The Secrets of Newberry by Victor McGlothin
Available June 21, 2010
Reviewed by A. Jarrell Hayes
There are secrets worth killing for. And there are secrets worth keeping in order to prevent killings. Victor McGlothin’s new novel, The Secrets of Newberry, is rife with both types of secrets.
Set in the 1950s, in Newberry, a small town near New Orleans, Louisiana, McGlothin weaves a tale where the chief secrets center on the white man’s lust for black flesh. No matter what shape, size, or age of the black flesh, the white men in this novel can’t get enough of it. In order to keep the peace and to prevent violence, the abused and molested Blacks remain quiet about their encounters; sometimes out of shame and fear, other times out of pride and love.
Hampton Bynote is a black man in his early 20s trying to forget his own past while trying to deal with life as a black man in the deep Jim Crow south. His experience growing up as good friends with the son of the white plantation owner of the land his family sharecrops on, and his own take-no-stuff attitude, makes Hampton feel he deserves to be treated equal to Whites. He displays his defiance against the Jim Crow laws through violence and petty crimes against Whites.
Hampton’s schemes and misdemeanors evolve into felonies when he runs into Ivory “Bones” Arcineaux, a white man, at an illegal gambling house. Bones convinces Hampton to join him in burglary scheme where they rob rich Whites and give to themselves. Hampton is fine with stealing, but Bones has something more vicious and dastardly in store for those they rob, and when Hampton finds out what Bones is really up to, he begins to have second thoughts.
All this is going on while the secrets of the White man’s craving for black flesh are being unraveled in Newberry. Hampton discovers more than he ever wanted to know about the sexual practices of his mother and sister, and the lengths they would go to keep their secrets secret from the men folk. In the past, there was a violent uprising of black men once they learned of how black women were used sexually by the white masters, and of course the white men didn’t want another one, yet they couldn’t let go of their secret lust of flesh. So the white men convinced the women it was in their best interests to remain quiet about their affairs; and the black women consented willingly.
McGlothin is a wonderful storyteller and is able to transport the reader into the 1950s with use of language. The characters – and even the narration – speak straight from the era, with the fast talking, slang-filled dialogue that increases the book’s realism and enjoyment factors. Hampton is a great character, especially when he falls in love with the equally marvelous character Magnolia, and the suffering they endure in order to keep their love pure, honest, and without secrets.
Set in the 1950s, in Newberry, a small town near New Orleans, Louisiana, McGlothin weaves a tale where the chief secrets center on the white man’s lust for black flesh. No matter what shape, size, or age of the black flesh, the white men in this novel can’t get enough of it. In order to keep the peace and to prevent violence, the abused and molested Blacks remain quiet about their encounters; sometimes out of shame and fear, other times out of pride and love.
Hampton Bynote is a black man in his early 20s trying to forget his own past while trying to deal with life as a black man in the deep Jim Crow south. His experience growing up as good friends with the son of the white plantation owner of the land his family sharecrops on, and his own take-no-stuff attitude, makes Hampton feel he deserves to be treated equal to Whites. He displays his defiance against the Jim Crow laws through violence and petty crimes against Whites.
Hampton’s schemes and misdemeanors evolve into felonies when he runs into Ivory “Bones” Arcineaux, a white man, at an illegal gambling house. Bones convinces Hampton to join him in burglary scheme where they rob rich Whites and give to themselves. Hampton is fine with stealing, but Bones has something more vicious and dastardly in store for those they rob, and when Hampton finds out what Bones is really up to, he begins to have second thoughts.
All this is going on while the secrets of the White man’s craving for black flesh are being unraveled in Newberry. Hampton discovers more than he ever wanted to know about the sexual practices of his mother and sister, and the lengths they would go to keep their secrets secret from the men folk. In the past, there was a violent uprising of black men once they learned of how black women were used sexually by the white masters, and of course the white men didn’t want another one, yet they couldn’t let go of their secret lust of flesh. So the white men convinced the women it was in their best interests to remain quiet about their affairs; and the black women consented willingly.
McGlothin is a wonderful storyteller and is able to transport the reader into the 1950s with use of language. The characters – and even the narration – speak straight from the era, with the fast talking, slang-filled dialogue that increases the book’s realism and enjoyment factors. Hampton is a great character, especially when he falls in love with the equally marvelous character Magnolia, and the suffering they endure in order to keep their love pure, honest, and without secrets.
McGlothin perhaps extends the novel longer than it needed to be, taking it into the ‘70s. The novel lost a bit of its charm during the transition, and the events within the later part of the book seem to be a reach to connect readers to sexual abuses more familiar in contemporary times. The book didn’t need this extension; nor does the addition take away from the brilliant story. The Secrets of Newberry is definitely a must read.
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