14 Apr / Yonder by Jabari Asim [in Booklist]
*STARRED REVIEW
Chameleonic writer Jabari Asim’s second novel after Only the Strong (2015) gets historical with a cast of enslaved Black characters – searingly called the Stolen, their white enslavers rightfully are Thieves – who attempt to survive the atrocities of the antebellum South. “All of us have two tongues,” Janina Edwards opens as the narrator. “The first is for them. A broken joke of language . . . The second is for us. It is a song of dreams and drums, whispered promises and incantations.” And yet for each of the Stolen, the intimacy of their communications with each other “can bring us to ruin,” risking vulnerabilities that reveal fears, desperation, joy, and most especially love.
Each of the remarkable, seasoned performers seems well aware how the stunning beauty of Asim’s lyrical writing ironically serves to amplify the brutality woven throughout. Adam Lazarre-White is measured William, who, driven by an inner strength, leans toward a gentleness nurtured by his love for Margaret, who is at turns desperate and determined in Joniece Abbott-Pratt’s presentation. JD Jackson aches as soulful Cato. Lamarr Gulley inspires both suspicion and hope as freedom-encouraging Preacher Ransom.
A single production quibble looms: that rare who-read-whom would have added closing excellence.
Review: “Media,” Booklist, March 15, 2022
Readers: Adult
Published: 2022