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If Sons, Then Heirs

by Lorene Cary
Atria: S. & S. May 2011. c.320p. ISBN 9781451610222. $24. F
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Issues of love, responsibility, property, race, and redemption abound in Cary's (The Price of a Child; Pride) latest novel. A young Jewell Thompson abandons her son, Lonnie, to Nana Selma, who raises the seven-year-old boy on the family farm in South Carolina, "heir property" that Selma has kept for years by dint of backbreaking labor and stubbornness. At issue is Selma's strong love of the land and how it can be maintained in a dysfunctional, scattered family. Alternating between the present and the past, the novel is weakened by slow pacing, flat dialog, and sundry legal discussions. Both the major and minor players become dull in the details.
VERDICT Those familiar with Cary's excellent 1991 memoir, Black Ice, may be tempted to give this novel a chance, but the book never really finds its rhythm and ultimately disappoints.
Reviewed by Sally Harrison, Ocean Cty. Lib., Waretown, NJ , Apr 15, 2011
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