Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Sweetsmoke
    Sweetsmoke
    Sweetsmoke
    Audiobook14 hours

    Sweetsmoke

    Written by David Fuller

    Narrated by Ezra Knight

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Screenwriter David Fuller spent eight years researching Sweetsmoke, in the process discovering that members of his family fought on both sides of the Civil War. Cassius Howard is a skilled slave, once his master's favorite. But his master Hoke is now little more than a fragile old man, depressed about an ever-shrinking plantation and losing a son to war. When an old freedwoman who once saved Cassius from Hoke's wrath is killed, Cassius risks everything to avenge her death.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateDec 5, 2008
    ISBN9781436185226
    Sweetsmoke

    Related to Sweetsmoke

    Related audiobooks

    Historical Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Ku Klux Klan

      Nov 1, 2020

      The Ku Klux Klan
      1 min read

    • Article

      Great Escapes

      Feb 1, 2022

      Great Escapes
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Saboteur Of Auschwitz

      Sep 12, 2019

      Author Colin Rushton Publisher Summersdale Publishers Price £8.99 Released Out now When soldier Arthur Dodd returned to England following VE Day on 8 May 1945, he was carrying a heavy burden that extended beyond the hardships of serving in World Wa

      1 min read

    • Article

      In 'A More Beautiful And Terrible History,' Fuel For The Fight Ahead

      Feb 4, 2018

      Jeanne Theoharis' new book re-examines civil rights history and the way it's been manipulated. "It is used to make us feel good about ourselves, to make us feel good about our progress," she says.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Dissidents, Revolutionaries, and Protestors: On Imbolo Mbue’s ‘How Beautiful We Were’

      Apr 27, 2020

      We are seeing the perils of globalization right now. People pay prices for other people’s actions in other parts of the world. The post Dissidents, Revolutionaries, and Protestors: On Imbolo Mbue’s ‘How Beautiful We Were’ appeared first on The Millio

      5 min read

    • Article

      Colson Whitehead

      Aug 13, 2016

      The author of The Underground Railroad, Oprah’s new book-club pick, talks about making fiction from history’s great atrocity

      2 min read

    • Article

      Sanctuary City

      Sep 8, 2020

      Sanctuary City
      12 min read

    • Article

      Slavery’s Rise

      Feb 1, 2022

      Slavery’s Rise
      3 min read

    • Article

      John Kelly -- and a Whole Lot of Other Americans -- Can't Handle the Truth About Slavery

      Nov 5, 2017

      Slavery caused the Civil War. A failure to compromise had nothing to do with it. Yes, I know a thousand people have made that point in the days since White House Chief of Staff John Kelly's nonsensical assertion on Fox "News" that "the lack of an abi

      2 min read

    • Article

      ‘I Hear The Screams’: 107-year-old Survivor Of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Testifies To Congress In Call For Justice

      May 20, 2021

      Moments after falling asleep on 31 May, 1921, seven-year-old Viola Fletcher was awakened by her family and told to leave her home in the Greenwood neighbourhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Outside, a white mob drove thousands of Black residents from their ho

      3 min read

    • Article

      What Do Meghan Markle And Chicago Woman Who Wrote 'Passing' Have In Common?

      Feb 28, 2018

      CHICAGO - Nella Larsen was a mystery in life, and a mystery after her death in 1964. According to biographers, when she died her half sister inherited the $35,000 that remained in Larsen's savings, then said she didn't know she had a half sister. Whi

      7 min read

    • Article

      Her Dark Material

      Feb 7, 2021

      Paradise Beach, Barbados, in the 1980s. The powdery sand is the palest pink, the water is the regulation limpid blue, the coconut palms sway, but behind the tourist postcard lies another world, a mostly black world of poverty, violence and desperatio

      2 min read

    • Article

      Recy Taylor's Truth

      Jan 10, 2018

      Recy Taylor's Truth
      8 min read

    • Article

      'How To Say Babylon' Centers On Resisting Patriarchy And Colonialization

      Oct 11, 2023

      Safiya Sinclair's memoir follows her journey from a scared and sheltered Rasta girl in Jamaica to a strong and self-assertive woman — exploring just how poetry became her savior.

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Sweetsmoke

    4/5

    161 ratings42 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I live in the south. Every day, I see relics of days that to some symbolize the glory of the south, to others, a time of great shame for humankind. I was not born into southern culture (indeed, my own family fled from persecution elsewhere to settle in the United States in the days before World War I), but I still feel the scars that the enslavement of African Americans left on our world. When a friend from another country had trouble enjoying a visit to Charleston, saying he could feel the pain of slavery as he walked the streets of the city, it was a knife to my heart. It is not the way we live now, at least not in this part of the world, and while we are not perfect, I wonder how long those who inhabit this land will bear the responsibility of scars of the past.Many people have a romanticized vision of slavery, due in part to its depiction in novels and movies. But even the kindest rendition in print or screen cannot deny that at its core, slavery involves ownership of one person over another. Sweetsmoke presents the reader with a huge array of relationships between between people of the south in that time of our history. The brutality is unflinching, the loyalties complex, the relationships tangled. It is a glimpse into the darkness of our past, exploring diverse aspects of the human psyche. It's a retelling of that wound in our national history called the Civil War. It's a character study of a man of passions and principles, despite his enslavement. It's a reminder that our greatest downfall is man's inhumanity to man, and our greatest strength is our ability to open our hearts to other people, and strive for what is right. I thought the author's technique of using quotation marks around the speech of free people, black or white, and none around the speech of the enslaved was a powerful tool to keep the reader reminded of the degradation of the human spirit when we succumb to the evils of saying we own another individual.This is a book that is complex, and I may reread, because there are certainly nuances I missed. There were some moments in it that opened my eyes, not so much about the institution of slavery, but more regarding how the world was in that time-- figuring out how to pass a message, cross a river, make a rendezvous. I even found myself looking up some of the herbs and medicinal plants mentioned, as that's an interest of mine.Many thanks to my friend Maggie, who recommended this book to me. I will pass it on thoughtfully.Tags: advanced-reader-copy, didn-t-want-to-put-it-down, made-me-look-something-up, made-me-sad, made-me-think, places-i-have-been, read, read-in-2015, read-on-recommendation, set-in-the-south, taught-me-something, uncomfortable-reading-but-good
    • 4/5
      Set in 1862 during the bloody American Civil War, part historical fiction and part mystery/intrigue and clearly well researched -- David Fuller's debut novel Sweetsmoke was no simple feat to write. Fuller has an easy straight-forward writing style that serves him well in this novel. He has clearly done his homework in research the period, the caveat to this is that the novel sometimes suffers when Fuller's two strong points collide in the narrative. Eager to share the great details he has researched Fuller sometimes counteracts his own easy writing style by going a little too deep which can make the novel sometimes feel a little uneven. That being said I do very much appreciate the fact that Fuller has done a very good job of working to flesh out all of his character -- imbuing them with both good and bad, right and wrong and therefore enriches the novel as they discover their likenesses in one another as well as the decisions each has made that have set the on opposing sides and different paths. The book should also be commended for crossing fiction genres and in doing so bringing something new to its readers.
    • 3/5
      David Fuller's first novel follows Cassius, a slave on the Virginia tobacco plantation Sweetsmoke. As the American Civil War rages on the periphery, Cassius spends his days tending to carpentry needs on the plantation and taking advantage of the small amount of freedom granted to him by the plantation master, Hoke Howard.After a close friend is murdered, Cassius vows to find the killer, even though he risks the few things he holds dear in the process.At its core, Sweetsmoke is a decent novel, especially coming from a new novelist. But the quality fluctuates through, which leads to a lot of headaches. Fuller often intercuts some well crafted intrigue with laborious descriptions of minutia, almost like he's trying to prove he did his historical research (in case you're wondering, he did). This is especially true for the first half of the novel; it's almost tough to make it through a few pages without grumbling. That said, it picks up near the end, and the bittersweet conclusion works quite well in the context. Fuller also paints some compelling characters; he does a nice job of showing how multifaceted these people are. Sweetsmoke was a fairly promising read, even though it had lapse of cluttered, over expository dialogue and descriptions. But some of the good elements made it worth trudging through.
    • 5/5
      Superb book. Set in Virginia during 1862, the protagonist, Cassius, is a slave on a Virginia plantation; the book is written from his point of view. Fuller avoids stereotypes, writing sympathetically from the slave experience, but slavery is exposed for what it was: degrading to both slaves and slave owners, but a horror for the slaves themselves. In a remarkably even-handed treatment, Fuller describes a spectrum of slave owners and conditions, and of the slaves themselves, not all of whom, by a long shot, are noble or likable.Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      Cassius, a slave on the Sweetsmoke plantation, learns that his mentor - a free black woman named Emoline Justice - has been killed. At great risk to himself, he sets out to find the motive and the murderer, picking up bits and pieces of information and eventually making his way to the Civil War battlefields. Descriptions of slave life were interesting and heartbreaking, but overall I had trouble getting through this book. When it was all over, I wasn't sorry I had read it, but there something missing that I couldn't quite put my finger on. This is David Fuller's first book, so I'm hoping for a little more polished work in his next book.
    • 5/5
      You know a novel is worthwhile if the characters and story have stayed with you months after the first reading. 'Sweetsmoke' is a compelling, bittersweet tale of a plantation slave, Cassius Howard, struggling with his sense of identity and personal losses during the height of the Civil War. This novel is meticulously well-researched, offering clear glimpses into the devastating effects of slavery while providing historically accurate and traumatic accounts of the war itself. The introduction of a love interest, and gradual unfolding of a murder mystery, add intrigue to the plot by driving the downtrodden Cassius into action. Excellent and beautifully written.
    • 1/5
      I started reading this several months ago when I received it as an ARC. I just could not get into it. It didn't hold my interest as I thought it would. I wasn't crazy about the author's writing style and I abandoned the book around page 70 or so. Hopefully I will pick it up again to finish it, but for now--its in the abandoned pile.
    • 3/5
      Sweetsmoke is the story of a Virginia tobacco plantation slave (Cassius) during the civil war. This particular slave is allowed more freedoms than the others on the plantation. When he learns that a friend (a free woman who taught Cassius to read) was murdered, he decides to solve the mystery underlying her murder.This story is filled with details about the humiliating life of slaves on plantations and is intriguing regarding the use of former and current slaves in espionage during the American Civil War. The author clearly knows a great deal about the Civil War and as a result, the book (at times) gets bogged down in details about specific North-South encounters. I am a huge fan of both historical fiction and the mid-19th century. However, I found this book to be a very tedious read. It did not suspend my disbelief, as a fictional piece should. Historical fiction, especially, needs to keep the reader engaged in a way that completely seems plausible. Aspects of this story, such as Cassius forging passes to come and go from the plantation and tracking down Lee’s army left me in want of believing the story. As a result, I struggled to get through this book.
    • 4/5
      An unusual read for me, Sweetsmoke by David Fuller proved by the final pages to have been well worth the effort.I say unusual, because as a Canadian of English descent, what would I get out of a novel about black slaves during the Civil War? Everyone is familiar with the events, but this particular story took on a life of its own, due to wonderful characterizations brilliantly cast by Fuller, who is a screen writer by trade.Cassius, the slave, who loses his closest friend when she is found murdered, is very believable, and the supporting players, Hoke Howard, the plantation owner, and Quashee, Cassius' right hand and protector.An ugly blot on the history of America, slave life was a reality and will not be forgotten. But by portraying his protaganists as 'real life' people, Fuller has created both an intriguing crime novel, and a slice of Americana, not an easy thing to accomplish.
    • 5/5
      This is an absolutely amazing book. I found it extremely moving and well written and could not put it down. Set on a southern plantation during the Civil War, the main plot is a character driven mystery involving a murder but the subplots are actually more interesting than the main one. The interaction between the slaves and the "planters" and amongst the slaves themselves is fascinating. David Fuller does an excellent job portraying the indignities of being a slave. His descriptions of the brutality of life as a slave and the battles of war are not over the top but still manage to convey the horror of both. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in historical fiction.
    • 5/5
      What a great book, this book is beautifully written. Set during the Civil War this is an unlikely mystery, but so much more!! Cassius the main character challenges the idea of human ownership, why some people behave as though they want to remain enslaved, and portrays slave owners are real people not just the "bad guys". I would definitely recommend this book. For people who love historical fiction this book is a must. Great details concerning the era it was written about as well as a fantastic plot in and of itself!!
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book. Not only did it give a new flavor to my experience of slavery-era books, but it also had a mystery I actually cared about. It went easy on the cliches and was all-together a rewarding read I would definitely recommend to others.
    • 4/5
      Sweetsmoke, a Virginia tobacco plantation, is the home of Cassius and many other slaves during the Civil War. Emoline, the woman who rescued and nursed Cassius back to health after a devastating event in his life, has been murdered. The devotion Cassius has for Emoline has driven him to find the killer - no matter what the cost.This didn't live up to my expectations. The characters were okay, the setting was okay, but the mystery story line did not seem plausible to me. (Yes, I know it's fiction.) There were, also, many dry spots, and on occasion I didn't even care to pick it up. So, for whatever reason it didn't grab me. The good news is that there were a few minor surprises or twists, and it ended on a good note. :) (3.5/5)Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..."
    • 5/5
      Sweetsmoke, described on the cover as ‘a novel of the civil war’ is about the civil war, but it’s also very much about slavery, murder and justice.I’ve read a few books about slavery and the stories of brutality are often echoes of the same terrible evil and the horrors suffered by many. This story adds another dimension. There are heart-wrenching tales of injustices, but what makes it different is the focus on the murder of a freed black woman and the efforts of a slave to discover her murderer. An additional flourish that gives this book an interesting perspective is that it takes place in 1865, during the raging civil war and the year when slavery is abolished.I don’t think I’m an adequate judge of whether the adversaries and obstacles faced by the protagonist, Cassius, are realistic, but I do know I really liked this book. Cassius is a very likable character and lives among others who are portrayed in shades of grey (except the children who are depicted as completely evil), as people really are. It’s interesting to note that the author did not use quotation marks when one of the slaves was speaking, as if what they had to say was of no importance compared to someone who was either freed or white.When Cassius discovers that Emoline, a woman who cared for him when he needed it most, did not die accidentally, he decides to find her murderer - not an easy thing to do for a slave. Since Cassius’s job on the Sweetsmoke plantation is carpenter, he has a bit of leeway to move around, unlike most of the other slaves. While this allows him to do a bit of detective work it also lends itself to jealousy and resentment among the other slaves who feel he is favored by the plantation owner. The search for Emoline’s murderer leads Cassius away from Sweetsmoke and the further he gets, the closer he comes to the truth. Along this journey Cassius encounters traitors, slave traders and soldiers and sees first hand the terror of war.I highly recommend this book – it is difficult to put down.
    • 3/5
      Set in 1862 during the Civil War, the reader is introduced to Cassius, a carpenter and slave on the Sweetsmoke plantation. Cassius is a favorite of Howard Hoke, the landowner, and is allowed some liberties the other slaves do not. Emoline, a former Sweetsmoke slave who was given her freedom by Hoke, is found murdered in her home. She was a mother figure to Cassius who taught him how to read and write though no one knows he is literate. Cassius uses his liberties and smarts to find out the identity of the murderer.The book is a well done piece of historical fiction. Interactions of the characters based on their station and during a time when resources are scarce ring true. Customs are explained without reading like a textbook.It asks some philosophical questions about loyalty and what constitutes freedom. How loyal should a slave be to his or her owner? Can a slave be loyal to friends and loved ones even if it comes at a cost? How does one earn loyalty from another? Is freedom something granted by someone in a position of power? Or is freedom experienced through literacy and independence? These questions are reminiscent of the debate between human law and natural law which I found fascinating in college.The timeline of events was a bit confusing or rushed near the end of the novel when Howard Hoke takes ill but that’s a minor complaint. For a debut novel this is a solid effort.
    • 3/5
      Sweetsmoke follows the story of the slave Cassius Howard living on his masters plantation in Virginia during the civil war. When his friend and mentor Emoline Justice is found murdered, Cassius sets out to find her murderer, hardly an easy task for a slave in Civil War Virginia. His ability as a carpenter has kept him in the favor of his Master Hoke Howard, but when he investigates his friends murder he finds out things about his master that strain their relationship.This was a very difficult review to write as I wasn't sure what to say. I was excited to hear about this book being available. I read a lot of fiction about slaves living in the pre-antibellum south. However, when I read this book I just never connected with it. There is no doubt that this book is very well researched and the story is compelling. Nonetheless I wasn't drawn into any of the characters and I felt that sometimes the narrative jumped around quite a bit. By contrast, the next book I read was Somebody Knows my Name by Lawrence Hill, a book with a lot of similarities in subject matter butt I loved it. I think that Sweetsmoke is very well written and would recommend it to the many readers who enjoy well researched historical fiction and will really enjoy it.
    • 5/5
      I've been anticipating reading David Fuller's first novel Sweetsmoke since it was released by Hyperion Books at the end of August.I was captured by the cover image - work worn, lined, loosely clasped hands and I wondered the story behind them.Fuller spent eight years researching this amazing novel. It tells the tale of Cassius, a slave and carpenter who lives on a tobacco plantation in Virginia. It is 1862 and the Civil War is in full swing. Interestingly Fuller found family connections to both sides of the War during his research. After suffering a brutal punishment at the hands of his master Hoke Howard, Cassius is allowed to heal at the home of Emoline, a free black woman. Emoline secretly teaches Cassius to read and write. It is these secret lessons that ignite a need for knowledge, a want to know the world beyond the plantation."Cassius drove himself toward his journey in a step-by-step fashion, willing to risk everything, to know. To know."When Emoline is murdered and it appears that no one cares to find the killer, Cassius vows he will find the killer and seek justice for Emoline. This is a story with many threads, all of then engrossing. Life on the plantation, attitudes and the War are all portrayed with accuracy and detail, bringing to life this period in history. Fuller has also brought to life the lot of a slave, humanizing historical fact, in all it's shame. Although all the characters evoke strong emotions, it is the character of Cassius that kept me reading non stop. His journey towards knowledge and justice, combined with the mystery of Emoline's death is a gripping tale.Sweetsmoke will be joining another similar book - "Rush Home Road" by Canadian Lori Lansens on my favourites list.Many thanks to Mini Book Expo for the opportunity to read and review this fantastic book!
    • 4/5
      This was an ARC copy, sent to me by a friend. It tells the story of Cassius, a slave in 1862. The one person who helped him learn to feel like a man instead of a piece of property, has been murdered. He wants to avenge her death, an almost impossible task considering that he puts his life in danger every time he leaves the plantation without permission. I found the characters in this book to be very lifelike. They were compelling. The plot itself moved at what seemed a snail's pace to me. Still, the information and setting was interesting. My one bone to pick is with the author's decision to not enclose the dialog of the slaves in quotation marks. I understand the artistic decision, representing the fact that they were not viewed as people by the whites around them, but for one thing, that view was not universal, and for another, it made the book difficult to read. I never realized how dependent we are on those little marks, but they make the difference between a flowing read and a halting, stammering one.
    • 4/5
      This is a mystery story set in the backdrop of a planatation during the Civil War. The War is a background presence, but except for a short scene or two near the end, the war remains a backdrop. The setting is well drawn, the characters interesting and engaging. The mystery itself is well hidden, although it is not the most engaging part of the book. That would be the characters and seting, the mystery acting as more a skeleton on which to hang the writing. And it is well written. The writing is what makes it a very good book. The story line iteself is only serviceable. I'm very glad I read it, though, and would recommend it to others.
    • 3/5
      Smeetsmoke was a good 7/8ths' read. The characters were convincing and their interactions were believable. The intrigue of searching for Emoline's killer was a continuous thread throughout the novel, but the actual discovery at the end was hurried and abrupt. Given that and themere flicker of a romance in limbo made the ending shallow and unsatisfying.
    • 5/5
      I've never been a big fan of Civil War fiction, but the unusual description and beautiful cover art drew me to this book, and I'm so glad for it. The story follows a slave, Cassius, who works as a carpenter on the Sweetsmoke plantation and enjoys a relative amount of freedom, at least compared to the other slaves. He has also experienced more than his share of tragedy, losing a son to the slave traders, a wife to suicide, and a mentor to murder. It is the final tragedy, the murder of the free black woman, Cassius' mentor Emoline, that drives him through the rest of the book. For me, though, it was the beautiful writing and Cassius himself who really made this book worth reading. I found myself in a wholly new position, with a new perspective on what it may have been like to live life as a slave. I wanted Cassius to be free, but was terrified for him to run away, certain that he would be caught and tortured. It was an agonizing, entrancing, and ultimately a hopeful book to read, and as a result I'm looking for some new books set in the Civil War. I've been hooked!
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed David Fuller's "Sweetsmoke." I was suprised to read other reviews that found the same things I found interesting and insightful to be boring or lacking skill. The story of Cassius, a slave during the Civil War, trying to solve the murder of a close friend, is first and foremost, an intriguing premise. It seems uncommon for a slave to be trying to solve a murder mystery, like a detective. After reading other reviews I can see some of the problems readers may have had. On the other hand some of the devices the author used were, for me, inventive. For instance, the slaves words were not in quotation marks, while the slave owners or any whites were. This portrayed the invisibility of the slaves and also gave Cassius the sense of being very cerebral. He is well-developed as a character and I was interested in whether he would find the murderer, and live to find justice for his friend Emoline. Fuller was particular in his description of tools, clothing, home interiors and battlefield encounters. I was somewhat let down by the identity of the murderer but the accomplishment of the author lies in the stroytelling itself. His characters are fully realized, especially Hoke Howard and his wife, and Cassius. The characters who are not so important are still well developed and the daily life of the plantation drew me into the book as well as Fuller's ease with prose that flowed easily on the page. The battlefield scene was impressive. All in all, I looked forward to opening the book every day, and look forward to more from this author.
    • 5/5
      Just finished Sweetsmoke by David Fuller which I received as an EarlyReviewer. It is a story set in 1862 Civil War America and the main character is Cassius, a slave. This story incorporates the life on a plantation during the Civil War and the struggles of those enslaved. Cassius is an unusual slave as he is a favorite of his master which gives him more freedom than others. He uses this freedom to investigate the murder of a friend who is a freed black woman. It will not be investigated by anyone else because a free slave is not worth anything but a slave has a monetary value.Fuller has created a page turner of historical fiction that is so interesting I could not put it down. It is a mystery and a love story and a glimpse into that time in America. The life amongst the slaves was fascinating and the belittlement and horrors inflicted on them by the masters who "cared" for them was disturbing.This book will be quite popular when it is released. I predict many book groups will be choosing it as I will be suggesting it to mine.
    • 3/5
      I have always enjoyed reading about the Civil War and the American South so I was thrilled to receive an advanced reader's copy of "Sweetsmoke" by David Fuller. Some of my favorite books (both fiction and non-fiction) have been set in this period of American history so I really looked forward to reading it.To my surprise, I found this novel disappointing. I did not find either the story or the main character Cassius believable. Although I know some slaves could read and write, Cassius' mastery of the English language seemed unreal. Not only did he learn to read in a few weeks time but he could read and understand works like the Odyssey and the Iliad. As a teacher of adult learners, I know how difficult (if not impossible) this would be. Every time he spoke I cringed because his use of the English language seemed so contrived. I found myself re-reading passages and wondering...could a slave in 1862 Virginia really speak like this? It actually ruined the book for me. I focused so much on the language that I never really got into the story.I know this novel has been favorably reviewed by others, but I find that I am unable to recommend it.
    • 2/5
      With an abundance of excellent books about the Civil War south and slavery there is no need to read Sweetsmoke. David Fuller's book is part murder mystery, part description of plantation life, and part war novel. Unfortunately because it tries to to fulfill so many roles it fulfills none of them well. By the time the murder mystery was finally solved, I had become distracted by so many other plot lines that I no longer cared who the murderer was. Additionally, with the exception of the main character, the slave Cassius, the characters were undeveloped and uninteresting. For instance, I never could figure out the allure of Emoline, the former slave murdered in the early chapters of the book. I also found it completely unrealistic that Cassius, a previously uneducated man, could learn to read and write so well in such a short period of time. Because much of the plot hinges on this development, I had a hard time appreciating and believing most of the story. The one positive aspect of this book is that it presented the complex relationship between slaves and owners without resorting to stereotypes. Still, this one positive does not compensate for the books many other flaws.
    • 5/5
      This is an exceptional novel . Can I give more than five stars? Can I give ten? May I please offer twenty! This book has held me for the last several days in suspense, fear, anger, humor and yes despite the subject, joy. I LOVE THIS BOOK and I do not say this lightly. I am not going to go in to the story synopsis, others will have done this far better than I. Suffice it to say that through David Fullers expert writing I lived with the characters, cried with them and suffered with them. This is how good a story teller he is. I laughed - albeit a little bit at the cluelessness of (frightened) slave owners, as they were trapped in the dysfunctional world of their own making. But what a novel, what a story to tell. Cassius our hero, is a wonder, a very angry man who has the strength and personal will to talk himself out of throttling everyone who 'gets his goat' even though most justly deserve it . He is good/bad, smart/simple, angry... vindictive ...and finally - forgiving. Cassius reaches a place most of us never will, despite being a slave all his life. What an incredible character, and what a great telling of a difficult and terrible part of our nations history. Most highly, HIGHLY recommended.Thank you LibraryThing for the opportunity to view this first hand. I just adored it. Best time I've spent behind a page in a long time.
    • 3/5
      I was excited to get this book as an early reviewer, and immediately dropped what I had been reading (ROMA) to dig in. There are parts of this book that are excellent - the dialog, the general diiscriptions of slave life in the south, and the plot. Despite all this I was disappointed and I'm still trying to put my finger on why. Many times my reaction to the words or thoughts of Cassius were - nah, that doesn't sound real at all - too modern or complex language and ideas. It was almost as if the author were trying to show off his command of the language and all the knowledge he has from studying slavery in Virginia. It seemed to be overused, over the top and made what could have been a good novel a bit unbelievable. When I read historical fiction I like to feel transported to the era, not impressed with the cleverness of the author.
    • 4/5
      Sweetsmoke, by David Fuller, tells the story of Cassius, a slave on Hoke Howard's Sweetsmoke plantation in Virginia. In 1862, the Civil War is raging and Cassius's friend, Emoline Justice, has been found killed. Despite long odds, Cassius vows to discover Emoline's killer as a way to honor her memory.Fuller has created a wonderful story that includes many, many details and nuances of plantation life in the 1860's. The reader comes away with a picture of an entire world, as seen from the eyes of Cassius. Cassius is a completely realized and complicated character, at once proud and self-possessed, yet also bearing the brunt of the daily humiliations of living as a slave. Cassius understands the life into which he has been born, and knows that there is little chance that he - or anyone else on the plantation - can ever escape it. His search for Emoline's killer, and his eventual journey for vengeance, is the only tribute he can give to a freed slave whose death means nothing in the white world.Sweetsmoke is Fuller's first novel, and it is well-written. He seems to have captured the essence Southern speech without resorting to hokey attempts at writing dialect. The characters are fully realized, and the plot mostly moves along at a good pace. What I think I most enjoyed about Sweetsmoke was it's ability to evoke an entire world.
    • 5/5
      This is by far the best work of fiction I have received from LT's ER program. I enjoyed this book immensely. I found it reminiscent of both Cold Mountain and March. I did find myself questioning the likelihood of some of the freedom of movement enjoyed by Cassius. Having read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs though, I do realize that it was common for slave-owners to treat certain slaves differently than they treated others. I would recommend this work to most of my reading friends and family. I think it would make a very good choice for any book discussion group.
    • 5/5
      This is, without a doubt, the best book set during the Civil War that I have read in a long time. It's so hard to get Civil War fiction right, but David Fuller managed to do it with seeming ease. Cassius quickly became one of my overall favorite characters in all of literature, and I can honestly say that I couldn't put this book down. I got it in the mail the day before my wedding, and took it on my honeymoon with me. Not exactly your average beach read, but I just couldn't help myself. Highly recommend this book, as well as everything David Fuller ever produces in the future. He has gained a lifelong fan!