Tananarive Due manages a unique achievement with her latest novel, The Reformatory. This is an emotionally powerful, detailed, precise portrait of an ugly place and time in US history; Jim Crow-era Florida (1950). The characters are achingly, lovingly, chillingly realistic, and the events are decidedly low-key. It’s the sort of fiction that feels like non-fiction, even though “haints” (ghosts, complexly and newly imagined) play a major part in the plot. It’s the sort of book (one assumes) that benefits from a series of long, slow, fireside reading sessions, so it can become one with your memories. It’s a masterepiece.
Pick it up, and that’s how it feels. But read it, and you’ll find the pages turning faster than you’ll believe. You might think you’d read 10 or 20 pages and find it’s closer to 90. It’s not just hard to put down. It’s mysteriously easy to read this novel about twice as fast you’d expect. There’s some serious writing magic that happens here. The novel is inspired by the terrible fate of Due’s great uncle, who was killed while incarcerated at Florida’s Dozier School in 1938. Due remakes the story, setting it in Gracetown, the haunted setting for other stories she’s written.
Of course, great character work is the cornerstone. From a painful past, Due creates the life of Robert Stephens, who is sent to The Reformatory for hitting an older white boy who is harassing his older sister, Gloria. There, he finds himself tasked by the villainous headmaster, Warden Haddock, with collecting the ghosts of boys who have died. Gloria is determined to get him out. Even though the book is suffused with the supernatural, Due is able make the plot feel unforced and natural, even as the tension ratchets up. It’s a remarkable achievement, and a thoroughly memorable and enjoyable reading experience.
The ease and naturalness of the novel work perfectly with the emotional wallop it packs. You’ll miss these people when you finish The Reformatory. You might start re-reading it when you’re done, just to get that “I’m reading a great book” feeling again. Every minute reading The Reformatory is better than you’d expect possible.
Tananarive Due had quite a bit to say about writing this masterpiece, and we had a great time talking, digging well into the creation but leaving the actual work for the reader to enjoy. Here’s the link, or listen below. Time will fly.
Narrative Species 