Ray Chen Smith Presents Extraordinary Thriller on Underground Railroad!

Harriet Tubman, an African American abolitionist and conductor
 of  the Underground Railroad. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"Della crouched behind the shrubs, held on to
Cece, and prayed they hadn't been noticed.
Through the scant leaf cover, she could no longer
see the mounted patrolman who'd appeared a
block away. Just the same view of the lifeless 
Richmond neighborhood with its red brick homes,
every window black at four in the morning.
"The nearby James River rapids roared and the
singsong of the night insects further muffled the
cop's movements--just as they had earlier muted
the women's escape from the plantation...
"She felt Cece recoil beside her, and she knew the
younger woman had also spotted the emblem.
This was no ordinary policeman but a deputy
of the Fugitive Slave Agency..."
~~~

The Jazz Cage

By Ray Chen Smith


If there is another book out there that has taken the history of "The Underground Railroad" and made it into one of the most exciting thrillers I've read, I'll be very surprised. We all learned and studied about the Railroad, but not until Smith's book had I thought about the depth of the danger involved...

Or the lack of real change after the Civil War had ended...

The Jazz Cage takes place in 1924, 60 years after the War...But that did not mean that the slaves had been
freed. Especially for those that had been owned by rich white men!

Wills was a millionaire, mostly made from bootlegging, as the Prohibition was still in effect. And he is the true villain in this book, although there are many! Wills was known as monster to the female slaves. Cece had been traumatized when he took her when she was just 10. Now at 20, she would still escape into that place that women go when being abused in ways no child could ever understand.

Della was also there, but she was a stronger woman and had only hate to keep her that way. Cece was not able to be on her own. They called her changes before "It" and after "It" and when something threw her back into her real life, her eyes would glaze over and Della knew she was not there at that time...But she kept Cece with her and when she had a chance, she and Cece left with the representative of the Underground Railroad....

"The two men were heading back to the neighborhoods
around Byrd Park, the twenty-acre green kidney that
Frank suspected the girls had hidden in the night of
their escape. But the morning interviews had given no
support to that theory since nobody saw anything.
"Maybe they didn't go past the park," Isaac said midway
down an alley...
"Isaac, unless the girls sprouted wings, this place is the
only way they could've gotten out. You can't expect
people to be looking out their windows in the early
morn--"
"You two Yankees the ones who's been asking
stupid questions..."
~~~

But as soon as it was discovered, Wills sent two of his men to find them and bring them back!

Frank McCluey is certainly an unlikely hero, yet that's what he became. He was a bounty hunter working for the mob and Wills had sent him on the hunt...

Whether Frank had already started to change when he'd lost his lover who was "considered a red commie," or whether he just could not stand to send the two women back into Wills' house, or perhaps it was because Della hated him so much and he started to feel guilty... Why is unimportant, because Frank chose to help the two escape!

Frank also had a young man with him--Isaac was the heir apparent of the mob boss, and Frank had been asked to keep him safe. So when he had decided to help the women, he tried to send Isaac back home. But Isaac had become close to Frank and respected him. He chose to stay and help...

So here's what we have readers, we have the abolitionists and those that oppose their activities. We have the mob and their concerns about running booze. We have the local law officers in any given place, and we have those who work directly for the rich men who are sent out to "assist..."

And then we have the Hound...A Confederate agent who discovered early in his life that anybody who crossed him, could be...eliminated...

Readers will enjoy the chase as one group versus another get into the action. But no matter what, Frank chose to stay with Della and Cece. The first mix-up resulted in the guide for Della and Cece being killed...along with the group that had been chasing. But Della had taken careful notes and they soon started toward the next hiding location. When they finally got there, everything was dusty and looked like it hadn't been used for a very long time--but at least there was canned food!

The relationship between Della and Frank went between fear and anger, with no trust from Della and Frank afraid of being near Cece because she now considered every white man a monster...

Believe it! There was no way that I had earlier been "involved" with the run experienced by those slaves who were even lucky enough to make contact with the abolitionists. This book takes you into that hunt. I called it an exciting thriller at the beginning, which it probably is for a specific genre...but, believe me, you soon have no ability to be anything but sympathetic and holding your breath as each time Frank or Della succeed in making it through another chase or trap...

And the action never stops. You will possibly cry, as I did, at the end when it looks like there are just too many in the chase against the three...You will experience the panic, the feeling of defeat...

And the amazing ending...

If you, too, never "felt" the feelings of those escaping slavery, please make this a must-read, like I consider it. BRH has missed Black History Month by a few days...but this book is highly recommended as a literary statement that we should all experience during this time of looking back in "our own history"...

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_A_Ride_for_Liberty_--_The_Fugitive_Slaves_-_Eastman_Johnson_-

GABixlerReviews

Ray Chen Smith is a writer and teacher living in Los Angeles, California.
In his late twenties, he wrote a literary novel set in China then decided it wasn't fit for public consumption. He did, however, chop up a couple of parts and sold the chunks to literary magazines. (Both stories can be downloaded for free from his website.)
For his second novel, he decided to go unabashedly commercial, and The Jazz Cage is the result.
He is currently finishing up his third novel, a thriller titled Dawn at Midnight.
Further information--the aforementioned short stories, a more detailed biography--can be found on Ray's website:
www.raychensmith.com
He also welcomes comments, positive or otherwise, to his email address:
raychensmith@gmail.com

Review: 1924 Poetry Book, The Marble Faun by William Faulkner, Reprinted as Part of Centennial Special!

Centennial Special
The Marble Faun

By William Faulkner



Adolph Caso, Editor
Branden Books
ISBN: 9780828321921
219 Pages



Celebrate! There are many reasons to celebrate the Centennial Special 1909 to 2009!

· It features William Faulkner’s 1924 First Book – The Marble Faun!
· It celebrates the 100-year history of Branden Books!
· Photos of early book covers and publishing staff through the years are included!
· Back and Front covers showing the art work, Boy Fishing by Marjorie Very and Boston Scene by Randolph Brown! (shown above)
· A complete bibliography, by respective publisher/owners for 100 years!
· An excellent commentary on The Marble Faun by Nicole Starrett, granddaughter of Adolph Caso!

For poetry lovers and readers of William Faulkner, a total reprint of “a copy” of his first and only poetry book will be coveted! I thought it was interesting in these days of arguing over self-published versus being published by major publishing companies, that his friend Phil Stone, who indicated that he felt Faulkner’s work showed promise subsidized his first book: Perhaps we should all remember these early days when talent was supported by those that loved literature and the arts!

Here’s a short passage from the Prologue to give readers a taste of his book-length poem:

                     Why am I sad? I?
Why am I not content? The sky
Warms me and yet I cannot break
My marble bonds. That quick keen snake
Is free to come and go, while I
Am prisoner to dream and sigh
For things I know, yet cannot know,
‘Twixt sky above and earth below.
The spreading earth calls to my feet
Of orchards bright with fruits to eat,
Of hills and streams on either hand;
Of sleep at night on moon-blanched sand:
The whole world breathes and calls to me
Who marble-bound must ever be. (p. 12)

If I were free, then I would go... (p. 13)

May I just say that having the opportunity to read and add to your home library the first book of a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize author is a rare opportunity!

Nicole Starrett, "Nikki," who is a Sophomore at Amherst College and granddaughter of Adolfo and Margaret Caso, was asked to write a commentary on one of the most important authors who had been published by Branden Publishing Company. Her highlights included that while Faulkner was a literary giant, he had never graduated from high school or received a college degree, but had, in less than a decade, churned out some of the best books ever written by an American.

Branden Books, which had been the Four Seas Company in 1924, printed only 1000 copies and its reception was "lukewarm." Fortunately for America he turned to novel writing.

Yet, Ms. Starrett states, that his choice of material upon which to write provided proof that his primary goal was to become an author. She notes that he is "unhesitating and precise in his use of language. His words stream freshly and freely, radiating unselfconsciousness that more accomplished poets pursue in vain." (p. 165)

Starrett concludes with a comment from her grandfather publisher when he points out "It is hard to imagine the discipline he had to have had in mastering the metrical structure of prosody which is more normally used by established poets than by writers without any formal education and writing experience." Indeed!

I thought it important to highlight that what has been published is an actual copy of the 1924 original "mottled green boards, with the paper label on the front cover designed by Marjorie Very, showing a faun with pipes seated among leaves." (p. 160)

Ok, I have to admit that when Adolfo wrote me that the book was coming out and that he was inviting me to the 100th birthday celebration--and that I was listed in the book--I was thrilled! To be part of an established legendary publishing company that has been publishing continuously a wide and diversified array of books, mostly nonfictional, that continue to be received in high regard by the public for 100 years, and still going strong, well, you've just got to be pleased to have been just a small part of their activities!

Get this once in a lifetime book, which features the reprinting of 1924 book, The Marble Faun, by William Faulkner for your personal library today!


And, by the way, please continue on to see pictures from that celebration I mentioned and also check out a poem written by Adolfo Caso as part of the exciting event!



G. A. Bixler