Stand the Storm

by Breena Clarke

Overview

"Passionate, dramatic, and uplifting" (Washington Post), Stand the Storm is an "evocative, historically rich" novel (Time) from the author of River, Cross My Heart set among the free African American community of pre-Civil War Washington, DC.

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 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.



"A gripping novel about a family's heart-wrenching journey out of slavery." —Baltimore Sun

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316007054
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	06/24/2009
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Breena Clarke grew up in Washington, DC, and was educated at Webster College and Howard University. She is the author of two widely praised novels, River, Cross My Heart, which was a selection of Oprah's Book Club, and Stand the Storm. She lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Clarke's sensitivity and her lyrical, earthy narration bring a freshness to the somber subject matter." —-Kirkus Starred Review

Editorial Reviews

"Calling all book clubs! Breena Clarke, whose River, Cross My Heart was an Oprah pick, scores again...She tells the deeply affecting story of a family of freed slaves in an evocative, historically rich book that brings the turbulent Civil War period alive."—Time

"A gripping novel about a family's heart-wrenching journey out of slavery."—Baltimore Sun

"Breena Clarke again delivers a gripping story and seemingly effortlessly captures the bond between a mother and son and the price of freedom."—Ebony

From the Publisher

"Almost a decade later, Stand the Storm is a fulfilling follow-up, written with the same restraint and sensitivity that made her earlier novel such a hit."

Krista Walton - Washington City Paper

"... 'Stand the Storm' is a powerful story quietly told."

Robin Vidimos - The Denver Post

"Fans of River, Cross My Heart will instantly recognize the author's poetic sentences and the powerful emotional scenes that leave us breathless."

Mika Ono Benedyk - Essence

"A gripping novel about a family's heart-wrenching journey out of slavery."

Felicia Pride - Baltimore Sun

"Clarke again delivers a gripping story and seemingly effortlessly captures the bond between a mother and son and the price of freedom."

Ebony

"Calling all book clubs! Clarke, whose debut novel, River, Cross My Heart, was a 1999 Oprah pick, scores again with this Civil War-era saga, set in Washington. She tells the deeply affecting story of a family of freed slaves in an evocative, historically rich book that brings the turbulent period alive. The author neither averts her eye from, nor sugarcoats the truth about, the uphill struggle for dignity in this gritty town. A-"

TIME

Almost a decade later, Stand the Storm is a fulfilling follow-up, written with the same restraint and sensitivity that made her earlier novel such a hit.
— Washington City Paper

Krista Walton

... 'Stand the Storm' is a powerful story quietly told.
— The Denver Post

Robin Vidimos

Fans of River, Cross My Heart will instantly recognize the author's poetic sentences and the powerful emotional scenes that leave us breathless.
— Essence

Mika Ono Benedyk

A gripping novel about a family's heart-wrenching journey out of slavery.
— Baltimore Sun

Felicia Pride

I loved this book. I loved these people: The Coats family of Stand the Storm are quasi-free Negroes living in Georgetown just before, during and after the Civil War. Breena Clarke has written another stirring work of historical fiction that weaves the passionate, dramatic and uplifting story of the African American aspiration for true freedom into the great American tapestry.
—The Washington Post

Gail Buckley

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. (July)

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Publishers Weekly

After her Oprah-pick debut (River, Cross My Heart, 1999), an African-American novelist delivers a compassionate portrait of the terrors and hopes of slaves. With its slightly clipped period language, coolly measured tone and rich supply of telling detail, Clarke's second novel delves into a compelling social panorama of black servitude in Washington, D.C., as the Civil War begins. The book's heart is the Coats family-Sewing Annie and her equally dexterous children, Gabriel and Ellen-initially bondspersons, then freed, around whom forms a circle of other black characters, some escaped, some raped and beaten, some passing as white. Their individual experiences include variously vicious, pragmatic or, very occasionally, kind owners, while beyond them the vast apparatus of slavery pulls in catchers, traders, auctioneers and members of the underground freedom network. Although the Coats family works hard at tailoring, sewing and knitting, trying to amass enough money to flee north to Canada-the opposite of being "sold south," the worst possible fate that could befall a slave-they also offer assistance to victims of savage abuse like Mary, who eventually becomes Gabriel's wife. The war further threatens the group, as owners attempt to reclaim freed slaves while "contrabands" (slaves following Union soldiers) flood the city which, now more than ever, is a heaving mass of soldiers, rats, disease, disorder and opportunism. The story winds through the war (with Gabriel fighting alongside the colored troops) to reach a sober conclusion that nevertheless heralds change. Clarke's sensitivity and her lyrical, earthy narration bring a freshness to the somber subject matter. Agent: CynthiaCannell/Cynthia Cannell Literary Agency

Kirkus Reviews

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 © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2009 - AudioFile