Highly recommended to those who love a powerful story of hope and despair, with historical events woven into the fabric of the larger narrative. A masterful journey through many generations, Haley and Stevens depict the horrors of slavery and the slow discovering of freedom for a country that prided itself on acceptable. While her literal shackles were gone, this was a time when old habits and sentiments were slow to change, even for a Queen. Queen grew and lived through many of America’s coming of age moments, eventually being freed and sent off into the world. When war broke out between the North and South, Jass left to fight, with a young Queen knowing the truth about who he was, even if it was forbidden to admit. The birth of Queen proved to be a wonderful gift for both Jass and Easter, a beautiful mixed-race child who could pass for white, but who still had strong ties to her mother’s coloured roots. Still, Jass was willing to hold a place for Easter in his heart. Jass knew that he could not take his connection to Easter public and buried it by turning to a woman who was more acceptable. Still, as Jass fought his inner urges and demons, he and Easter found time to consummate a passion that could have seen them both brutally punished. One slave in particular, Easter, caught Jass’ eye, though they both knew it was forbidden. Jass matured while surrounded by many of the slaves his family kept, while America began its transformation. Things were going so well that a move to the Deep South, around Atlanta, became an essential, with Jass growing up and soon accepting slaveholding as well. Soon seeing the benefit, Jackson became a slaveholder as he started a family, which included a son, Jass. While Jackson did not see the need, he was encouraged to take slaves as he set himself up to prosper in his new country. After a short time, Jackson settled in Nashville, alongside another family member whose rise to fame was in the making. When he arrived, Jackson felt the electricity of a country that had recently shed its shackles and wanted to be free.

Hailing from a a Protestant family, Jackson knew he could only be safe by traveling to the recently established United States of America at the end of the 18th century. James ‘Jamie’ Jackson was a youth in an Ireland that offered no mercy for its religious minority. Collaborating with David Stevens, Haley develops a strong story that is an essential read for anyone wishing to understand just how intense things got in the South.

The book proves to be an epic overview of the slave era in America, told in a multi-generational narrative that will pull the reader in while exploring a country coming of age. After reading some of Alex Haley’s other work, I could not wait to get my hands on this piece.

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