Red River is a powerful and poignant account that delves into the story of the author's ancestors.

In 1873, a massacre of hundreds of African Americans took place in Louisiana. The author's ancestors were directly impacted by this tragic event as they bravely stood up for their right to vote.

This is an extremely important story that demands to be told. It sheds light on a dark chapter of American history and the struggles that African Americans faced in their fight for equality and civil rights.

However, I found myself considering not finishing this book. While the content is significant, it would greatly benefit from better editing. There were some areas where the narrative could have been more流畅 and the language more polished.

Despite this drawback, the importance of the story cannot be ignored. It serves as a reminder of the sacrifices and hardships that our ancestors endured and the progress that has been made since then.

I hope that in the future, this book will receive the editing it deserves so that its powerful message can reach a wider audience and have a greater impact.

It took me a while to finish reading this book simply due to the busyness of my life.

The story is extremely rich as the author vividly imagines the lives of her ancestors during a rather ugly period in our country's history. I have always found the treatment of blacks in the south to be truly horrifying, and this book presents it in all its grisly details.

I simply cannot fathom how people could hold so much hatred and evil within themselves.

Sam, Polly, and Jackson Tademy are beautifully depicted in this book. They are individuals with rich characters and upstanding qualities. It would have been a great pleasure to have known them.

The author has done an outstanding job in bringing these characters to life.

Overall, this book is a powerful and eye-opening read that offers a deep insight into a dark chapter of our past.

Lots of history is intertwined with the place where I grew up. There are numerous aspects of that history that I was completely unaware of. When I read about them, it truly hurt my heart. However, I am deeply thankful for the author who has brought these stories to light. This book is an excellent resource for high school students to read, especially those in the vicinity of north Louisiana. It provides them with a valuable opportunity to gain a better understanding of the rich and complex history of their region. By delving into the pages of this book, students can explore the past, learn from it, and perhaps develop a greater appreciation for the place they call home. It is a book that has the potential to educate and inspire, and I highly recommend it to all high schoolers in the area.

Red River is an outstanding novel that delves deep into the lives of author Lalita Tademy's ancestors. It commences with the tragic 1873 massacre at the courthouse in Colfax, Louisiana, setting the stage for a captivating tale of true American heroes. As the story unfolds from the era of Reconstruction to the early 20th century, one is filled with a profound sense of sadness at the heart-wrenching injustice endured by African Americans during that time. The Tademy family, however, played a crucial role in educating black children in the area, wholeheartedly committed to the progress of their descendants. Lalita Tademy herself is a living testament to their unwavering conviction. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone with an interest in black or American history. It offers a unique and poignant perspective on a significant period of time, shedding light on the struggles and triumphs of a remarkable family and a marginalized community.

The beginning of the book was rather slow-paced.

This particular book delves into the history of the author's paternal family. It's interesting to note that her previous book, “Cane River,” focused on her maternal side. The two rivers, Cane River and Red River, are essentially neighbors in Louisiana.

However, the events that unfold for the two families after the Civil War are strikingly different! The Cane River family is predominantly managed by the women, and their encounters with the whites contrast sharply with those of the Red River family.

The Red River family, on the other hand, is led by the men, often with the support of strong women. To truly understand the complex tapestry of what was happening in Louisiana during that time, these books should ideally be read together.

I am deeply grateful to the author for all of her meticulous research and for sharing the family story with the world. As the saying goes, the only way to enhance the future is to study the past. We can draw inspiration from their triumphs and learn valuable lessons from their mistakes.

I truly had a great fondness for Cane River, and this second book is also quite good. However, the anticipation and waiting around for the massacre that was predicted became just too overwhelming for me. I have such a deep affection for the characters that the thought of watching them meet their demise was simply too difficult to bear. It's not that I didn't enjoy the story, but rather that the build-up to that tragic event was almost too intense. Maybe at some other time in the future, when I'm in a different frame of mind, I'll pick up this book again and give it another chance. For now, though, I need to step away and take a break from the emotional turmoil that it was causing.

**Book Review: "Red River" by Lalita Tademy**

Lalita Tademy's "Red River" is a complex work that delves deep into her family's history.

\\n  Necessary but not sure about the score.\\n
I find myself on the fence when it comes to rating this book, ultimately giving it a 3.

The author's research into both her maternal and paternal family lines is truly remarkable. Despite the passage of time making some parts of the genealogy a mystery, Tademy's idea of creating a historical fiction account using the true pieces is brilliant. She has done this successfully with both "Cane River" and now "Red River", taking readers back to the era of slavery and forward to closer to modern times. The inclusion of maps and photos adds an interesting dimension, allowing readers to see the real people mentioned in the book. I commend Tademy for telling these little-known stories about the African American experience.

However, there are aspects that prevent this book from receiving a higher score. It starts off slowly, and the first more than half of the book drones on with excruciating detail about a "riot/massacre". While this is an important piece of history, it could have been condensed. There are also some uninteresting day-to-day details later on that I ended up skimming. The book seems to drag on for too long, and I found myself counting the pages until the end. Strangely, it gains a bit of steam towards the end, just as I became interested in the new generation of family characters, but then it abruptly ends.

Overall, I recommend "Red River" for its historical content, but I hope that Tademy's future works avoid the same dragging formula. I'm still interested in reading more by this author, but I'm a bit cautious.

Next book please.

This historical novel was just as gripping as the first novel by Lalita Tademy. It vividly展现了 Louisiana's Colfax small community, revealing both its cruelty and humanity.

I am deeply upset to discover the true extent of the corruption during the civil war reconstruction. It is astonishing how deeply ingrained the racial divide remained long after the war ended.

White supremacy and the Klu Klux Klan ran amok, terrorizing anyone they chose with little provocation. This blatant display of hatred and violence is truly disheartening.

It makes me very sad to think about the suffering and injustice that people endured during this time. The novel serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of learning from history and working towards a more just and equal society.

The only thing worse than an epic is an epic that keeps skipping forward, and skipping how everything happened!

I truly adored the first half of the book. It centered around one highly captivating historical event. It was a battle where former slaves were striving to safeguard their newly acquired rights. These rights included the right to vote, which they apparently had right after slavery but then it was repealed again. This provided very good information. They also wanted to have their party in office. Sadly, they were brutally massacred by white supremacists. The author managed to build some suspense, making it a great piece of history to explore and learn about.

Then, in the second section, appropriately titled "After," she just continuously skips ahead to random moments. This is done in order to cover the entire remainder of her family history. It was very much like how Katniss kept passing out in Mockingjay. Only, the rest of this book wasn't as good to begin with.

I'm still glad that I read this and Cane River because they are firmly rooted in an important piece of history that I didn't know enough about. However, she just isn't the best writer. My recommendation would be to check if there are better books that cover the same topics.

The sequel to Cane River, Red River, was a book that I delved into right after finishing the first one. Just like Cane River, it is firmly rooted in the author's known family history. And as before, the author skillfully weaves in historical evidence whenever it is available.

Many others have touched upon this in their reviews, but the first half of the book focuses on the "Colfax Riot," which is now more accurately known as the Colfax Massacre. On that fateful day, over a hundred black men were brutally killed in and around the Colfax Courthouse by a white mob. This was as the newly freed slaves were attempting to ensure that the Republican officials they had elected were able to take office. The day marked a significant turning point when white Louisianans wrested power back for themselves, effectively ending Reconstruction and crushing any hope of suffrage or equal rights for black people in Louisiana for decades to come.

I believe that the Colfax Massacre portion of the book is well-written. However, I must point out that the book starts at such a rapid pace and introduces so many characters that it becomes quite challenging to keep track of them all.

In my opinion, the truth is that the Colfax Massacre portion should have been its own standalone book. It is extremely well done and contains incredibly important historical information. In contrast, the rest of the book seems rather rushed. The last one-third of the book contains far too many characters and an overwhelming amount of information for the reader to process. Finally, the book ends far too abruptly, almost as if the author simply got tired of writing or something.

Overall, I'm glad that I read the book and that I now have the historical knowledge about the Colfax Massacre. However, the book would have undoubtedly benefited from a more discerning editor and better decisions regarding its content.

It's truly difficult to let go of this remarkable story and the captivating people within it.

This is a work of historical fiction, deeply rooted in Lalita Tademy's family tree. It gives the impression of being an absolute 'must read', especially in today's context.

It presents a side of history that we don't typically learn a great deal about in school.

It is essential to know one's origin, and the same holds true for our country.

This isn't merely Black history; it is an integral part of American history.

What we can glean from this not-too-distant past has the potential to assist us in understanding the present.

By delving into these accounts, we gain a more comprehensive perspective on the complex tapestry of our nation's history and how it has shaped the world we live in today.

It serves as a reminder that history is not just a collection of facts but a living, breathing narrative that can offer valuable insights and lessons for generations to come.

I really enjoyed the story. It had many interesting aspects that kept me engaged.

However, I have to admit that in some parts, it did seem to drag on a bit. It felt like the pacing could have been a bit better in those sections.

On the other hand, the history and photography included in the story were truly fascinating. They added a lot of depth and richness to the overall narrative.

The historical details provided a context that made the story more meaningful, and the photography was visually stunning. It really brought the story to life and allowed me to better imagine the scenes and characters.

Overall, despite the few parts where it dragged, I still found the story to be an enjoyable and engaging read, thanks in large part to the wonderful history and photography.