SEPTEMBER 2012 - AudioFile
During the summer of 1800, Gabriel, a blacksmith, a literate man, a loving husband, and a slave, planned a rebellion in Virginia. He organized more than one thousand slaves before being betrayed, captured, and hanged. JD Jackson’s warm baritone voice guides listeners through this harsh narrative. He differentiates between the story and the original historical documents scattered throughout the text by taking on a less animated, more professorial tone when reading the latter. Although his Southern accents tend to blend together, Jackson portrays brave, young slaves, arrogant owners, and whites who were sympathetic to the rebellion with great energy. His performance adds depth to a slender book, bringing a little-known historical event to life. G.D. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
SEPTEMBER 2012 - AudioFile
During the summer of 1800, Gabriel, a blacksmith, a literate man, a loving husband, and a slave, planned a rebellion in Virginia. He organized more than one thousand slaves before being betrayed, captured, and hanged. JD Jackson’s warm baritone voice guides listeners through this harsh narrative. He differentiates between the story and the original historical documents scattered throughout the text by taking on a less animated, more professorial tone when reading the latter. Although his Southern accents tend to blend together, Jackson portrays brave, young slaves, arrogant owners, and whites who were sympathetic to the rebellion with great energy. His performance adds depth to a slender book, bringing a little-known historical event to life. G.D. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
Inspired by the Haitian slave uprising led by black general Toussaint L'Ouverture, Gabriel, a literate Virginia slave and blacksmith, attempts to parallel that effort on his own turf. Gabriel and Thomas Henry Prosser, the master's son, were raised together since both were nursed at Gabriel's mother's breast, Gabriel rarely getting his fair share. But the power dynamics of slavery fully destroys their relationship as they age, until they are at odds with one another's goals--Gabriel, hoping to lead his people to freedom in the aftermath of the American Revolution; Thomas, aiming to squelch the effort. Based on a true story of planned rebellion by "Prosser's Gabriel," Amateau deftly tucks well-researched period documents into the narrative at opportune moments. Her use of language is both startling ("To Gabriel, Ma's whip marks resembled the earth between the tobacco hills, newly tilled and ready for planting") and gratifying ("…he went only to find the girl who could look into his smile and see the deep and secret life inside him"). As an adjunct to classroom study, readers will be drawn in by Gabriel's determination and motivations, including his devotion to his beloved bride, Nanny. Yet while historically accurate and beautifully written, the plotting ultimately lacks the tension or uncertainty that will drive readers to the finish. Despite inevitability, an anguished tale told with poetry and heart. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)
