LULLABY

A Black woman born into slavery finds a way to survive.

This first installment of a historical fiction series introduces readers to Nady, an enslaved woman in North Carolina in the decades before the Civil War. Nady is an elderly woman as she narrates the story, which focuses on her youth and early adulthood. As a child, Nady displays a gift for singing, and her White enslaver, Matthew McCullen, has her professionally trained and offers her engagements throughout the region. When Matthew and his wife, Elizabeth, finally have a baby, Nady is assigned to sing Mattie his lullaby every night. Nearly two decades later, Mattie finishes his schooling and returns home, and Nady’s youthful affection for him quickly turns into passion. The two become lovers, and though they try to conceal their relationship, Elizabeth, who has long resented Nady, is determined to separate them. Elizabeth sends Mattie away and has Nady raped by an enslaved person and married off to another. Nady becomes pregnant and is determined to protect her child from Elizabeth’s punishments, particularly if Mattie turns out to be the father. As the country moves into war, Nady battles for her family’s survival while Mattie goes off to fight and ends up with an injury and amnesia that set the stage for the sequel. Hamilton is an evocative writer who brings her setting to life. At one point, Nady asserts: “You should always remember, every house has eyes, and those eyes come with lips attached.” Elizabeth is a well-developed villain, with plausible motivations that almost border on justification for her cruelty and a creative approach to tormenting her victims. Many of the supporting characters, particularly Nady’s mother, Clara, are also vibrant and authentic. The romance between Mattie and Nady, with its inherent inequality, is less thoroughly explored, although the author works hard to show the protagonist’s determination to make her own decisions despite the restrictions of her circumstances. The McCullens’ view of themselves as “good” owners of enslaved people could also be more deeply interrogated. The plot as a whole is well paced and organized, although the shift to Mattie’s story of war and memory loss at the end will leave readers with many unanswered questions rather than a sense of closure.

A solid, if limited, tale of forbidden love.