The Book Of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden


Wow! What didn't I think about "The Book Of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden? The ending left a noise in my head. That's all I will write about that part of the book. Don't sneak a snoop! The novel happens during the Second World War. That war is written about often and talked about often as well. Still, there were subjects in the Historical novel which had never been heard about by me.

One subject is passing. Of course, I've heard about Black people passing for White. I'd never heard of a White male wanting to pass for White except in Black Like Me. Sorry, I have forgotten the author. Lizard is the one who passes or wants to pass. Anyway, he loves the Black race. He loves Harlan, his friend. His feelings break his family's heart. The author Bernice L. McFadden uses a broken dish to describe the parents feelings about Lizard's actions. I could see and hear the plate breaking. What was so terrible about their son befriending Harlan's family? I wanted to cry.

Then, there is Harlan's story. His stay in Europe, Paris, is heartbreaking too. When I read about Negroes living in a concentration camp called Shark's Island, I did look up Ms. McFadden's bibliography. That page is strong with a list of books. She mentions Jesse Owens and the Olympics during that time in History. I worried would she write that Negroes suffered equally as much as the Jews. I hope that was not the point. I felt uncomfortable. I think six million Jews died in The Holocaust?

Thankfully, there are many themes in the novel. There is Musical History. There is the bonds of family and there is the atrocities committed by war heroes. There are newspaper stories about war criminals coming to trial and hiding out in other countries like South America, etc. Perhaps it is my lack of reading. I do not hear of the people who committed these atrocities coming to justice any longer. In "The Book Of Harlan," Bernice L. McFadden writes about the people who experienced injustice wanting the war criminals to come to justice. This is closure for them.

This is a topic hard to think about or examine. Where does forgiveness begin and punishment end? Where? I wait anxiously for Bernice L. McFadden's next novel. Until that book's arrival, there is the realization that life is fragile. As the old people would say "here today and gone tomorrow." Those words were not to be taken lightly. Will we see over and over again a man as hateful as Adolf Hitler? If we do not talk about it, it will happen again.

I do admit to not liking the beginning. I almost gave up. It didn't seem like the author's writing. I felt like she was looking for a way to begin the story. Then, she found her wings. Once she took off I was there with her. The novel flowed and did not stop. Then at the end a jolt, a breath of fresh air, freedom, for Harlan. Is there more to Harlan's story? I'm still thinking about him. akashicbooks.com/catalog/the-book-of-harlan/

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