SWEETSMOKE

At first, the relentless gravitas in Ezra Knight's reading of this Civil War novel threatens to become monotonous, if not burdensome. But soon enough, as the routine terrors of life for the American slave characters—beatings, maimings, the selling-off of loved ones—reveal themselves, Knight's solemnity and foreboding seem nothing less than essential. And his lively rendering of all manner of characters—slaves, masters, spies, slave-hunters—makes certain that the listener's attention never wavers. Fuller's fully realized first novel tells the story of a resourceful slave named Cassius who seeks revenge for the murder of an elderly freed slave. The novel is a mystery, but one that, with that aid of a powerful narration, is more interested in the brutality of plantation life and the complexity of its relationships. M.O. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2009]