Date Finished: November 5, 2017
Page Count: 300
Genre: Historical Fiction
The highly
recommended novel, Chains by Laurie
Halse Anderson (or is was some other historical slavery book I can’t remember
the title of), was not a disappointing read for me these past couple weeks but
at the same time something was a bit off. I should have expected as much from a
book about slavery as the same thing happens every single time.
See, being
an African American I have suppressed my aspects of my culture and avoided it
for the past 5-10 years of my life. It’s not that I don’t have pride; it’s just
that I don’t wish to be associated with my people on a regular basis. The
exception is if the subject of representation in academics and/or the work
force comes up then I’ll gladly stand up for my people to be a good role model
to follow. Another thing about my heritage is how in American history Africans
used to be slaves even when they weren’t, they were considered to be unequal to
white people. It always rubs me the wrong way to read/see/hear about slaves
being abused, sort of like the way it hurts to apply too much pressure to an
old wound or reopen one. The whole ordeal is rather messy though and I don’t know
how I truly feel about the subject, so I would occasionally be yelling at Isabel
to take a stand against the injustice even though I knew the most likely
outcome of such a situation would be death. Despite all this, Isabel’s status
as a slave was probably one of the influences that made me like and dislike the
character of Isabel.
Ahhh
Isabel, first you were Isabel Finch, then Sal Lockton, and finally you went
with Isabel Gardner. I already had enough trouble remembering you first name in
the beginning so why did you always have to be on the edge about your last name
(except at the very end). Aside from having a forgettable name, you had the
sweetest little sister named Ruth that you protected ever so dearly, and who
can’t help but love the loving elder sibling looking out for her seizure-prone
little sibling? Your compassion and devotion to her gave you a goal that was
realistic and relatable, a constant that never changed through the novel. Even
when sold into the cruel establishment of the Locktons you cared not about the
revolutionary war around you, but only keeping Ruth safe and regaining you
freedom. Even when that wretch Madam Lockton “sold” Ruth to the West Indies
into a physician’s house you tried to fight back, and were willing to take out
her mistress and run away for Ruth. Even when you was branded with an, “I” for
attempting to run away and tried to forget Ruth, she subconsciously yearned to
go and find Ruth and finally regain her status as a free man. Everything you
did was for Ruth.
Yet,
despite thinking of others, you made sure to care for yourself too. Always trying
to figure out which side would free you if you joined their side, being sure to
abuse you chores to do your own dirty work, putting your trust in others and
giving them your time such as Curzon and Lady Seymour only to benefit yourself in
the end. How I love to read about your determined strong willed nature and
quick thinking for getting out of jams. It was those times your character shone
the most and Anderson has my praise for executing you so well.
As for your
co-stars, I adored little Ruth (though I might have imagined her younger than
she actually is) with her empty headed nature covering up her good will and curiosity.
She was such a light in the war stained, political bent plot that I was oh so
sorry to see her go. Madam Lockton, the character I love to hate, you reminded
me of Dorothy from the Dorothy Must Die
series I’m probably going to be referencing that series for the rest of the
school year out of salty fondness with your vicious and demanding
personality and interactions with Isabel. I found your character most engaging when
your husband gave you an order and you protested only to receive a brutal
beating to be put in your place, a fine justice in my eyes that made me forgive
your flaws. The most important of the bunch, Curzon, I honestly can’t tell if
you two are going to develop romantic feelings for each other later on in the
series, though it’d be refreshing if you don’t. He was the absolute patriot,
the representative of the American army and a voice of reason for Isabel at
many times. It was you who inspired her to defy her masters and run away with
you. It was these faces and more (but mostly these faces) that brought life to
the story along with you dear Isabel and your interaction with them made you
all the better character.
But enough
about Isabel, let me tell you about Anderson’s writing style. For starters, the
first thing I saw when I started reading the book was that the chapters each
had the date for when the story was taking place and underneath that a quote
that had something to do with the plot of the story. Sometimes I didn’t feel
like reading all of the quotes (especially the long ones), but they often had
some interesting information about what was actually going on during that time.
For instance, in chapter 31 (or whatever XXXI means, honestly, remain numerals
are such a pain to remember) much of New York caught fire and Isabel had to
help Lady Seymour escape. I probably would have wondered if New York actually ever
caught fire during the war if not for the quote at the beginning of the chapter
from the New York Mercury Newspaper briefly describing what happened that night.
It was moments like these that I was happy for Anderson having formatted her
book that way.
Anderson
also was great at writing from the perspective of a slave, writing her struggle
with her position and her morals, making her character convincing enough for us
to follow. I especially enjoyed the metaphor of Isabel having bees in her face
buzzing when she was dazed or angry, making her thoughts become scrambled and illegible
at times. Isabel with a face full of bees is actually what I’d like to draw to
accompany this review yet I fell rather sluggish right now and have little to
no desire to actually execute such an idea which is a shame (also the final
product might be a bit gross and unsuitable for a school blog). Despite the
enjoyable writing, I found the amount of page breaks in a chapter to be
slightly bothersome and at times a waste of pages (think of all the trees that
must have been slaughtered) though they made sense since the chapters often
encompassed many events in a day or multiple days.
As for Anderson’s
purpose which as I pondered upon in the previous blog post, I’d have to say
that this was probably written for entertainment purposes. The story simply
follows Isabel and her quest to liberate her sister and her from slavery and a
couple things may be taught to the reader as they go through the story
depending on how much they know about the American Revolution. Entertaining,
yes but a deeper meaning about freedom, I’m far more dubious about now than
before. Maybe after reading all the books in the series I’ll be able to see
some overarching purpose that links the three books together that’s super
impactful and evolutionary. Even if that’s not the case, this is a great quick
read that keeps the reader entertained among other things.
To
conclude, this book isn’t for everyone though I can say right away that even if
you don’t like historical fiction you should read this book. It doesn’t cover so
much history to the point of being a history textbook written by an English teacher
but rather shows you the impact it has on the life of one of the less fortunate
people in America at the time. Speaking of the devil, Isabel is a headstrong
determined main character that was a real treat in the book and carried much of
the weight through the story. Being told form her perspective, the story wasn’t
the most lighthearted of tales and we get to see her character develop after
much struggling and hardships that keep the story engaging and worth reading.
Anderson herself wrote the story very well, mixing passion and suffering into
her words to where I want to read more of her works and have decided to read
the next book in the trilogy. The good thing about this series though is that
with the way it ends, it doesn’t demand that the reader continue reading on and
can simply be satisfied to some who only read that book. Overall, I recommend this
to the general population and find it a great pleasure to read.
More blog posts on, Chains
