Under a Dark Summer Sky

April 20, 2015
In her standout debut, Lafaye takes a historical event—the devastating hurricane that hit Islamorada, Fla., on Labor Day in 1935—and weaves it into a richly imagined tale that also makes a bold statement on race relations in the ’30s. Missy, a black nanny for a wealthy white couple’s son, is waiting for the man she loves to return to the fictional town Heron Key. The man, Henry, is a broken and despairing veteran of World War I who has never gotten over the horrors he saw overseas; now, during the Depression, he’s trying to eke out a living in President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration program under a sadistic supervisor’s eye. After a white woman is brutally attacked following a segregated beach barbecue, all eyes turn in accusation to Henry, who is black. As the small town’s uproar grows, few realize that the devastating hurricane headed their way will test their ability to survive. Lafaye’s blistering commentary on race, as well as her vivid descriptions, will stay with the reader.

February 15, 2016

In 1935 Heron Key, FL, domestic worker Missy Douglas witnesses inequality. Her employers' country club set preserves a comfortable status quo despite the Depression, Jim Crow laws, and the plight of World War I veterans celebrated for bravery yet still "adrift on the backwash of the war." A nearby WPA encampment of former servicemen hired for bridge construction engenders distrust: some black veterans are harboring "ideas." Among them is Henry Roberts, whose return has been awaited by Missy for 17 years and whose views make him a prime suspect when a prominent woman is brutally attacked. Meanwhile, a hurricane of unprecedented force barrels toward Heron Key. Narrator Karen Chilton movingly inhabits character viewpoints, particularly Missy's, in Lafaye's vivid, affecting debut. Portraying seething racial prejudice and raging weather as equally treacherous, dramatic vignettes based on real events surrounding the 1935 Labor Day hurricane will reward historical fiction fans. As well, local color, a persevering love story, and finely crafted prose will please readers seeking character-driven novels and new authors to enjoy. VERDICT Recommended for all fiction collections. ["Lafaye's debut novel succeeds on the merits of its well-drawn characters, its sense of place, and on the tragic events it details": LJ 3/15/15 review of the Sourcebooks hc.]--Linda Sappenfield, Round Rock P.L., TX

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.