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A review by axmed
Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
this book was so good! i always try to find a mystery novel without copaganda and so glad i came across this series! i just hope that in the following novels the story is less about white ppl, which is of course understandable in the context of the setting of this first novel. the calls with Blanche's mom and bestie were great. so were her memories of her childhood, her nephew and niece, friends, etc. hopefully there will be more of her being with and around Black people in the rest of the series.
some of my fave passages:
But Cousin Murphy and Night Girl gave Blanche a sense of herself as special, as wondrous, and as powerful, all because of the part of her so many people despised, a part of her that she'd always known was directly connected to the heart of who she was.
[..]
Nate hooked his thumbs in the straps of his overalls. “I worked for her daddy and her daddy's daddy. Outlived both them suckers.” Nate chortled a vicious little laugh and headed for the back door. “I was looking forward to going to Miz Em's funeral, too,”
[..]
She wasn't against stealing from this sort. A lot of what they owned really belonged to people like her, who were grossly and routinely underpaid, who worked in the factories and mills and made the money for the big boys. She just didn't believe in taking big risks for nickels and dimes.
[..]
Blanche hissed some broken Swahili and Yoruba phrases she'd picked up at the Freedom Library in Harlem and told the boy it was a curse that would render his penis as slim and sticky as a lizard's tongue. The look on his face and the way he clutched his crotch lifted her spirits considerably. Nina Simone's version of “I Put a Spell on You” came rolling out of her mouth in a deep, off-key grumble.
[..]
All through Blanche's New York years, through the year in which Blanche had lived in California as a grownup runaway, through Ardell's crazy marriage and religious conversion (and unconversion), they'd supported and encouraged each other with an intensity and constancy that had often made their men jealous and suspicious.
[..]
Blanche was unimpressed by the tears, and Grace's Mammy-save-me eyes.
some of my fave passages:
But Cousin Murphy and Night Girl gave Blanche a sense of herself as special, as wondrous, and as powerful, all because of the part of her so many people despised, a part of her that she'd always known was directly connected to the heart of who she was.
[..]
Nate hooked his thumbs in the straps of his overalls. “I worked for her daddy and her daddy's daddy. Outlived both them suckers.” Nate chortled a vicious little laugh and headed for the back door. “I was looking forward to going to Miz Em's funeral, too,”
[..]
She wasn't against stealing from this sort. A lot of what they owned really belonged to people like her, who were grossly and routinely underpaid, who worked in the factories and mills and made the money for the big boys. She just didn't believe in taking big risks for nickels and dimes.
[..]
Blanche hissed some broken Swahili and Yoruba phrases she'd picked up at the Freedom Library in Harlem and told the boy it was a curse that would render his penis as slim and sticky as a lizard's tongue. The look on his face and the way he clutched his crotch lifted her spirits considerably. Nina Simone's version of “I Put a Spell on You” came rolling out of her mouth in a deep, off-key grumble.
[..]
All through Blanche's New York years, through the year in which Blanche had lived in California as a grownup runaway, through Ardell's crazy marriage and religious conversion (and unconversion), they'd supported and encouraged each other with an intensity and constancy that had often made their men jealous and suspicious.
[..]
Blanche was unimpressed by the tears, and Grace's Mammy-save-me eyes.