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Audiobook13 hours
Red River
Written by Lalita Tademy
Narrated by Bahni Turpin
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
April 13, 1873. What happened that day in the small Southern town of Colfax, Louisiana, was called "the Colfax Riot." But it was something far more devastating…
Weaving together history and the story of her own family, Lalita Tademy, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Cane River, has written an epic work of fiction: the dramatic, intertwining story of two families struggling to survive and thrive in an America deeply divided after the Civil War.
For the newly freed black residents of Colfax, Louisiana, the beginning of reconstruction promised them the right to vote, own property, and, at last, control their own lives. But in the space of a day, angry whites would take back Colfax in one of the deadliest incidents of racial violence in Southern history. In the bitter aftermath, the Tademys and the Smiths will have to deal with the wreckage, push on, and build a better life for their sons and daughters over the next seventy years.
A unique accomplishment, this is history never before told, brought to life through the unforgettable lives of three generations of African American husbands and wives, parents and children. A saga of violence, courage, and, most of all, dreams broken, repaired, and strengthened over time, RED RIVER explores issues that resonate to this day…as it illuminates the sometimes heartbreaking choices we all must make to claim the legacy that is ours.
From the Compact Disc edition.
Weaving together history and the story of her own family, Lalita Tademy, author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Cane River, has written an epic work of fiction: the dramatic, intertwining story of two families struggling to survive and thrive in an America deeply divided after the Civil War.
For the newly freed black residents of Colfax, Louisiana, the beginning of reconstruction promised them the right to vote, own property, and, at last, control their own lives. But in the space of a day, angry whites would take back Colfax in one of the deadliest incidents of racial violence in Southern history. In the bitter aftermath, the Tademys and the Smiths will have to deal with the wreckage, push on, and build a better life for their sons and daughters over the next seventy years.
A unique accomplishment, this is history never before told, brought to life through the unforgettable lives of three generations of African American husbands and wives, parents and children. A saga of violence, courage, and, most of all, dreams broken, repaired, and strengthened over time, RED RIVER explores issues that resonate to this day…as it illuminates the sometimes heartbreaking choices we all must make to claim the legacy that is ours.
From the Compact Disc edition.
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Author
Lalita Tademy
Lalita Tademy is the author of Cane River, a New York Times bestselling novel and the Oprah’s Book Club 2001 Summer Selection, and its critically acclaimed sequel, Red River. She lives in California.
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Reviews for Red River
Rating: 4.117647058823529 out of 5 stars
4/5
17 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A wonderful book. It was a joy to learn as I read for pleasure.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is a beautiful read very sad at times but makes you realise how people will not be knocked down no matter what life throws at them
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A historical novel covering the Colfax Massacre of Easter Sunday 1873 in Louisiana. As this was an incident I’d not heard of before, this was an educational novel for me. In a contested election, with both sides claiming victory, the freed blacks decided to hold the courthouse for the government officials they’d voted for. Members of the White League (precursor to the KKK) joined forces with the democrats to try to force the blacks and their republican officials out of the courthouse. Neither side backed down. The democrats had much superior firepower, and showed no mercy when the skirmish was over, resulting in the deaths of 100 to 150 freed blacks, with little loss of life for the whites involved. It was a horrendous story. While I am grateful to the author for telling it, I didn’t find the story particularly well told. It seemed twice as long as it needed to be, and lagged too often in the narrative. However, the characters (including, apparently, some of the author’s forbears) and the setting of the village of Colfax and surrounding lands were very believably rendered.Overall a good read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once again Lalita Tademy does a wonderful job bringing her family history vividly to life.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gritty and harsh is Tademy's account of the massacre. The language of this account is not overly dramatic or verbose so the story is blunt, much like the lives and reactions of the people involved. The inclusion of pictures is a compelling addition and one that I appreciate very much.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reading this, the author forces you to fell the strain, the heat and the anxiousness of waiting for the ax to fall. We know, they know that they are doomed to fail in thisa endeavor but they did it anyway. A testimony of the power and dignity of the people. A testimony to the legacy of strength, honor and pride that ordinary people make every day on this planet. I am pleased to see this error in recorded history has now been rectified and published. I hope the healing continues.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I listened to the audio version of this read by Bahni Turpin; this is definitely worth listening to. This is a sad, yet uplifting novel.Tademy has done some amazing genealogical research and traced her family back to the Colfax Massacre. She successfully combines her research with fiction to create an engrossing story.POSSIBLE SPOILER: I really like how Tademy ended this novel. You'll find that her parents are Nathan Green (Ted) Tademy Jr. and Willie Dee Billes; she really ties it up nicely with this one.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The author traces her father's history this time (Cane River chronicled her mother's ancestry) beginning with the harrowing 1873 Colfax, LA "riot," which was actually a massacre of 100+ black men defending the lawfully elected sheriff against white supremacists. The survivors rallied and, through courage and determination, became property owners and built a school.I was especially heartened by the value placed on books and education. It's important that we remember this dark period in America's history and pay tribute to those who persevered in the struggle to triumph over cruelty and oppression.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I couldn't finish this one. Very few books do I give up on. This was one.