De'Shawn Charles Winslow

Otis Lee can't help but care about the people around him in his community in North Carolina, and his care extends to his neighbor Azalea "Knot" Centre. Knot is the schoolteacher and she's a good one, but she's also prone to indulging in books, booze and men, but especially the booze. Otis helps her out each time her behavior lands her in trouble, accepting her as she is. In West Mills begins in 1941 and continues through most of the lifespans of Otis, Knot and the various denizens of West show more Mills], through the changing social conditions, as life in West Mills changes and remains constant, as people leave and return.

This is a novel about secrets, and how they are kept or not kept by an entire community or within families. It's about who has the right or the responsibility to reveal what has been hidden. It's also a deeply nuanced look at a few people in a community over time, how proximity can create deep ties and how the past impacts the present. Otis Lee is a wonderful character whose sense of responsibility is both a strength and a liability. Winslow writes well and with love about his fictitious community and I enjoyed every page I got to spend with Knot, Otis, Pen, Breezy and the rest. show less

Ah, we are happily back in West Mills, NC again, and this time (1976), we ride back and forth across the bumpy contrast that is the right and wrong side of the tracks. Jo Wright, born in the small town and pulled to NYC by her mother at twelve, has returned to retire and to marry her old friend and neighbor Lymp (Olympus) Seymore. However, upon her arrival, Lymp's three half-siblings, with whom he does not get along, are all found shot to death in their home. Lymp is an immediate suspect, show more and Jo need reassurance that he is not the perpetrator and that his rarely seen but fearsome temper did not flare up into brutal violence. Every tongue in this town, Black or white, is wagging about the three victims, who were both mysterious and widely disliked. Drug dealers? Relatives? Racists? The local white police chief has no interest in either dead or live Black people, and Jo takes it on herself to try and clear Lymp. One of the victims, a pediatrician, seemed to have her sister and brother on a tight leash and Jo finds out that she tried to convert a young gay man into being straight by having two teenage boys beat the gay out of him. The incredible gossip line is vividly portrayed, as is the era when being an out gay man was tantamount to being suicidal in a tiny town. Jo's beloved brother in NYC is actually dealing with the same fears, so it's not just the South, it was the times (and still is in many places, and getting worse). The author's fondness for the comfort of a tiny cocoon, along with his deep knowledge of the harm perpetrated by its lack of privacy, make this brilliant sociological mystery sophomore effort almost as fine as his debut novel, In West Mills. show less

A canal running through West Mills, NC functions as the division between the white and Black sides of the segregated town in 1976. When three siblings are murdered in their home, people from both sides of town are in turmoil as there hasn’t been a reported murder in many years, while the white police show little interest in pursuing the case. Jo Wright has recently moved back to West Mills to marry her childhood sweetheart when she finds out that he is accused of the murder of his show more half-siblings. Jo seeks to find out what really happened and clear his name.

DECENT PEOPLE was a great book blending historical fiction with mystery. It held a pretty steady pace and was heavily character driven. Chapters alternate narration focus between different characters. Themes of segregation, racism, homophobia, wealth and shame were explored. There was definitely a lot to think about while reading this book and it was hard to put down.

DECENT PEOPLE is the first book of De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s that I have read and I would recommend it. I will be adding his prior book, IN WEST MILLS, to my ‘To Be Read’ list.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for the giveaway ARC. show less

This could be my favorite novel of the year so far (okay, okay - I probably have said that a few times). But this story is THE REAL DEAL. If anyone tells you that men can't write women, give them this title to read. The plot centers on Knot, an African American woman living on her own in a small North Carolina country town alongside her devoted neighbors Otis Lee and his wife Pep. All families have their secrets, and from 1941 until 1987, this trio holds theirs close. What makes this book so show more special is the leisurely unwinding of days - going “up bridge” to the general store, evening gatherings on the porch, secret births and hidden deaths, horrible betrayals and abrupt confessions, all told through the inner thoughts and the musical dialogue of these profoundly believable people. The outer world and its problems - wars, Jim Crow, and the slow crawl of progress - are hardly a factor. Here, through the pen of an amazingly skilled writer, the confinement to West Mills is just fine. Each of the trio, and the well-drawn secondary characters, act in both expected and surprising ways, make smart and dumb decisions, and it's hardly bearable when it all comes to an end. show less