Reviews

Sweetsmoke by David Fuller

indianajane's review against another edition

5.0

Sweetsmoke is an evocative title. It draws in the senses and sets a mood. The novel does the same. It draws us into the life of Cassius, a slave on the Sweetsmoke plantation during the Civil War, and gives us a sense of the sights, sounds, and smells of that life. Even more importantly, though, it imparts, more effectively than any book that I've read, what it means to be a slave, what it means to be an intelligent adult treated as a child or property.

I love historical fiction and this book has all of the elements of great historical fiction. The main character is compelling and many of the others are multi-dimensional. There is a clear sense of place and a wonderful integration of the historical events taking place at that time. David Fuller spent years researching this book, and it shows. The historical details are right .

The writing is skillful and descriptive. Several times while I was reading the book I had the thought that it would make a wonderful movie, and I think that that was due--at least in part--to the fact that Fuller brought his skills as a screenwriter to the writing of this book.
Highly recommended.

shelflife's review against another edition

5.0

Wonderful story...has a little bit of everything in it. History (Civil war), anti-war message, slavery, plantation life, love story, detective, murder mystery, and all the while you are learning about a truely awful time in our history. It's bad enough about slavery, but imagine for a moment being a slave and having the intelligence that can outwit everyone around you, including your "master". Although it was difficult for me to get into the heads of the white plantation owners. I just could not relate to their thinking about the ownership of another human being. This is not a subject I could read over and over again. It's like they forgot what being human is.

Recommend this book highly. Well written.

mslaura's review against another edition

4.0

I initially waivered on whether or not to read this book. The premise -- a slave investigating a murder -- was interesting, but seemed like the kind of plot that could go really, really wrong and become completely unrealistic. I am so glad that I finally decided to read this book, as I really enjoyed it. I found myself interested both in the mystery and the characters themselves. The liberties which the slave Cassius were granted made sense in the context of the storyline and the complex relationship between himself and Master Hoke. The deceptions and backstabbing among the slaves and among the members of the household added depth to the story, and the author's vivid descriptions brought it to life. His depictions of the horrors both of slavery and of the battlefield were impressive and humbling.

baranorewen's review against another edition

1.0

I finally figured out what made this book so awkward to read. Only the free people's speech was in quotation marks. This left all the slaves' speech out of quotation marks. When some speech is in quotes and some isn't it makes for a very difficult read. It made it hard to tell what was really being said and what was thought process. It was an interesting concept for writing a Civil War era historical fiction novel, but in practice it just ended up being awkward and hard to read.


I ended up skimming the last 100 pages or so of this book.

ryner's review against another edition

3.0

Sweetsmoke is the Virginia plantation where Cassius has lived his entire life in slavery. Although his relatively elevated status gives him some amount of freedom, such as driving to town alone, he's still treated with disdain by both his master and fellow slaves. Cassius' routine is interrupted one day by news that a close friend has been murdered, and he is determined to unravel the truth of the crime, although it means he'll have to push the limits of his bondage, and therefore risk his life.

Sweetsmoke was a satisfying and educational read, although not overwhelmingly compelling.

mochagirl's review against another edition

5.0

The advanced praise and publisher's accolades for Sweetsmoke are not unwarranted. David Fuller has penned a rich, full-bodied story that centers on a slave's (Cassius) desire to identify the killer of a free-woman who is endeared to him via bewildering circumstances. To its credit, the novel goes deeper than the average "whodunit." It is the equally complex sub-plots, the noble and conniving characters, the accuracy of the historical content, and the wonderfully imagined social network of life, love, loss, and pain on a Virginia Plantation at the onset of the Civil War that add layers of depth and incredible breadth to the story. The politics and racial attitudes of the day are illustrated well in the book which also contained some of the most vivid battlefield scenes I have read.

So often books of this nature cover the master-slave relationship in the perfunctory manner, but Fuller exceeded my expectations by creating some very unique relationships among the slaves and the slave owners. Another aspect that I respected was the equal weight given to the happenings inside the "big house" as well as the slave quarters. He also vigilantly broached valid but unpopular topics such as as slaves supporting the Confederacy and the manipulation, betrayal, and infighting within the slave community. He also showed us the intelligence, bravery, and cunning of Cassius as he navigated the plantation and the free world.

Bottom line: There are several reviews posted already that enthusiastically endorse the novel and I agree wholeheartedly with them. Most likely this novel will make my personal Top Reads list for this year -- I enjoyed it for the history lessons, the mystery, and the characters. This book is firmly on equal footing with The March by E.L. Doctorow, Song Yet Sung by James McBride, and Stand the Storm by Breena Clarke. Recommended for historical fiction fans interested in the US slave institution during the Civil War era.

emdash8212's review against another edition

4.0

I'm a big fan of historical fiction, so I liked this a lot. The main character is very clever, although I occasionally had a hard time suspending my belief. Things work out too well for him sometimes. Still, it's an intelligent, well-written, entertaining book with interesting historical background.

rosseroo's review

4.0

I have to admit that this book's basic premise was strong enough to carry me through the story's few rough patches. Set in the midst of the Civil War (1862), the story introduces us to Cassius, a slave carpenter. He enjoys a special status among the slaves at the titular Virginia tobacco plantation -- not only for his skill as a craftsman (which makes him more valuable than mere field hands), but also because he was a childhood playmate of the plantation's master. The death of his wife and child several years ago has made him rather insular, and unlike some of the other "higher ranking" slaves he prefers to keep a low profile and not get caught up in the plantations' social jockeying and intrigues.

However, when Emoline Justice, a local free black woman, herbalist, and fortune teller is found murdered, Cassius decides to cautiously pursue justice on her soul's behalf. She was a kind of mother/mentor figure to him, having nursed him back from death's door, and taught him to read and write. What follows is a kind of blend of historical fiction about plantation life and a whodunit murder mystery. For this to work, the reader has to accept that Cassius' secret literacy enables him to travel rather more freely than most slaves (although not without peril), allowing him to go into town and the surrounding countryside to pursue clues.

This story is pretty gripping, since on top of the hunt for the killer, there's the war lurking not too far away, Underground Railroad operations in the area, plus slavers, spies, and a full cast of realized characters. And if that's not enough, the book also does a very nice job of dramatizing the "private" life of slaves, which themselves are fraught with peril, as plots to curry favor abound, allegiances shift, and anyone might be sold off at any point. Yes, certain elements are somewhat idealized and sanitized, but it's fiction and you either have to accept that or resign yourself to not really enjoying the book (there are plenty of true narratives of slavery if that's your main interest). This is an excellent mix of plot, setting, and character -- a book that makes you think about a certain era in a slightly different way by bringing it to life.

sallysimply's review

4.0

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I really liked this book! The story was well-told, there was a good amount of detail in descriptions, and I really sympathized with the main character despite his flaws.