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Book Summary and Reviews of The Air Between Us by Deborah Johnson

The Air Between Us by Deborah Johnson

The Air Between Us

by Deborah Johnson

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (13):
  • Published:
  • Apr 2009, 336 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A captivating novel that will appeal to readers of The Secret Life of Bees and Mudbound about the fault lines – both seen and unseen – that lie in a small southern town as it struggles with integration.

Revere, Mississippi, is not unlike many small towns in the South during the 1960s, with black people living on one side of town and whites on the other. Both groups have their fair share of mysterious and interesting characters, and everyone has something to hide, or something they’re hiding from. When a poor white man is injured in what looks to be a typical hunting accident and is brought to the segregated Doctors Hospital and later dies, many truths long hidden begin to reveal themselves.

Perfect for summer reading, with an intriguing plot and characters with whom all readers can identify.

First published in hardcover in January 2008. Publishing in paperback in April 2009.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"This heartwarming novel will strike a chord with fans of Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees" - Booklist.

"Johnson offers a colorful, well-drawn story …Johnson's omniscient narrator gracefully glides through the tangle of associations that exist between the black residents and those who inhabit Revere's 'white' side. Told in folksy language and down-home idioms that only occasionally veer into corn pone, this enjoyable story evokes a world once hidden in plain sight, and the inevitability of its end." - The Washington Post.

"Johnson tries to squeeze too much out of the limited plot, but compelling character studies keep pages turning." - Publishers Weekly.

"In this engaging if oddly benign and probably revisionist take on the civil-rights upheaval, Mississippians cross racial lines with ease." - Kirkus Reviews.

"At the heart of the story are two physicians, African American Reese Jackson and Caucasian Cooper Connelly. Unfortunately, both are stereotypes. Worse, other characters are clichés ... " - Library Journal.

This information about The Air Between Us was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Deborah Johnson

Deborah Johnson now lives and works in Columbus, Mississippi, after living for many years in Italy.

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