A review by judygjohnson
Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks

2.0

I read this book because it was a book club selection. If it hadn't been, I never would have finished it. I kept on to the end, but I cannot recommend it. It fails as historical fiction, because it provides only one perspective, out of context. The author tries to explain this by having the narrator (Owen Brown, John Brown's son) say, many times, with variations, "There is much, of course, that I am leaving out of my account, much that need not be told by me. Most of what happened back then occurred in full public view, anyhow, and is known to the world; it needs not corrective from me..." The depictions of life in Ohio & the Adirondacks in the early 19th century are well-written and moving, although overly long. The portrayal of John Brown is fascinating, and would be worth reading if the book were shorter by about 500 pages.