In the small Louisiana farming community of Cane River, Lalita Tademy’s ancestors were women whose lives began in slavery, who weathered the Civil War, and who grappled with the contradictions of emancipation through the turbulent
early years of the 20th century. Through it all, they fought to unite their family and forge success on their own terms.
On a medium-sized Creole plantation owned by a family named Derbanne, amid small farmhouses and a tightly knit community of French-speaking slaves, free people of color and whites, Tademy's great-great-great-great grandmother Elisabeth would bear
both a proud heritage and the yoke of slavery. Her youngest daughter, Suzette, would be the first to discover the promise—and heartbreak—of freedom. Suzette's strong-willed daughter Philomene would use determination born of tragedy to reunite her
family and gain unheard-of economic independence. And Emily, Philomene's spirited daughter, would fight to secure her children's just due and preserve their future against dangerous odds.
In Cane River, an accessible novel that combines painstaking historical reconstruction with unforgettable storytelling, Lalita Tademy presents an all too rarely seen part of American history, complete with a provocative portrayal of the complex,
unspoken bonds between slaves and slave owners. Most of all, she gives us the saga of real, flesh-and-blood women making hard choices in the face of unimaginable loss, securing their identity and independence in order to face any obstacle, and inspiring all the generations to come.
Cane River is, or will soon be, available at the Library in the following formats:
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