Shelf Life

Walter Mosley is best known for his mystery stories (Devil in a Blue Dress, Bad Boy Brawley Brown) but he has also written some excellent science fiction books (Blue Light and The Wave). In his first foray into young adult literature he has written a unique story that combines mythology with historical and science fiction. 47 is a slave in antebellum America. His master is vicious and conditions in the slave quarters are brutal. Mosley makes the reality of slave life more vivid than any history book or even any novel I can remember. 47 struggles to survive until a mysterious new slave appears. Tall John, like High John the Conquerer of African-American mythology, comes from far away (“beyond Africa”) and has strange powers. He tells 47 that he has been searching for him because 47 is destined to lead his people out of bondage. Tall John also teaches 47 that he has a destiny to fulfill in a wider struggle against evil.

Mosley ably show not only the depths of human depravity and the incomprehensible brutality of slavery but the strength of the human spirit and how, in many of the characters, kindness and dignity survive despite the violence and degradation. Though there is nothing gratuitous, this is not a book for the squeamish.

Mr. Doyle