Virginia during 1862, the protagonist, Cassius, is a slave on a Virginia plantation; the book is written from his point of view. Fuller avoids stereotypes, writing sympathetically from the slave experience, but slavery is exposed for what it was: degrading to both slaves and slave owners, but a horror for the slaves themselves. In a remarkably even-handed treatment, Fuller describes a spectrum of slave owners and conditions, and of the slaves themselves, not all of whom, by a long shot, are noble or likable.

Highly recommended. ( )

Cassius, a slave on the Sweetsmoke plantation, learns that his mentor - a free black woman named Emoline Justice - has been killed. At great risk to himself, he sets out to find the motive and the murderer, picking up bits and pieces of information and eventually making his way to the Civil War battlefields. Descriptions of slave life were interesting and heartbreaking, but overall I had trouble getting through this book. When it was all over, I wasn't sorry I had read it, but there something missing that I couldn't quite put my finger on. This is David Fuller's first book, so I'm hoping for a little more polished work in his next book. ( )

it getts good at end ( )