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Title details for Stand the Storm by Breena Clarke - Available

Stand the Storm

A Novel

by Breena Clarke
Richard Allen
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
Even though Sewing Annie Coats and her son, Gabriel, have managed to buy their freedom, their lives are still marked by constant struggle and sacrifice. Washington's Georgetown neighborhood, where the Coatses operate a tailor's shop and laundry, is supposed to be a "promised land" for former slaves, but it is effectively a frontier town, gritty and dangerous, with no laws protecting black people.


The remarkable emotional energy with which the Coatses wage their daily battles—as they negotiate with their former owner, as they assist escaped slaves en route to freedom, as they prepare for the encroaching war, and as they strive to love each other enough—is what propels Stand the Storm and makes the novel's tragic denouement so devastating.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 3, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400128785
      • File size: 301140 KB
      • Duration: 10:27:22

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Richard Allen has it all: the man carries a story as if it were a beloved child, sings as if his heart will break, and expresses emotion as if he invented it. In this novel he takes the Coats family from slavery to freedom and an uncertain future. His depictions of men and women are equally good, and his ability to interpret the author's directives is flawless. Allen is most amazing when he reads emotional passages. His depiction of freedman Gabriel's outrage at a new regulation that may enslave his daughters transports the listener to the very scene. And Allen's handling of death is so reverent the words almost go unnoticed. The story's shocking details and heartbreaking conclusion underscore the complex dimensions of slavery and the struggle for freedom. J.J.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from May 19, 2008
      Clarke returns with a bittersweet slavery-era saga, partially set—like her smash 1999 Oprah-pick, River, Cross My Heart
      —in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown. On Ridley Plantation in rural Maryland, Gabriel Coats picks up his mother Annie's seamstress skills with remarkable ease, but is sold at age 10 to established Georgetown tailor Abraham Pearl. For eight years, Gabriel works hard and keeps an eye on freedom for his family as the Washington abolitionist movement gains momentum. Master Ridley's nephew Aaron begins overseeing the tailoring shop, and Gabriel and Annie busily create sartorial masterpieces as war steadily approaches. By the time freedom becomes a reality, only a few of the Coatses emerge with their pride and abilities intact. Clarke gets the details—emotional, political, domestic, religious—right across the board and crafts complex and appealing characters. Her knowledge of the period and the novel's dense, deliberate narrative create a poignant story about the intricacies of human bondage and its dissolution, built around a family's unshakable faith in one another.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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