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Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis
Summary
At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, Egan’s book tells the remarkable untold story behind Edward Curtis's iconic photographs, following him throughout Indian country from desert to rainforest as he struggled to document the stories and rituals of more than eighty tribes. Even with the backing of Theodore Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan, it took tremendous perseverance. The undertaking changed him profoundly, from detached observer to outraged advocate. He would die penniless and unknown in Hollywood just a few years after publishing the last of his twenty volumes. But the charming rogue with the grade-school education had fulfilled his promise - his great adventure succeeded in creating one of America's most stunning cultural achievements.
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Reviews
Read this in one day. The second terrific book from Ms Locke. She's fantastically tuned in to race in America and this book deftly reaches back into the past to tell a thoroughly modern story. Of course plot always makes people behave in less than optimal ways or there wouldn't be any crime fiction but here people make bad decisions for believable reasons. This was a fine standalone thriller.
One of the best books I have read this year. At once a gripping mystery and also an exploration of power and race. The characters rang very true to me. Caren's family drama is particularly well drawn. It is complex and we are left without complete resolution. This is how these things really work. I need more of these stories that paint the grey around the current state of race relations. Particularly in the South, there is so much history and complexity. But, there are also everyday lives. I love how this walks the line between the two. It is not a screed and yet the lessons are clearly there. Really, compelling work that is also very readable and enjoyable.
Attica Locke is a terrific writer. She moved me on from one suspense filled scene to another, avoiding cliches, keeping me guessing. She has an eye for detail, keeps the location intimate and vivid, and stays honest with her clues. All of that would be enough. But for me the most compelling aspect of the book is her unflinching look at the social scene and her embrace of all the characters. This is a social commentary intimately entwined with a first class mystery. She is a gifted writer. I hope she keeps at it for a long time.
I found this book disappointing, essentially because of the writing style, which I felt was weak. The plot was OK, if a bit thin for 400 pages and I could not achieve any empathy with the lead character.
so boring...........................hmmmmmll............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Too slow, not for me.
Locke has written a mystery set at a Louisiana plantation, Belle Vie. (Don't bother looking it up as it's an imaginary place! Nonetheless, it sounds lovely.) Caren Gray, the curator, has family ties to the place dating back to her slave ancestor, Jason. Now she and her daughter live there in an apartment above the library. A migrant farm worker from an adjoining sugar cane farm is knifed to death and left on Bell Vie's grounds. Caren realizes that her nine-year-old daughter, Morgan, is somehow involved when she finds blood on her blouse sleeve. One of workers at Belle Vie, Donovan, is arrested for the crime after a summary investigation by the police. Caron spends the rest of the novel unraveling what actually happened to the victim, Inez, as well as to her long-missing ancestor Jason. The book provides a interesting look at life in post-Katrina Louisiana and has a good level of suspense. Recommended.
Well-written mystery about a murder on a former plantation abutting a modern sugar cane farm. Compelling images including the ambivalence of the Southern black population to preserving historic Civil War sites, the connection that former slaves might have to a symbol of repression. Unexpectedly moving in places, and a good sense of place.
I just couldn't get in to this book. As other people have said way too many characters to keep track of at the plantation. Very choppy writing questionable editing but ultimately it was a story I was never able to get into. I would like to try the author's first book and see if it was different.
This was a good mystery that kept my interest and one of the few I wasn't sure " who dun it." Easy, fast read.
Another library shelf lottery read - because, on a personal tangent, finding new and different books is about the only perk of my job these days. Anyway, I did enjoy this quasi-historical murder mystery, set on a Louisiana plantation in the present day, even if the pacing was a little off. Reading about the Deep South is one of my literary weaknesses, coming from the UK and having only ever visited Florida for a fortnight's holiday. The descriptions of humid heat and thunderstorms, mouth-watering local cuisine and almost tangible aromas ('the cane, like cut grass and sweet milk, damp and terrestrial, the scent of southern Louisiana'), not to mention the history and culture, create a powerful atmosphere that supports the story. Belle Vie, the plantation, is also captivating, more a central character than a location (I was more concerned for the house and grounds than solving the mystery, to be honest).The plot could have been tighter, I feel. Dipping into Caren's backstory might help get a sense of her life, but since she is only really there to solve the crime, I was impatient to return to the story, whenever the narrative started delving into her relationship with Eric, daughter Morgan, or her late mother. The murder was cleverly handled, though, with a couple of convincing red herrings and a scapegoat. And I'm strangely glad that there wasn't a neat conclusion with regards to Caren and the future of Belle Vie.An engrossing, evocative mystery, recommended for the scenery alone!
A suspenseful tale of murder old and new on a restored Louisiana plantation. The protagonist, Caren Gray, is general manager and event co-ordinator for Belle Vie, a combination museum/historical site/event venue where her ancestors have served for generations, going back to a man named Jason, who was a slave there at the time of the Emancipation. Modern agribusiness has its eye on Belle Vie, and its future is uncertain. Caren's past is a bit messy, and her future is none too clear either. When an undocumented migrant worker from the adjoining cane fields is found dead just over the fence line on Belle Vie property, life becomes even more complicated for the whole plantation "family". There are just a few too many story lines going on here, the most interesting of which, in my opinion, was given short shrift. But the setting was fascinating, and the pages seemed to turn themselves. A solid three star read that could have been a 4+, if the story had been either tightened up as a pure murder mystery, or expanded to develop the 19th century elements into a true historical novel.Review written January 19, 2015
Locke has written a mystery set at a Louisiana plantation, Belle Vie. (Don't bother looking it up as it's an imaginary place! Nonetheless, it sounds lovely.) Caren Gray, the curator, has family ties to the place dating back to her slave ancestor, Jason. Now she and her daughter live there in an apartment above the library. A migrant farm worker from an adjoining sugar cane farm is knifed to death and left on Bell Vie's grounds. Caren realizes that her nine-year-old daughter, Morgan, is somehow involved when she finds blood on her blouse sleeve. One of workers at Belle Vie, Donovan, is arrested for the crime after a summary investigation by the police. Caron spends the rest of the novel unraveling what actually happened to the victim, Inez, as well as to her long-missing ancestor Jason. The book provides a interesting look at life in post-Katrina Louisiana and has a good level of suspense. Recommended.
I listened to the audio version of this novel, and the reader really brought the book to life. The real story here is the history of the plantation life in the south during the precivil war days and the heritage it left to the many descendents of both the slave population as well as to the white landowners. The mystery is actually secondary and a means to move the story along albeit a little slowly. I wished the characters had been a little more fully developed and that their motivations for doing and saying what they did a little clearer, but overall, a good read.
Very disappointing book. Premise was good, and has an interesting assortment of characters. Unfortunately, the book was dry and the characters were flat.
A sad yet exhilarating saga of a phenomenal artist. Author Egan does a splendid job with a difficult topic, photographs. His careful chronological story is easy to listen to and evocative of the time and myriad locations. He does CURTIS' memory proud.
Caren manages the plantation which has been in the Clancy family for generations. Now a tourist attraction and a venue for weddings and upscale parties, Caren oversees staged plays of the plantation’s history, lavish receptions and parties, and in essence, cares for the people who work there. When a young woman is found murdered on the premises, Caren is drawn unwillingly into the depths of the police investigation. Not only does it seem like one her workers is somehow involved with some shady behavior, it may be that her own daughter knows more than she is telling. And it seems like a cover-up of a death generations ago is somehow connected. This tale bogs down in connecting the past with the present. Though an interesting setting and mystery, the characters are not well developed nor are the storylines fully explored. In trying to maintain an air of mystery as the story unfolds, the tale instead just becomes stagnant. A good idea, just not a well written story.
Caren Gray and her family have lived and worked on Belle Vie as long as she can recall. Now Caren is managing the sprawling plantation she feels a responsibility to both her staff (Belle Vie is their livelihood) and daughter (Belle Vie being the only home she knows) to keep the place running. The sugar cane plantation next door has always been a concern, but never so much as since the body of a young woman was found on the dividing line between the two properties. As the investigation into the murder continues Caren becomes more and more involved, not only in the police investigation but some of the secrets it uncovers about the plantation and her own family.
Ms. Locke received many accolades for her first book Black Water Rising. I did not read that book so I have no basis for comparison, but in light of all that praise I was a little disappointed in this book. Personally, I felt there was too much going on … was this a murder mystery? Was this a historical look at the old south? Was this a commentary on migrant workers? All of those points make for interesting reading, but combine too many and it just frustrates me as a reader.
Ms. Locke received many accolades for her first book Black Water Rising. I did not read that book so I have no basis for comparison, but in light of all that praise I was a little disappointed in this book. Personally, I felt there was too much going on … was this a murder mystery? Was this a historical look at the old south? Was this a commentary on migrant workers? All of those points make for interesting reading, but combine too many and it just frustrates me as a reader.
A memorable book, set in New Orleans. Good characters, ended right. Descriptions excellent. Well-written.
Well written crime story set on an ex plantation in Louisiana. The story is layered & complex themes regarding slavery, race & migration in modern day America emerge. Very good characterisation of protagonist & place is vividly conjured. Attica Locke is one to watch.
Won through Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.This book was a well written page turner. I enjoyed it very much. The suspense held me captive. Very impressed as only the author's 2nd book. I will certainly keep an eye out for more from her.
After enjoying Attica Locke's first novel, Black Water Rising, I expected another fast-paced, tense, and action-filled story. The Cutting Season was a disappointment in all three areas. Aside from the finding of a body in a shallow grave, everything else in the first 3/4 of the book seemed like background or side-story. Very little happened to advance the plot. As I started to listen, I groaned aloud at the narrator's voice. She sounded like a cranky child. But within a few minutes I got used to her, and appreciated her clear diction and the appropriate emotional content of her reading. Quincy Tyler Bernstine's narration actually improved the story.A romantic scene seemed to be added for no purpose at all; it gave little insight into the characters beyond making me like them a bit less for their questionable encounter. As with much of the text, it had nothing to do with the plot.I have already recommended Black Water Rising to many friends, and will continue to do so, but I've also started adding "but avoid Locke's second book."
I enjoyed this book more than the author's first book, Black Water Rising,. I found the story very compelling and loved the interaction for our protagonist, Caren, and her ancestral family past as slaves on the very plantation she now managed. There is a nice story as a single mother raising her precocious nine year old daughter and the mystery, such as it was, was intriguing. I think I would have to agree with several other reviewers that some of the characterization just felt flat. There were plenty of other characters to interact with but something was missing. There was a good deal of background information as to how slaves were treated and what occurred during the freedom of Reconstruction and that was all handle very well. Her descriptive passages are very detailed and very complete. I like the author and look forward to the next book as I did enjoy both of her recent publications.
I found myself sucked into this story right from the start. I have a bit of a thing for old homes, and tour them every chance I’ve get. I’ve even been to Oak Alley Plantation, outside of New Orleans, which I believe is the inspiration for Belle Vie. So the unusual setting for this novel appealed to me.The writing is beautiful, and I liked the characters, for the most part. I actually found Caren to be one of the weaker characters. There’s not very much that is interesting or unique about her, other than her ability to mess up every relationship she’s ever had, romantic or familial. I’m still not sure I quite understand what her problem with her mother was. And she really just happens upon the solution to the mystery, rather than actually figuring it out. I also ended up confusing a lot of the Belle Vie workers with one another, especially towards the end.As far as the mystery goes, I found myself more interested in its effect on the workers of Belle Vie than in finding out whatever happened to the poor woman. I also ended up feeling a bit cheated, because you’re lead to believe that there is a connection between this woman’s murder and the disappearance of Caren’s ancestor, and it doesn’t pay off. In fact, we never truly find out what (or who) it is that was found in the fields.Overall, I found this to be a relatively satisfying read. There’s a definite undercurrent of social issues, but the author’s agenda is not overpowering. I certainly liked it enough to pick up something else by Locke.“Still, she took it as a sign. A reminder, really, that Belle Vie, its beauty, was not to be trusted. That beneath its loamy topsoil, the manicured grounds and gardens, two centuries of breathtaking wealth and spectacle, lay a land both black and bitter, soft to the touch, but pressing in its power. She should have known that one day it would spit out what it no longer had use for, the secrets it would no longer keep.”
Caren Gray is the manager of the plantation Belle Vie. It is rather ironic that she is in charge of the property since a few generations back her ancestors were slaves in the field and had no choice in the matter. Now instead of providing food, the plantation entertains tourists and school groups as well as hosting weddings. Caren has done her best to convince herself that this is the life that she wants to lead even though she used to be in law school and was the partner in a loving relationship with the father of her daughter. All of that has slipped passed her and now her days consist of being a single mother to Morgan and trying to manage the wily cast of characters that make up the staff of the plantation not to mention it's eccentric owners who have known Caren since childhood. Life hums along for Caren until one day a young woman, one of the migrant farm workers from the farm next door, is found murdered on the Belle Vie property. The murder is tied to the disappearance of one Caren's slave ancestors. Although Caren has done a pretty good job of sticking her head in the ground to avoid unpleasant things in her life she will need to confront the past head on, both her recent past and the past history of her family.Caren is a lovely character and you can't help rooting for her even though she has made a mistake in her past where you can hardly believe that the level headed character you are presented with could have ever been that stupid. The story is a very interesting one but the pacing is very slow for a mystery/ thriller novel. Although the novel concept was a great one the execution of the story line had some problems putting in just under a four star read for me.
Caren Gray's life, past and present, has always been tied to the Belle Vie Plantation. Belle Vie is her childhood home. Caren Gray also has ancestral ties to Belle Vie. Her great-great-great grandfather, Jason, was a slave and later a free man on this very plantation. On what Caren thought was another routine day as manager of Belle Vie Plantation, she came across a body lying face down and at that moment Belle Vie began to reveal the secrets it could no longer keep. The Cutting Season is well organized and logically constructed. Locke gave the reader a history lesson dating back to slavery along with some investigative journalism into lives of migrant workers and their impact on a community. Locke deals with the class divisions within the African-American community reminding me of Toni Morrison's, TarBaby. There is a lot to keep in order all while the suspense of the murder investigation keeps you on edge. The more the murder investigation unfolds the more Caren discovers about her own life. Levelheaded would be the word I would use to describe Caren Gray. She is a single mother trying to raise her daughter and balance a career. Caren has to manage a plantation which is a busy tourist attraction along with its many employees who love to challenge her authority. Frankly, when I chose The Cutting Season I had no idea that it would read the way it did. It was a beautiful surprise. I can't say I fell in love with the story but the beauty was in Locke's writing style and the overall construction of the novel. From start to finish you knew you were in the hands of a skilled writer because the issues were relevant and woven deep into the narrative. Locke's prose was stunning. This book was provided by the publisher. Views and opinions are my own.
Caren Gray manages Belle Vie, a restored plantation in Louisiana, now a tourist attraction. The body of a Latina migrant worker from the adjoining industrial sugarcane farm is found on the estate. Caren is drawn into the investigation of the case which seems to be related to the murder of her great-great-great-grandfather who worked at Belle Vie as both a slave and a free man.History is very much a character in the novel; it is a palpable presence to which people frequently allude. It soon becomes clear that the past has shaped people’s identities and lives and continues to shape their choices in the present. This is most obviously the case for Caren. There are also parallels between past and present. The poor wages, substandard living conditions, prejudice, and mistreatment experienced by post-Civil War blacks is mirrored to some extent in the wages, living conditions, prejudice, and mistreatment that are the lot of the migrant labourers.Locke excels at using the plantation to create atmosphere. From the beginning it is clear that this beautiful, apparently civilized setting hides long-buried strife and discord. Belle Vie is “not to be trusted. . . beneath its loamy topsoil, the manicured grounds and gardens, two centuries of breathtaking wealth and spectacle, lay a land both black and bitter, soft to the touch, but pressing in its power” (4).The book has the requisite suspense and red herrings, but the characterization of the protagonist bothered me. Caren is so very unobservant. As a manager she makes daily tours of the estate, but she is blind to so much that is going on at Belle Vie. She studied law for a couple of years, but she mishandles evidence she discovers and withholds information from investigators, usually for no convincing reason. At the end there is a major revelation concerning her ancestor but she is uninterested in following up on its implications. There are other flaws in the novel. The police investigators are stereo-typed as incompetent and myopic, as befitting a small town!? There are unanswered questions; for instance, much is made of the victim’s desire to find another home, but no satisfactory explanation is given as to why when her living situation is almost ideal in many ways. The ending is also less than satisfying. We learn that the perpetrator disagrees with the actions of a family member but aided him nonetheless? Furthermore, the final confrontation between Caren and the murderer is staged; it is doubtful that he could arrive at the location before Caren, given the time span involved, and the reasons for some of his behaviour during that confrontation are unclear. Then there are the annoying shifts from direct dialogue to narrated dialogue for no discernible reason.I admire Locke’s ability to expand the genre of crime fiction by including a theme about the connections between past and present, but I was disappointed with some of the plotting and characterization.
I liked this southern mystery even though at times the story kind of slowed for me; it wasn’t an edge of your seat kind of mystery, but good none the less. However I am still not sure if I really liked our heroine Caren, it seemed like she had some problems with letting people get close to her including her own daughter, I never felt like theirs was a really close relationship even though it felt at times like the author was trying to force me to feel that it was. I felt at times that Caren was very anti-social and even when the other people at Belle Vie tried to befriend her she was very stand offish.I wish I could have learned more about Caren’s childhood and when it came to telling Jason’s story I did feel like the ending was a bit flat. Also this was too easy to put down. I wish the historical story had been given more time I think this and Caren’s childhood would have added another dimension that this was lacking. But I am not saying I didn’t enjoy this book, it started out strong but for me fell flat at the end. I think it was Caren that maybe turned me off she wasn't very likable and I think this book would have worked better if she had been. Narrtion of the this audiobook was done by, Quincy Tyler Bernstine who was a new to me narrator but I thought did a very good job I thought her voice was kind of a cross between Bahni Turpin & Jenna Lamia so I will definitely watch for more by this narrator .I know a lot of people enjoyed this book more than I did so I say give it a try for yourself and see what you think. I do highly recommend the audio version.3 Stars-Good Book but some things didn't connect with me
In Louisiana within sight of the Mississippi River, there is Belle Vie. When I began to walk within the old plantation house, I thought 'if these walls could talk.' After all, Belle Vie knew all the secrets of the Clancy family and the families of the slaves.Good and bad deeds had taken place there. There were bones on the property to prove it. Words had been spoken there. Some words were lies, and some words were true. Attica Locke's period in American History is the Civil War and the aftermath of the war to the present time. "Most black folks with roots in Louisiana could trace their people back before the war, when slaves had built the state's sugar..."Always, there were secrets. Whoever grew curious to look for the answers to the secrets didn't live to tell the truth. For example, Inez Avalo, a migrant worker, who meant no harm to any one, but brought horrible harm to herself. This is not just a deep, dark mystery. It's about a place with a historical story to tell. For example, the cutting season is harvest time on the plantation. Leave it to me I didn't think of that as the meaning of the title until one night the meaning became clear within a few sentences in the book, THE CUTTING SEASON."The cutting season, the harvest, is late fall, and goes until the first frost. It's been that ways for hundreds of years." As I read Clancy's bright idea for Belle Vie my thoughts turned to the importance of maintaining history at whatever cost. Not allowing greed to sway the mind from the importance of keeping alive what our ancestors have built and died for during wars and aftermaths of wars. Merging with another business just to make more money is so shallow and shortsighted when it comes to keeping the meaning of our lives alive in architecture, legends, etc."Caren paused over the name. She thought by now she'd heard all the stories, the legends and tall tales. But she had never heard....."Our History is a part of ourselves. Just like our blood flows through us, times of long ago flow through us, our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. More money is not important. Leaving bridges to our past is what will build confidence within us.After all the plantations have a deep desire to tell the stories in their way. If I listen, this is what will come through the leaves and twigs."The plantation was a chorus of whispered voices. The wind in the tree leaves, the wind in her hair, and the long, green fingers...."atticalocke
Superficially at least, this book is billed is a murder-mystery – which I think might be a mistake. Certainly I can see why readers expecting a Val McDermid style murder mystery might be disappointed.However, this book is much, much more than a murder mystery. There are several threads, all interesting in themselves:-the murder and ensuing police investigation-the current and future status of the house and grounds – which is quite mystical in places, and rather political in others -the exploitation of migrant workers and the tensions between immigrants from Latin America and indigenous black people-a mystery around the disappearance of a slave from the plantation in 1872, and some associated history from that era-Caren’s own complicated and sometimes painful, relationships with her daughter, and with the father of her daughter (who is now planning to marry another woman), and her feelings of loss and guilt about her dead mother.For me, this last is the strongest part of the book. I felt that it reads like a “slice-of-life” story, with the murder-mystery there primarily to justify our interest in Caren’s life. I loved the complexity of the intertwining threads and did not find the pace slow or boring at all. I loved the sheer messiness of Caren’s life (just like mine!) and they way there weren’t any easy answers at the end.I found all the separate threads interesting and thought they were well combined to make a balanced whole. Highly recommended.