Terry Gamble

When fifteen-year-old Olivia (Livvie) Givens and her family emigrate from Ireland to America in 1819, disaster haunts them from the start. Their ship nearly founders in an Atlantic storm, so the captain jettisons most of their worldly goods, including a piano. When they finally settle in Cincinnati, Livvie’s mother dies in childbirth, and her father leaves on a river boat headed for New Orleans.

Livvie and her two brothers must now fend for themselves, barely possessing the proverbial pot, show more and, as she notes, the future looks most unpromising. Her elder brother James, astute, ambitious, and hard-working, may have a head for business, but he lacks both capital or gift for conversation, so he’s unlikely to attract investors, let alone a wife. The other brother, Erasmus, “not right in the head,” has no talents except seduction and debauchery and can’t be trusted to carry out any task James gives him.

However, James digs in, and over the years, his grit and determination pay off. Erasmus turns preacher, wandering off, abandoning his responsibilities, as usual. Livvie picks up various pieces of their lives and takes political stands that cause an uproar, as when she expresses doubts about God’s supremacy.

The good people of Cincinnati don’t take freethinking lying down, and Livvie’s observations provide a vivid picture of striving America in those years, with all the flies, smells, and pretensions, not to mention political strife.

It’s my favorite aspect of The Eulogist, how Gamble paints her American portrait with finesse and well-chosen detail. Even better, Livvie’s wit makes you laugh.

But just when you think you’re getting a novel of manners, the narrative and tone shift. Cincinnati lies close to Kentucky, where slavery is legal, and as the years progress, that issue dominates public life. Livvie, who begins the novel naturally opposed to slavery while refusing to take a meaningful stand, becomes an ardent abolitionist, though for her safety, she must be discreet. I like how Gamble handles the transformation, which extends to Livvie’s influence on her family.

I also admire how, with authority over the smallest intricacies, the author demonstrates how the slaves suffer, how risky and terrifying their attempts to flee to Ohio, and the lengths to which patrols and bounty hunters searching for runaways and their “abettors” take brutal revenge.

Along the way, Campbell creates memorable minor characters, like the cranky Kentucky store owner who’s an “abettor,” and Salmon P. Chase, the ambitious attorney well known to history, who defends a slave in a case in which Livvie has a central interest.

That said, The Eulogist’s shift in tone and substance comes as a surprise. I would have been better prepared had I consulted the jacket flap, but, as my regular readers know, I don’t until after I’ve read the book. In this case, I’m doubly glad. Not only does this one make the shortlist for the Worst Ever Jacket Copy Prize, going on forever and revealing far too much plot, you might think The Eulogist is more essay than novel, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Even so, I have to say that the two halves of the book don’t entirely fit, and not just because the voice changes. Does the first part serve only to cement Livvie’s iconoclasm, so that you can accept her unusual political stance and activities later?

I don’t think that’s necessary; and I object to how the author contrives the mystery of certain characters’ origins, which involves a trick or three and yet another layer to a narrative that’s complicated enough. And as long as we’re talking about devices, neither Livvie nor her brothers even think of their late mother, the stillborn sibling who died with her, or their father, vanished forever. That seems a little convenient. show less

James, Olivia and Erasmus Givens are the remains of a family that emigrated from Ireland to the United States. The family has ended up in Cincinnati after being abandoned by their father. James develops a candle wick that leads him to running a very successful chandlery. Olivia is a woman of her own mind and feels that she will never marry but fate has more in store for her. Erasmus is a bit of a lost soul and he works for James for a while but he often cannot be counted on.

The siblings are show more living in a free state but just across the Ohio river in Kentucky slavery is in full force. It doesn’t touch their lives in an immediate way but the issues that will bring about the Civil War are starting to simmer.

As time passes James makes a very prosperous marriage, Erasmus runs off to preach the word of God and Olivia who long thought her time was past finally finds love but it will turn out to be a complicated relationship with a man whose brother holds slaves.

Times are changing and feelings about slavery and its abolition are becoming volatile. People are starting to choose sides. The Givens’ family needs to choose on which side it will fall.

The Eulogist is a richly plotted novel full of compelling characters. I found myself quite involved in the tale despite the dark themes. I can’t say that it was an easy book to read as it takes place in a very difficult time in this country’s history. The individual subplots surrounding each Givens sibling are all detailed and interwoven with careful skill. Little crumbs dropped in one chapter show up later as more meaningful than you might have expected.

I was very confused as to the title of the book and remained that way almost until the end and then all was made clear. The Eulogist is one of those books you keep to read again for I do believe it will be even better on a second go round. There is just so much to this book. It deserves to be read and it is worth your attention. show less

The Eulogist is much more than the typical 19th century abolitionist trope.

This is the tumultuous story of an immigrant family of three very different siblings: James, the eldest, a chandler, reliable but unyielding; Olivia, the middle sister, inquisitive and intelligent, but forthright to a fault; and Erasmus, the prodigal, itinerant black sheep, taken in with the charismatic river preachers, who leaves the family to follow his heart, often with his priorities askew.

All three siblings show more clash and reunite out of devotion to a common cause. The book follows this family and their hopes and tragedies through most of the 19th century, exploring the immigrant experience during the dynamic upheaval of a developing nation. The Eulogist presents the moral indignation of slavery felt by many during this time, but also shows the reader a more realistic spectrum of abolitionism, from mild disapproval to vehement activism.

The Eulogist is a comprehensive story of a family, with nuanced detail that enhances the energy of bustling 19th century America. The story is well told, full of twists and revelations, and I tore through it in a matter of days. Gamble’s attention to detail is above reproach, and her characterizations are perceptive without being sentimental.

This is historical fiction at its best.

Many thanks to William Morrow Books (Harper Collins) for the advance copy in exchange for my review. It was a joy to read. show less

The Givenses, an Irish family immigrating to Cincinnatti in the early 19th century, suffer tragedies on the way. Both parents die or disappear, leaving two sons and a daughter on their own. The oldest boy takes on the responsibility of taking care of the others. A chandler, he starts his own business and is very successful. The story is filled with the ups and downs of their lives together. The novel takes a big turn when the daughter marries a man from a slave owning family in Kentucky, and show more their lives are touched by the slave trade. They all become involved in the underground railway in varying roles and degrees. I enjoyed this and would recommend it. show less