A Free State: A Novel, by Tom Piazza
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A Free State: A Novel, by Tom Piazza
Free Ebook Online A Free State: A Novel, by Tom Piazza
The author of City of Refuge returns with a startling and powerful novel of race, violence, and identity set on the eve of the Civil War.
The year is 1855. Blackface minstrelsy is the most popular form of entertainment in a nation about to be torn apart by the battle over slavery. Henry Sims, a fugitive slave and a brilliant musician, has escaped to Philadelphia, where he earns money living by his wits and performing on the street. He is befriended by James Douglass, leader of a popular minstrel troupe struggling to compete with dozens of similar ensembles, who imagines that Henry’s skill and magnetism might restore his troupe’s sagging fortunes.
The problem is that black and white performers are not allowed to appear together onstage. Together, the two concoct a masquerade to protect Henry’s identity, and Henry creates a sensation in his first appearances with the troupe. Yet even as their plan begins to reverse the troupe’s decline, a brutal slave hunter named Tull Burton has been employed by Henry’s former master to track down the runaway and retrieve him, by any means necessary.
Bursting with narrative tension and unforgettable characters, shot through with unexpected turns and insight, A Free State is a thrilling reimagining of the American story by a novelist at the height of his powers.
A Free State: A Novel, by Tom Piazza- Amazon Sales Rank: #716460 in Books
- Brand: Piazza, Tom
- Published on: 2015-09-15
- Released on: 2015-09-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.25" h x .89" w x 5.50" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 256 pages
Review “Informed by history of a reviled and forgotten idiom, loving scholarship about the banjo, and the very passport to freedom of body and spirit, this beautiful writing finds echoes in conflicts that persist-envy, imitation, injustice, brutality, inequality-and ultimately offers hope. I urge you to read it for yourself.” (Elvis Costello, NYPL Book Recommendation)“Tom Piazza’s new novel is a crisply told tale of race relations in Philadelphia a few years before the Civil War, one that brings into sharp relief the tensions that beset Northern society even as it was about to go to war to rid the nation of slavery.” (BookPage)“This trim historical fiction, set in 1855, has all the components of a thrilling pursuit adventure. But the action of A Free State conceals a deeper purpose, which is to probe, through the medium of 19th Century minstrelsy, elaborate contradictions in the antebellum psyche.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)“Piazza, an authority on jazz, blues, and bluegrass, includes fascinating nuggets of musical history and period detail… While the book strives to be both a literary thriller and a meditation on the complexities and contradictions of America’s cultural heritage, its pleasures are mostly those of the well-paced page-turner.” (The New Yorker)“A page-turning novel about real times that are stranger than fiction.” (New York Post)“Informed by the history of a reviled and forgotten idiom, loving scholarship about the banjo, and the very passport to freedom of body and spirit, this beautiful writing finds echoes in conflicts that persist—envy, imitation, injustice, brutality, inequality—and ultimately offers hope. I urge you to read it for yourself.” (Elvis Costello, Omnivoracious)“Piazza’s novel vividly depicts a cultural phenomenon through Henry’s harrowing journey.” (Publishers Weekly)Advance Praise for A FREE STATE: “This rich novel about minstrelsy, slavery, and the dream of escape shows that our demons and our angels haven’t changed much. But the portrait of the struggle is so insightful that it becomes its own strong vision of hope.” (Zachary Lazar, author of I Pity the Poor Immigrant and Sway)“[A Free State] has great kinetic energy, a gripping central narrative, and a host of indelible characters. And, in the current age of identity politics, it speaks to the prevailing cultural obsession with ‘authenticity’ by exposing the fragility of that very notion. A hugely rewarding novel.” (Monica Ali, author of Brick Lane)“Once I’d begun reading A Free State, I couldn’t leave my chair. It combines bite-your-nails tension with deeply felt evocations of the brutalities of slavery, the perplexities of racial masquerading and the transcendent joys of making music. At the end he executes a swerve so bold, it’ll take your breath away.” (David Gates)“A thoughtful examination of the intertwining of race and culture—as well as a truly scary portrait of a genuine psychopath.” (Kirkus Reviews)
From the Back Cover
The author of City of Refuge returns with a startling novel of race, violence, and identity.
The year is 1855. Blackface minstrelsy is the most popular form of entertainment in a nation about to be torn apart by the battle over slavery. Henry Sims, a fugitive slave and a brilliant musician, has escaped to Philadelphia, where he lives by his wits and earns money performing on the street. He is befriended by James Douglass—leader of the Virginia Harmonists, a minstrel troupe struggling to compete with dozens of similar ensembles—who senses that Henry's skill and magnetism could restore his show's sagging fortunes. The problem is that black performers are not allowed to appear onstage, even in Philadelphia. Together the two concoct a dangerous masquerade to protect Henry's identity, and he creates a sensation in his first appearances with the Harmonists. Yet even as the troupe's fortunes begin to improve, a brutal slave hunter named Tull Burton has been employed by Henry's former master to track down the runaway and retrieve him, dead or alive.
A Free State is both a riveting chase novel and a searing parable of liberty and its costs. Charged with narrative tension and unforgettable characters, A Free State is a thrilling work by a novelist at the height of his powers.
About the Author
Tom Piazza is the author of the novels City of Refuge and My Cold War, the post-Katrina manifesto Why New Orleans Matters, the essay collection Devil Sent the Rain, and many other works. He was a principal writer for the HBO drama series Treme and the winner of a Grammy Award for his album notes to Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues: A Musical Journey. He lives in New Orleans.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Slavery and freedom in the 19th century By Paul Mastin Every now and then I'll read a novel that worms its way into my consciousness, quietly asserting itself immediately into my long-term memory, bypassing the spots taken up by more forgettable fiction. A Free State is one of those memorable novels. Tom Piazza masterfully captures life in the mid-nineteenth century, bringing to life a southern plantation, the filthy streets of Philadelphia, and a personal, unforgettable portrait of slavery.As the son of a plantation owner and a slave woman, Henry Sims was never a typical field slave. He learned to read, and played the banjo and sang for the master and his guests. As he grew up and the life and abuse of the plantation became untenable, he made his escape. He found his way to the minstrel shows of Philadelphia, at first passing himself as Spanish, but on stage wearing blackface over his lighter, mixed-race skin.In spite of his incognito appearance, his banjo playing renown catches up with him when a slave hunter tracks him down. In the hunt, the real ugliness and evil of slavery manifests, especially as personified in Tull, the slave hunter. The stories of Tull's exploits, surely based on actual practices, will turn the stomach of any reader.I thoroughly enjoyed A Free State. Piazza doesn't make the slave owner out to be pure evil. (Well, he's pretty evil.) More notably, he doesn't present Henry as some pure, noble character. He is very human, and not necessarily a great moral figure, but he is one with whom the reader can have compassion. Perhaps the most moral figure is the abolitionist senator, but he was also a product of his times, even if more enlightened than most.Piazza captured the views of slavery and slaves from several perspectives. Even those helping him out wanted him to fit a certain mold: "To the abolitionists, Henry was a representative of a subjugated people, nothing less, and nothing more." His friend in the minstrel show reflected on the idyllic plantation scene they used as a backdrop on stage: "I knew that Negroes we depicted so fancifully were, in real life, subject to harsh treatment and compulsory labor." Getting know Henry, he realizes that "I had let myself be deceived, though I should have known better. And now, from behind that beautiful, pernicious illusion, reality had come snarling." As mentioned, Tull's attitude of Henry as property or contraband contrasts with the senator's beginning to see Henry as, if not an equal, at least as a peer and companion.Through all of this, Piazza never seems to impose 21st century moral standards on 19th century characters. I thought Piazza artfully captured the tone of the times. In fact, I found myself wondering if A Free State was actually written in the 19th century. Black slavery in the United States seems like ancient history, but the attitudes and history are still relevant today. This is a novel I highly recommend.Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Bravo, Piazza! By Edward P. Berube Piazza has a command of language, imagery and voice that's nothing short of astonishing, and in this new novel has found a story equal to his gifts. The conception of A Free State is brilliant. The idea that "blacking up" is how the white musicians in the book express their best selves and that escaped slave Henry/Joseph, who is the real thing, must actually assume the same masquerade in order to take part in the "free" society to which he has escaped, is nothing short of genius. It allows Piazza to explore in a sophisticated and natural way what racial identity means in a culture that is, during the period the book takes place, only on the cusp of emerging from slavery. It gives insight into how difficult it will be not only for blacks but for whites to integrate these new ideas of racial identity into a post-slavery country. That Piazza has managed to construct this painful house of mirrors so persuasively and in the service of a fully realized story is remarkable. The shifts in point of view give the book a complexity and breadth of scope that enhance the themes and keep one always engaged--again, the confidence and command to pull that off is impressive. I utterly believed in the world he created, was immersed in it, and happily so. He creates a narrative tension that propels the reader forward and always leaves us feeling as if we are in good hands, that the author has control of the story and is going to take us home. The characters are persuasive, especially the sociopathic slave bounty hunter Tull, whose ruthlessness and brutality is convincing and scary. There is a component of heartbreak in the book, a Good Soldier element of no one getting what they want, that is poignant and heartbreaking and has stayed with this reader long after finishing.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A Simple Tale, With Everything In It By Roy A. Blount Jr. "A Free State" is the taut yet expansive (and delightful yet sobering) complement to "Huckleberry Finn" that we have long been in need of. The runaway slave of "A Free State" is not just a sympathetic MacGuffin, he is the prime mover. And there's no doubt what he's running from is vicious and his jeopardy real. The resolution of Twain's masterpiece is a drag. The last leap of "A Free State" . . . I won't spoil it.
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