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One of the Washington Post's Best Books of 2016 So Far "Simply miraculous...As her saga becomes ever more spellbinding, so does the reader's astonishment at the magic she creates. This is a story about the triumph of the human spirit over bigotry, intolerance and cruelty, and at the center of The Book of Harlan is the restorative force that is music." â??Washington Post "McFadden packs a powerful punch with tight prose and short chapters that bear witness to key events in early twentieth-century history: both World Wars, the Great Depression, and the Great Migration. Partly set in the Jim Crow South, the novel succeeds in showing the prevalence of racism all across the countryâ??whether implemented through institutionalized mechanisms or otherwise. Playing with themes of divine justice and the suffering of the righteous, McFadden presents a remarkably crisp portrait of one average man's extraordinary bravery in the face of pure evil." â??Booklist, Starred review "Through this character portrait of Harlan, McFadden has constructed a vivid, compelling narrative that makes historical fiction an accessible, literary window into the African-American past and some of the contemporary dilemmas of the present." â??Publishers Weekly "During WWII, two African-American musicians are captured by the Nazis in Paris and imprisoned at the Buchenwald concentration camp, in the latest from the author of Sugar and Loving Donovan." â??Publishers Weekly, Spring 2016 Announcements â??The Book of Harlan is an incredible read. Bernice McFadden . . . has created an amazing novel that speaks to lesser known aspects of the African-American experience and illuminates the human heart and spirit. Her spare prose is rich in details that convey deep emotions and draw the reader in. This fictional narrative of Harlan Elliot's life is firmly grounded amidst real people and placesâ??prime historical fiction, and the best book I have read this year." â??Historical Novels Review, Editors' Choice Included in Barbara Hoffert's ALA Buzz Books Roundup: "Sought-after books included Bernice McFadden's The Book of Harlan, about two African American musicians imprisoned at the Buchenwald concentration camp, so eye-opening that people came up hours before and days after the one-time giveaway begging for copies." â??Library Journal "From Macon, Georgia, to Harlem, and from the City of Lights to Weimar, Germany, Bernice L. McFadden's latest novel follows Harlan and his friend Lizard, two black musicians who are captured by the Nazis during WWII and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. The Book of Harlan blends family history and world history, fact and fiction, to revisit a haunting chapter from the past." â??Hello Beautiful, #BlackWomenRead: 17 Books by Black Women You Need In Your Life This Spring The Book of Harlan opens with the courtship of Harlan's parents and his 1917 birth in Macon, Georgia. After his prominent minister grandfather dies, Harlan and his parents move to Harlem, where he eventually becomes a professional musician. When Harlan and his best friend, trumpeter Lizard Robbins, are invited to perform at a popular cabaret in the Parisian enclave of Montmartreâ??affectionately referred to as "The Harlem of Paris" by black American musiciansâ??Harlan jumps at the opportunity, convincing Lizard to join him. But after the City of Light falls under Nazi occupation, Harlan and Lizard are thrown into Buchenwaldâ??the… (more)
I enjoyed reading this book very much. I loved it. There is so much to love in these pages, and so much attention to history. There is a loving attention to characters and their foibles that I found very endearing. I cared a lot about these people. The story resolved itself in an ending that, although completely implausible, was entirely satisfying. It was that kind of story--a story where I loved the characters and wanted good things to happen to them. The book is much more about heart than head, but I just let it in, and let it be what it was, and let Bernice McFadden tell me her story the way she wanted to tell it. I was richly rewarded.
The pace is breathless. I felt like Alice Through the Looking Glass getting pulled along by the Red Queen. Huge shifts in the story can take place in a sentence, or in half a sentence. Characters come and go and their stories are full of happenings and then they leave the stage. It's not a 'minimal' style so much as it is what I would call an "intensely compressed" style. This marriage of a simple semantic style with a global, historic, epic story was new to me. I thought it was a very effective way to tell this story, though, in which the history of the 20th century, in particular of African American social history, becomes the stage that these characters play across.
This is my first novel by McFadden and I'm very glad to have many more left to read. ( )
During World War II, two African American musicians, Harlan and Lizard, are captured by the Nazis in Paris and imprisoned at Buchenwald concentration camp which changes the course of Harlan's life.- HARD
Yesssss! Historical fiction done right. This novel introduced me to numerous historical events that I am now planning to research. If you've never read a Bernice McFadden novel, make this one your first. This novel chronicles the life of Harlan and his family living in Harlem pre and post World War II. She even takes us on an adventure as a black in the Holocaust. As Bernice McFadden is known for her gifted storytelling this novel proves no different as she intricately weaves fact and fiction resulting in spellbinding, captivating read. At times, I couldn't see where the novel was going but when she took me there, it was there! I don't want to say too much and give away the novel. Just read it. ( )
I went into this novel blindly. I avoided reading the synopsis of McFadden's 10th novel because I knew it would hold my attention regardless of the subject matter. It did!
I knew the story was mingled with her familiar ancestors (in which I knew from her blog: firstborngirl.blogspot.com) fictional and some non-fictional characters.
McFadden fulfilled my expectations in writing a riveting, engaging and somewhat dark story. The picture of the man on the cover is an intro into the depths of the main character "Harlan". I wanted to see Harlan triumph and come out on the other side a winner in some form or fashion. He was in prison twice, watched loved ones die, fathered twins that he didn't know existed and dealt with internal demons.
McFadden wrote with prose and descriptive scenes that puts you in the midst of the story and next to the characters.
I rank this high on my must read list. I can't wait to read her next novel "Praise Song for the Butterflies " publication date: 8/28/18. ( )
I am the man, I suffered, I was there. - Walt Whitman
Dedication
For the Ancestors
First words
No matter what you may have heard about Macon, Georgia - the majestic magnolias, gracious antebellum homes, the bright stars it produced that went on to dazzle the world - if you were Emma Robinson, bubbling with teenage angst and lucid dreaming about silver-winged sparrows gliding over a perfumed ocean, well then, Macon felt less like the promised land and more like a noose.
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC
▾References
References to this work on external resources.
Wikipedia in English
None
▾Book descriptions
Fiction.
Literature.
Historical Fiction.
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One of the Washington Post's Best Books of 2016 So Far "Simply miraculous...As her saga becomes ever more spellbinding, so does the reader's astonishment at the magic she creates. This is a story about the triumph of the human spirit over bigotry, intolerance and cruelty, and at the center of The Book of Harlan is the restorative force that is music." â??Washington Post "McFadden packs a powerful punch with tight prose and short chapters that bear witness to key events in early twentieth-century history: both World Wars, the Great Depression, and the Great Migration. Partly set in the Jim Crow South, the novel succeeds in showing the prevalence of racism all across the countryâ??whether implemented through institutionalized mechanisms or otherwise. Playing with themes of divine justice and the suffering of the righteous, McFadden presents a remarkably crisp portrait of one average man's extraordinary bravery in the face of pure evil." â??Booklist, Starred review "Through this character portrait of Harlan, McFadden has constructed a vivid, compelling narrative that makes historical fiction an accessible, literary window into the African-American past and some of the contemporary dilemmas of the present." â??Publishers Weekly "During WWII, two African-American musicians are captured by the Nazis in Paris and imprisoned at the Buchenwald concentration camp, in the latest from the author of Sugar and Loving Donovan." â??Publishers Weekly, Spring 2016 Announcements â??The Book of Harlan is an incredible read. Bernice McFadden . . . has created an amazing novel that speaks to lesser known aspects of the African-American experience and illuminates the human heart and spirit. Her spare prose is rich in details that convey deep emotions and draw the reader in. This fictional narrative of Harlan Elliot's life is firmly grounded amidst real people and placesâ??prime historical fiction, and the best book I have read this year." â??Historical Novels Review, Editors' Choice Included in Barbara Hoffert's ALA Buzz Books Roundup: "Sought-after books included Bernice McFadden's The Book of Harlan, about two African American musicians imprisoned at the Buchenwald concentration camp, so eye-opening that people came up hours before and days after the one-time giveaway begging for copies." â??Library Journal "From Macon, Georgia, to Harlem, and from the City of Lights to Weimar, Germany, Bernice L. McFadden's latest novel follows Harlan and his friend Lizard, two black musicians who are captured by the Nazis during WWII and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. The Book of Harlan blends family history and world history, fact and fiction, to revisit a haunting chapter from the past." â??Hello Beautiful, #BlackWomenRead: 17 Books by Black Women You Need In Your Life This Spring The Book of Harlan opens with the courtship of Harlan's parents and his 1917 birth in Macon, Georgia. After his prominent minister grandfather dies, Harlan and his parents move to Harlem, where he eventually becomes a professional musician. When Harlan and his best friend, trumpeter Lizard Robbins, are invited to perform at a popular cabaret in the Parisian enclave of Montmartreâ??affectionately referred to as "The Harlem of Paris" by black American musiciansâ??Harlan jumps at the opportunity, convincing Lizard to join him. But after the City of Light falls under Nazi occupation, Harlan and Lizard are thrown into Buchenwaldâ??the
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4
The pace is breathless. I felt like Alice Through the Looking Glass getting pulled along by the Red Queen. Huge shifts in the story can take place in a sentence, or in half a sentence. Characters come and go and their stories are full of happenings and then they leave the stage. It's not a 'minimal' style so much as it is what I would call an "intensely compressed" style. This marriage of a simple semantic style with a global, historic, epic story was new to me. I thought it was a very effective way to tell this story, though, in which the history of the 20th century, in particular of African American social history, becomes the stage that these characters play across.
This is my first novel by McFadden and I'm very glad to have many more left to read. (