I found this book on the bargain table and picked it up to read when I needed something in between other books. I am very thankful that I read this book…I truly enjoyed it. The author takes the real life people from her family’s genealogy and puts them within a heart breaking and loving story set in the backcountry of Louisiana in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The story deals extensively with racial relations between whites and blacks because throughout most of the book, the characters are slaves and are treated with utter disrespect, hatred, and distain. Each woman in the book fights for her place in the world, for what she believes is her due for herself and for her children. After finishing the book, I recommend returning to the beginning and rereading the author’s note. There was so much factual information that meant much more to me after “knowing” the people involved.

I don't ever remember reading Roots, by Alex Haley. I do remember liking the miniseries when it came out, more for the experience of understanding how lives so different from my own unfolded in times very different from my own. Cane River is like Roots. Maybe not quite as non-fictional, but nonetheless a compelling story of the lives across three generations of African-american women in the 1800's and early 1900's. It's thick, very thick. It touches upon the issues of "bleaching the line", the reasons for lack of strong male presence in many African-american families during that transitional time in history, and of course the racism of the south. The nice thing about the book is that it does this without hitting the reader over the head -- it is quite matter-of-fact. The detracting thing about this book is that it doesn't set up these issues as issues very well or in any intellectual sense, thus the importance of these issues in shaping future generations is lost to most readers. It might have been better as a series of stories, and continued on through to the author's generation and their struggles. Then a comparison of the struggles of each generation, and the different paths chosen in order to overcome those struggles, would really have added importance or some intellectual meaning to the work.

"Cane River" is a family saga of 4+ generations of African American women from slavery to the 1930s. The writing is straightforward, even simple; not great. I found it hard to engage at first, but the narrative eventually becomes engrossing. This is actually a fictionalized family history -- real people, real dates, real events but re-imagined with dialog and inner thoughts of the characters. That gives it a resonance that is deeper than the writing. As I said, it's about the women. The only men of significance are the white men who bed but cannot wed (even though some of them want to) the women. Over generations, members of the family have lighter and lighter skin and some pass for white. Almost totally absent: black men. This is not an oversight by the author; she's telling us the story as it was. The absence of the black men was part of the culture of slavery and its legacy. The black husbands and wives (or lovers) in "Cane River" are consistently and intentionally separated, leaving the women dependent on their white masters and lovers (who are depicted relatively sympathetically). This helps explain the chronic weakness of black families--or rather the absence of men. Actually, the families are strong matriarchies.

Cane River is an interesting, if easy book. Lalita Tademy traced her ancestry through four generations of remarkable woman, each struggling for her freedom in different ways. This is their story. First we have Elisabeth and then her daughter Suzette, who is the first to know the joys and the heartbreaks of freedom, her daughter Philomene, Philomene's daughter Emily. All of these women are different, and they all go through different trials and tribulations, but they all have one thing in common: their unbreakable spirit. And I know that sounds really cliche, but it's true. They never lose hope, and they stick together, despite the occasional spats.

The most interesting thing about Cane River is that most of the things that happen in the book, are, presumably, things that actually happened in real life. Lalita Tademy also wrote a book about her father's side of her family, which I may or may not read.

I read Cane River for Language Arts class, and it did not help my reading experience. Normally, I would read a book this size in 2 or 3 days, but it got stretched out over two months. Two months. I know, right? So I would read the 40 some-odd pages assigned for four days in one day, and then kind of forget about the book, and then read another 40 pages 4 days later, and etc. In the intermediate time, I would kind of forget what happened. Not forget, exactly. It was more like the book lost its immediacy. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed Cane River.

There are some really disturbing things in this book. Both Suzette and Philomene have children with white Frenchmen, and Emily, Philomene's daughter, ends up having relations with a white man over twice her age. But he genuinely loves her, I think. Cane River is not for the faint of heart, though there's nothing too intense. Just some disturbing stuff. I would highly recommend this book, despite my short review.

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Excellent story. Family history of the author, slavery and progression of multiple generations.

What a gorgeous novel. The key thing is, is that this novel was based on Lalita Tademy's own family history. She calls it fiction, though, because she had to elaborate and add rich detail to the simple stories she had been told of her grandmothers before her.

What shocked me most about this novel was that it was Tademy's first. Her writing seems to reflect years and years of writing before her, it flows so well and the language is so rich. You can't criticize her characters, because they are real, even so she added layers on to them that just increased their likeability.

It was funny, because I didn't think I was going to like the fact that the book followed every generation closely. I thought I would bond with Suzette and feel slight resentment when her daughter and granddaughters story came up, but I didn't. Somehow I loved it. I loved it because the mothers and grandmothers weren't shoved to the side when the story switched focus, which is further reflection on how Tademy's family thinks of their elders, especially their grandmother's.

This book is a surprisingly enjoyable novel, and I'd say if the story doesn't sound like something you would want to read, give it a try anyway. I really don't need to say too much about this novel because it doesn't need much. Everything about it is great, and really, that's all I need to say.

Cane River is an exceptionally written book that portrays the lives of three generations of women, as they endure and survive slavery in Louisiana. This extraordinary story, which consisted of 137 years of family history surfaced when author Lalita Tademy began researching her family tree, and stumbled upon the remarkable lives of her ancestors. After leaving a very well paying job, Tademy committed herself fulltime to research, and wrote this profound story to share the strong and resilient lives the women in her family. I absolutely loved this novel, and found it to display the determination, tenacity, and intellect of African American women. I recommend 'Cane River' to anyone to who is interested in reading a story concerning African American history in slavery, and who appreciates the strength and preserverance of a woman.

A wonderful family saga to sink your teeth into over the holiday break, Cane River takes place in Creole French Louisiana and tells the story of 4 generations of women who enduredthe indignities of slavery as well as racial discrimination for many years after "freedom." You will fall in love with these characters, their strengths, weaknesses, heartbreaks, and triumphs. I will forever be haunted by the powerful matriarch, Philomene, her glimpsings, and her ability to take care of business for herself and her children and grandchildren. This is a story that needed to be told, and Lalita Tademy did a beautiful job doing so here in this fictional retelling of her family history that pays tribute her ancestors who came before her. These women are inspirational, from strong stock, but the world is unkind to them nonetheless. How they found the strength to continue to fight is a kind of miracle. I hope those who get emotionally invested in these characters' stories can shoulder at least some of the responsibility of never letting these injustices against human dignity happen again. I especially love that Tademy quit her corporate job to write her family's story. How very important, especially since so many descended from slaves could not trace their roots as far back as she does here. What a gift! Tademy is as fearless and inspirational as the women who came before her, and she has honored them beautifully in these pages. I highly recommend Cane River.

I really enjoyed this book for the most part, but found it to be about 100 pages too long. 4/5

This debut novel, written by Lalita Tademy who left her career at Sun Microsystems to write it, is a “work of fiction deeply rooted in years of research, historical fact, and family lore.” Sometimes this book read like a narrative, and at other times, like a family history book. A semi-fictional/biographical account focusing on three generations of African-American slave women living in Louisiana, this story is interspersed with pertinent copies of documents, newspaper clippings (which are incredibly subjective and racist) and photos that coincide with sections in this book. I found the story to be quite straightforward and fast-paced, but slow enough to build strong characters. Tademy occasionally used some interesting metaphors (e.g. comparing Doralise’s blackened-eyed face to a rotten ripe peach). Overall, an interesting ROOTS-like look into one woman’s ancestry!

3.5 stars. A friend really loved this book, so maybe my expectations were too high. I just didn't love it as much as I thought I would.

If you are looking for historical fiction that focuses on the lives and struggles of African American women, I highly recommend picking up Cane River. Lalita Tademy has turned her family story into a fictionalized account of three generations of women who have each faced physical and emotional trauma with strength, dedication to family, and a burning need to move their families forward. When faced with no choice but to physically submit themselves to the men who hold the power of life and death over them, each woman ultimately does what she feels is best for the resulting children.

The means by which the family is moved forward is by bleaching the line through the generations. This process isn't truly by choice, but these strong women use whatever advantages that they can grasp for their children. Suzette and Philomene never actually have a choice in who the father of their children will be, but their perseverance, resourcefulness, and pure grit is impressive. Having modern sensibilities, it is upsetting to know that the skin color helped to define the hopes of a mother for her children. Yet, women with no power over their own bodies and futures had to maneuver and manipulate advancement as best they could.

It was Emily's story, the last generation delved into in Cane River, that was the most heartbreaking for me. Emily had a taste of love, even though it was a tarnished one. Emily's desire to just be without being harassed for simply existing, and being audacious enough to attract and acquire love from a white man, was what made her an even larger target for savage mistreatment. Tademy actually had me feeling sorry for a man who couldn't defend a family that he knew would never be accepted. Even though I felt compassion for Joseph, his arrogance and sense of entitlement is what led to his downfall and eventually cost him everything. Both Emily and Joseph were naive in their belief that they could be left alone to live as they wished, but especially Joseph. As a white male living in their community after the Civil War, he should have know that he could not be a successful businessman and expect others not to balk at the idea of him having a woman with even a trace of black blood. The ending of the book had me upset knowing that after all that Emily had endured and survived, society still made sure that she knew her place.

However, toward the end there is a bit of joy given to me via the choice of Emily's son T.O. to break the line by his choice of a wife. It was a step that not only set him apart as a man who thinks for himself, but also a step to break the cycle that T.O. saw as destroying his own sense of self worth. Ya'll....There is so much to experience in Cane River!

I generally haven't had the best of luck with Oprah Book Club picks, however Cane River was a home run for me and is going on my favorite reads list. I am so glad that I grabbed this one when I saw it in my local Goodwill for only a dollar. Spending a dollar and discovering a new favorite read is about as good as it gets! Reading this one makes me wish that I belonged to an organized book club so that I could discuss all of the issues and feelings that Tademy evoked. This was a hard review to rein in. It would be so easy to write a review on each woman featured! Cane River is a very well paced read that will hit you in all of the feels and provides food for thought long after you close the cover. I am now going to have to get a copy of Red River, which focuses on the Tademy side of the family.

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