The Land

Taylor, Mildred. 2001. The Land. New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-8037-1950-7.

The Land is a prequel to Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. It tells the story of the childhood and young adulthood of Paul-Edward Logan, Cassie Logan's grandfather. According to the author's note, many elements of Paul-Edward's life are also taken from the real life of Taylor's great-grandfather.

In the rural south just afer the Civil War, Paul-Edward's father is a white landowner; his mother was one of his father's slaves and continues to work for him now that she is free. Unlike many children born in the same circumstances, Paul-Edward is raised and educated more or less alongside his half brothers who are white - but it is clear that he is not considered their equal. (He calls his father "Mr. Edward," and lives in his mother's cabin rather than his father's house.) As Paul-Edward grows, he recognizes the impact of racism even within his own family, and finally he strikes out on his own to make his own life.

The novel divides naturally into two sections: Paul-Edward's childhood years, in which he comes to terms with his identity and how society views him, and his early adulthood in which he must use all the wits and skills he has developed to get by in a hostile world. As the title suggests, the thread that ties the plot together is Paul-Edward's love of the land and his desire to own land of his own.

Taylor makes sure that the reader, like Paul-Edward, faces the fact that in the world she depicts, racism isn't just a matter of whether one individual likes another. While all the characters make choices about how to act, Taylor also portrays racism as an institution that limits the choices any individual, black or white, can make. There are clear good guys and bad guys here, but there are also many shades of gray.

This isn't an easy book to read, but it's compelling. I would use it in a parent-child book group, because I think parents would have as much to say about Paul-Edward's mother and father as kids would have to say about him. There's a lot of food for thought and discussion in this wonderful book.

The Land won the Coretta Scott King award and was one of Amazon.com's Best of 2001. Publisher's Weekly said, "Like any good historian, Taylor extracts truth from past events without sugarcoating issues. Although her depiction of the 19th-century South is anything but pretty, her tone is more uplifting than bitter. Rather than dismissing hypocrisies, she digs beneath the surface of Paul-Edward's friends and foes, showing how their values have been shaped by social norms.... Taylor fans should hasten to read this latest contribution to the Logan family history, and newcomers will eagerly lap this up and plunge into the author's other titles."

Publisher's Weekly. Qtd. in Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Land-Mildred-D-Taylor/dp/0142501468/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-5676480-3776938?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182379395&sr=1-1 .