BookBrowse Reviews Song Yet Sung by James McBride

BookBrowse:

A story of tragic triumph, violent decisions, and unexpected kindness set in 1850, by the author of The Color of Water

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Suspenseful, cinematic, lushly detailed, and filled with almost mythically colorful characters, Song Yet Sung demands a film adaptation from the very first page. But if you wait for it to come to a theater near you, you'll miss the easy music of James McBride's lyric styling. His third person narration recalls a storyteller's tone, relishing the story and the telling of it, not afraid to embellish a little to bring out the emotional undertone and engage the audience. He draws the reader close, but his sweet prose softens the brutal facts that shape the story, allowing the reader to wade into the terrible history, instead of reeling away.

On one level, Song Yet Sung is an adventure tale of the antebellum American south, revolving around the complex nature of the relationships formed by the institution of slavery. But in McBride's sensitive and sympathetic handling of all of his characters, slave-catchers included, the story also reveals the many ways in which a person can be enslaved to an idea, to history, to another person, or to himself. As the lines of freedom blur, the real terror lies in the choices: to save or to abandon, to kill or be killed, to escape or to fight, to reveal or keep the secret, to dream or to give up.

I found Song Yet Sung such a good, old-fashioned read - dramatic plot, broad characters, redemptive themes - that I wanted it to be perfect. Unfortunately, it suffers from a few facile conclusions and implausible resolutions, and the central dream motif becomes heavy-handed as the novel progresses. Still, so engaging are its many merits that choosing to forgive its minor flaws offers the possibility of an up-all-night read that runs much deeper than the usual fare.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in February 2008, and has been updated for the January 2009 edition. Click here to go to this issue.