What the River Washed Away

Starred review from July 1, 2013
No doubt about it, Scottish author Macleod is a master storyteller who plumbs the breadth and depth of emotions in this inspiring debut about a young black girl whose direction in life is defined by her inner strength and courage. Arletta Johnson lives an insular existence in a small cabin near Brouillette, La., in the early 1900s, which she shares with her Mambo, the local voodoo priestess. They have a volatile relationship, and Arletta's comments and actions often bring thwacks from her mother, who abandons her at home as she spends time drinking with boyfriends or using her voodoo to help the neighbors. Arletta fondly remembers her grandpa, the stabilizing influence in her life, who taught her to read and encouraged her to make something of herself. She cherishes his tin box, containing papers and his old wooden pipe, which she keeps buried near the shack. But being left alone in the cabin endangers Arletta in ways that Mambo never imagines: Two white pedophiles often visit Arletta while Mambo is gone and brutally rape and threaten her to keep her silence. After each vicious encounter, Arletta cleanses herself in a nearby creek, and it's there, as she contemplates drowning herself, that she first hears a disembodied voice named Nellie who sings to her and encourages her to remain strong. When she's 10, Mambo finally sends Arletta to school, where she excels and becomes friends with another young girl, Safi. But before Arletta's 15th birthday, she and Safi find themselves working in a cotton mill and boarding with a sympathetic white widow and her black employee. Mambo and Arletta's relationship changes as joyous events and misfortune touch their lives, but it's the news that another young girl has been brutally assaulted by one of Arletta's former attackers that ultimately unites mother and daughter in a single-minded purpose--and which permanently alters the path of Arletta's life. Macleod brilliantly hooks the reader from beginning to end with a narrative that opens a floodgate of emotions and overflows with unforgettable characters. Be prepared to shed a tear or two.

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Starred review from August 1, 2013

Eight-year-old Arletta Johnson is very good at keeping secrets, even from her mother. Growing up in the early 1900s in rural, backcountry Louisiana, she suffers an extremely violent rape by two white men, one of them a prominent banker. Her mother, a voodoo-practicing Mambo, leaves Arletta alone too often in their isolated cabin, and the girl is repeatedly assaulted. After a spirit ancestor gives her the strength to fight back and she defends herself by slashing her attacker, she's haunted by the event, uncertain if she has committed murder. As a young teen, Arletta moves to nearby Marksville to work at a cotton mill and, later, for the NAACP. An avid reader, she becomes involved with her landlady's Bible school and realizes she wishes to be a teacher. When Arletta is brought back to the bayou after a brutally raped young girl is left for dead, her secrets are revealed, revenge is exacted, and she leaves her home in order to start the life she imagines is waiting for her to arrive. VERDICT Scotland-born and UK-based Macleod has achieved a truly incredible Louisiana dialect in this spellbinding debut. In this phenomenal, page-turning story, her characters are realistic and believable. Macleod writes with compassion and without sentimentality, thoroughly engrossing the reader. This compelling and exquisitely crafted novel is perfect for a book discussion group.--Lisa Rohrbaugh, Leetonia Community P.L., OH

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2013
In the early 1900s, in the backwoods of Louisiana, Arletta is growing up under the indifferent care of her mother after her grandfather's death. Her mother, Mambo, is more attached to the tradition of a long line of conjurers and voodoo practitioners than to motherhood, leaving a young black girl to fend for herself against sexual predators who use the advantages of race, sex, and class. But Arletta finds solace in a nearby creek and a spirit that encourages her to find the strength to deal with strife and sexual abuse. At 15, in the company of her friend Safi, Arlettta needs that strength as she ventures into life and work at a mill in a nearby town. All the while, she continues to struggle with an overpowering secret, a troubled relationship with her mother, and ambivalence about her own connection to voodoo powers. British film producer Macleod offers an engaging story of a young girl's struggle for self-determination.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)