Black Water Rising, Attica Locke
Harper Perennial, 2009
I just finished Black Water Rising, by Attica Locke. Terry Weyna on Reading the Leaves did a detailed review of this book, so I’m going to suggest you click the link, but here’s a capsule review. I liked the book, and the main character, a bit more than Terry did.
At the heart of the book is a character whose moral compass has begun to gyrate, and the suspenseful part, for me, was whether he would regain his true north. Jay Porter is an African American lawyer in 1980s Houston. He is barely making it, and he and his wife, Bernie, are expecting their first child. Jay also struggles with the ghost of his past. In 1981, discrimination and abuse of power is alive and well in Houston, and when Jay and his wife rescue a young white woman from drowning, this action creates a trainload of troubles for them both.
Locke writes about the civil rights and the black power movement with authority. In her acknowledgments she calls out her father for his stories about the time and the movement. Her eye for period detail is good, especially in scenes like the one at Gilley’s Roadhouse, and her ear for dialogue is pitch-perfect. The book nods to film noir; the truth may be revealed, but justice isn’t always done. The big question is whether Jay will find his voice and his courage again, after a devastating betrayal when he was in college.
If anything, Locke brought in too many plot points. The mystery of the nearly-drowned woman and the old man in High Point might have been enough. A story about union-busting, and the first woman mayor, who was also Jay’s secret (white) lover in the 70s and who may have betrayed him to the FBI, was more than the book needed. The elaborate plot and back-story require exposition and explanation, slowing the book down. The problem is, without the union story, we would not have met Reverend Boykin, Jay’s wonderful father-in-law, a character who must be there to aid Jay’s development.
The issue with Black Water may just be the management of the disparate plot lines. Locke’s writing gifts are obvious, and Jay has the potential to become an appealing series character. These problems are purely technical, and I am sure we will see them disappear in subsequent books.