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Book Review of Cane River

Cane River
Cane River
Author: Lalita Tademy
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
jade19721 avatar reviewed on + 115 more book reviews


The author of the book was Vice President of Sun Microsystems when she decided to quit her job and research her family history. That research took her to Louisiana along the Cane River where she traced her family back to the beginning of 1799. Although part of the book is historical fiction quite a bit of it was based on information that she found during her research. The book covers 4 generation of women starting with Elizabeth who was born in 1799 into slavery. Suzette her youngest daughter who bore her first child at the tender age of 14 after being raped by a friend of her master. Suzette's strong willed daughter, Philomene who found a way to get what she wanted from another slave master and finally her daughter Emily who was the only one who did not have to go through the hardship of slavery.

At times this was quite heartbreaking reading what these women went through, but all 4 of them did not let the current situation they were in keep them from what they really needed or wanted. These were some of the strongest women ever. Anyone who is intrested in family history or genealogy I would highly recommend.