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A review by paperbacksandpines
Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely
3.0
If you're looking for a cozy mystery, I'm not sure whether this book will meet your requirements. However, if you're looking for a book that lets you peer into the psyche of a Black domestic servant working in the thick of the Civil Rights movement South, this may fit the bill.
The time period in which this book is set is never explicitly mentioned but it does mention the 1960s in the past tense. This initially threw me for a loop because Blanche was treated as if she were a slave and not paid for her household help. [b:Blanche on the Lam|23269388|Blanche on the Lam (Blanche White, #1)|Barbara Neely|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1411610473l/23269388._SY75_.jpg|579693] made me think of [b:The Help|4667024|The Help|Kathryn Stockett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572940430l/4667024._SY75_.jpg|4717423] if [b:The Help|4667024|The Help|Kathryn Stockett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572940430l/4667024._SY75_.jpg|4717423] were written from a Black perspective. Having not grown up in the South nor experienced the Civil Rights movement, it surprised me how Black domestic servants were treated in the not so distant past. It shouldn't have surprised me but it did.
As the book's protagonist, Blanche was no shrinking violet and she definitely had her reasons for not trusting whites, employer or otherwise. While I questioned some of her choices, the biggest thing this book has going for it was allowing me to see the world from a different perspective. I wouldn't say that the mystery in this book was top rate. The character study in this book is the most interesting part of it.
The time period in which this book is set is never explicitly mentioned but it does mention the 1960s in the past tense. This initially threw me for a loop because Blanche was treated as if she were a slave and not paid for her household help. [b:Blanche on the Lam|23269388|Blanche on the Lam (Blanche White, #1)|Barbara Neely|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1411610473l/23269388._SY75_.jpg|579693] made me think of [b:The Help|4667024|The Help|Kathryn Stockett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572940430l/4667024._SY75_.jpg|4717423] if [b:The Help|4667024|The Help|Kathryn Stockett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572940430l/4667024._SY75_.jpg|4717423] were written from a Black perspective. Having not grown up in the South nor experienced the Civil Rights movement, it surprised me how Black domestic servants were treated in the not so distant past. It shouldn't have surprised me but it did.
As the book's protagonist, Blanche was no shrinking violet and she definitely had her reasons for not trusting whites, employer or otherwise. While I questioned some of her choices, the biggest thing this book has going for it was allowing me to see the world from a different perspective. I wouldn't say that the mystery in this book was top rate. The character study in this book is the most interesting part of it.