The Reformatory
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Description
“You’re in for a treat...one of those books you can’t put down...Due hit it out of the park.” —Stephen King
A gripping, page-turning “masterpiece” (Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman) set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.
Gracetown, Florida
June 1950
Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.
The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
Book Information
Posts
Intensiv, bewegend - großartig!
Wie soll ich dieses Buch beschreiben? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 hat mich sooo bewegt – und ich habe ewig zum Lesen gebraucht, weil es sich einfach nicht schnell weglesen ließ. Der wahre Horror dieses Buches trägt keine weißen Augen und krabbelt nicht an Wänden entlang. Er sitzt in Institutionen. In rassistischen Systemen. In Erwachsenen, die Gewalt „Disziplin“ nennen. In einem Staat, der schwarze Kinder nicht schützen, sondern kontrollieren wollte. Dass der Roman auf der realen Dozier School for Boys basiert, macht alles noch schlimmer. Dieses Wissen hängt beim Lesen über jeder einzelnen Seite wie feuchter Nebel und legt soviel Gewicht auf die Seiten. Und trotzdem steckt in diesem Buch so viel Menschlichkeit, Liebe, Fürsorge und Hoffnung. Menschen, die versuchen, füreinander Licht zu bleiben, obwohl sie mitten in einem Albtraum stehen. Ich glaube, genau deshalb verfolgt mich dieses Buch noch immer. Die Geister darin wollen nicht erschrecken. Sie wollen erinnert werden.
Thrilling ghost story set in a horrific juvenile institution during the Jim Crow era in southern Florida.
One of my highlights this year! I very much enjoy gripping novels embedded in a political or historical context to dive deep into the story and combine being entertained with broadening my horizon and learning about relevant issues. Around Halloween, ‘The Reformatory’ was part of a spooky book table displayed in one of my favourite book stores. Of course, I couldn’t resist the glooming cover, the promising blurb and the recommendation by Stephen King. Twelve-year-old Robert is incarcerated in a so called school for boys after he rightfully defended himself and his sister against an older white boy. As a consequence, he is exposed to a system of violence and racism impersonated by the school’s warden. He finds solice in friendships and soon discovers that he easily connects with the school’s haints roaming the grounds, their sheer number being a result of the many violent deaths that have happened over the years. While Robert is trying to survive, his sister Gloria tries to correct the injustice and free Robert with all means possible within a segregated system while she is threatened and attacked by the Ku Klux Clan. Tananarive Due brings light to the darkest corners of US history. While ‘The Reformatory’ is a gripping ghost story, the true horrors of the book are mainly rooted in the historically accurate descriptions of institutions such as the reformatory as well as the living situation for PoC during the Jim Crow era. I kept that in mind all the time also because the author named Robert, Gloria and one other character directly after members of her family. I absolutely loved that she shows appreciation for her family and their personal history in this way. You need strong nerves for this book but I would highly recommend.
Dieses Buch hat mich schockiert und wütend gemacht. Hat mich zum Weinen gebracht und verzweifelt zurückgelassen. Ich kann irgendwie nicht viel sagen ... es ist ein Stück grausame Geschichte (mit Phantastik gepaart) und eine Realität, die die unsere ist. Der Erzählstil war eindrücklich, sanft und grausam. Danke für diesen Schlag unter die Gürtellinie, den Menschen geschaffen haben.
Ich finde es immer schwierig, Bücher dieser Art zu bewerten. Bis auf die Geister sind diese schreckliche Dinge leider wirklich passiert bzw. passieren in vielen Teilen der Welt immer noch… Ich glaube, ohne die Geister wäre das Buch besser, weil es die Dinge mehr in der Realität halten würde. Soll nicht heißen, dass Geister nicht existieren, aber es nimmt dem Buch irgendwie die Härte… Auf die Sicht von Gloria hätte man im Großen und Ganzen komplett verzichten können… Es zieht das Buch nur unnötig in die Länge.
Description
“You’re in for a treat...one of those books you can’t put down...Due hit it out of the park.” —Stephen King
A gripping, page-turning “masterpiece” (Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman) set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.
Gracetown, Florida
June 1950
Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.
The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
Book Information
Posts
Intensiv, bewegend - großartig!
Wie soll ich dieses Buch beschreiben? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 hat mich sooo bewegt – und ich habe ewig zum Lesen gebraucht, weil es sich einfach nicht schnell weglesen ließ. Der wahre Horror dieses Buches trägt keine weißen Augen und krabbelt nicht an Wänden entlang. Er sitzt in Institutionen. In rassistischen Systemen. In Erwachsenen, die Gewalt „Disziplin“ nennen. In einem Staat, der schwarze Kinder nicht schützen, sondern kontrollieren wollte. Dass der Roman auf der realen Dozier School for Boys basiert, macht alles noch schlimmer. Dieses Wissen hängt beim Lesen über jeder einzelnen Seite wie feuchter Nebel und legt soviel Gewicht auf die Seiten. Und trotzdem steckt in diesem Buch so viel Menschlichkeit, Liebe, Fürsorge und Hoffnung. Menschen, die versuchen, füreinander Licht zu bleiben, obwohl sie mitten in einem Albtraum stehen. Ich glaube, genau deshalb verfolgt mich dieses Buch noch immer. Die Geister darin wollen nicht erschrecken. Sie wollen erinnert werden.
Thrilling ghost story set in a horrific juvenile institution during the Jim Crow era in southern Florida.
One of my highlights this year! I very much enjoy gripping novels embedded in a political or historical context to dive deep into the story and combine being entertained with broadening my horizon and learning about relevant issues. Around Halloween, ‘The Reformatory’ was part of a spooky book table displayed in one of my favourite book stores. Of course, I couldn’t resist the glooming cover, the promising blurb and the recommendation by Stephen King. Twelve-year-old Robert is incarcerated in a so called school for boys after he rightfully defended himself and his sister against an older white boy. As a consequence, he is exposed to a system of violence and racism impersonated by the school’s warden. He finds solice in friendships and soon discovers that he easily connects with the school’s haints roaming the grounds, their sheer number being a result of the many violent deaths that have happened over the years. While Robert is trying to survive, his sister Gloria tries to correct the injustice and free Robert with all means possible within a segregated system while she is threatened and attacked by the Ku Klux Clan. Tananarive Due brings light to the darkest corners of US history. While ‘The Reformatory’ is a gripping ghost story, the true horrors of the book are mainly rooted in the historically accurate descriptions of institutions such as the reformatory as well as the living situation for PoC during the Jim Crow era. I kept that in mind all the time also because the author named Robert, Gloria and one other character directly after members of her family. I absolutely loved that she shows appreciation for her family and their personal history in this way. You need strong nerves for this book but I would highly recommend.
Dieses Buch hat mich schockiert und wütend gemacht. Hat mich zum Weinen gebracht und verzweifelt zurückgelassen. Ich kann irgendwie nicht viel sagen ... es ist ein Stück grausame Geschichte (mit Phantastik gepaart) und eine Realität, die die unsere ist. Der Erzählstil war eindrücklich, sanft und grausam. Danke für diesen Schlag unter die Gürtellinie, den Menschen geschaffen haben.