THE SLAVE DANCER

by Paula Fox ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1973

It's almost as if Paula Fox, in a twist on Stevenson's Treasure Island bet, had accepted a challenge to write a traditional sea story straight and make it live; why else would this gifted observer of today's desperate characters create a thirteen year-old pre-Civil War New Orleans boy who is impressed on a slave ship, a mangy crew (including the usual rough but decent protector, syrupy but treacherous tormentor, and dramatically capricious captain), and a journey's-end chase and storm and shipwreck that leaves only the boy, Jessie, and a slave his age alive to swim companionlike to shore and safety? It must be admitted though that she meets the challenge brilliantly; each of the sailors is sharply individualized, the inhuman treatment of the captives is conveyed straight to the nose and stomach rather than the bleeding heart, and the scenes in which Jessie is forced to play his fife to ""dance the slaves"" for their morning exercise become a haunting, focusing image for the whole bizarre undertaking.

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1973

ISBN: 1416971394

Page Count: -

Publisher: Bradbury

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1973

Categories: FICTION