Annotation-A Gathering of Old Men

A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines
Paperback: 213 pages
Publisher: Vintage Books USA (1992)
Copyright: 1983
ISBN: 0-679-73890-8
Genre: Historical Fiction, Classic

The old Black men on the Marshall plantation have gathered to fight the injustices of the past. One of the sharecroppers has killed a white man, Beau Boutan. Beau beat his worker. Candy Marshall is in the area where the Blacks live as these are her people, “I will protect my people.” She sends young Snookum (most of the characters have a nickname) to round up the men of the community for there will be consequences based on the past. Snookum runs to fulfill his assignment. Each man must determine what it is that they will do; fight or flight. One of the old men commented while riding to the designated meeting point, “I’m scared, but I’m here” (40). Sometimes being there is enough.

The old men that gathered at Mathu’s place, the determined location, faced down Mapes, the sheriff, and some even took slaps to the face; “Blood dripped from Uncle Billy’s mouth, but he would not wipe it away (68).” Still they stood; “Clatoo did not look down” (86). They had to stand for each one had a story of how the Cajuns had mistreated them from beating or mistreating their family members to taking ownership of land that their ancestors had worked for years. The old men were renters. They had to stand for the souls in the graveyard. Johnny Paul expressed what the others felt when sharing why he killed Beau to the sheriff:

You can’t see the church with the people, and you can’t hear the singing and the praying. You had to be here then to be able to don’t see it and don’t hear it now. But I was here then, and I don’t see it now, and that’s why I did it. I did it for them back there under them trees. I did it ‘cause that tractor is getting closer and closer to the graveyard, and I was scared if I didn’t do it, one day that tractor was go’n come in there and plow up them graves, getting rid of all the proof that we ever was (92).

There were a number of characters, although, this did not hinder the reading of the story. The main characters represent figures from the past:

The Old Men
Mathu, Charlie, Johnny Paul, Clatoo, Chimley, Mat, Yank, Dirty Red, Billy and the others
They are the slaves who said no and revolted, they are the freedom seekers who traveled on the Underground Railroad, they are the ones who paved the way. They are men.

Beau Boutan, the overseer
While smiling he told his worker, “I was go’n have a little fun with you first. Was go’n hunt you like a rabbit, and shoot you when I got tired. But now look like I aint’ go’n waste my time” (191).

Fix Boutan, the Night Riders of the past

Candy Marshall, the Savior
“I will protect my people.” On the surface this seems gallant but underneath it all, her character is the personification of a redeemer. These were her people as in property. She just did not recognize this fallacy in herself. She loved Mathu but she loved the memories of her ancestors and the land even more. Candy wanted Mathu around so that he could tell her future unborn child “about Grandpa. Tell him about the field. Tell him how the river looked before the cabins and wharves. No one else to tell about these things but you” (177).

Luke Will, the vigilante who cannot leave the past

Gilbert Boutan, the voice of reason when faced with his family heritage…. “Those days are gone forever, I hope” (143).

This book will appeal to readers because it is a story that they have heard many times before but told here from a personal perspective of those most impacted. The men get to tell their story as opposed to a historian or journalist. Yes, this is fiction but good fiction is based in fact. The theme of injustice and response to injustice is a human story. There are strong, developed characters. There is humor; the female characters are strong willed and provide comic relief. Snookum also offers humor in innocence. There is a suitable, good ending. Most importantly, there is a lesson; a lesson of determination and strength. This is a moving story that will challenge readers to think beyond the past.

Kirkus Style Review... A Gathering of Old Men

A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines
Paperback: 213 pages
Publisher: Vintage Books USA (1992)
ISBN: 0-679-73890-8
Genre: Historical Fiction

The voices of the slaves are whispering in the wind. We hear them on a sugarcane plantation in Louisiana in the 1970s but it could easily be a plantation anywhere in the South pre Civil War. Like Nat Turner who led a slave revolt in Virginia in 1831 and those who sought freedom on the Underground Railroad to flee slavery there is a “day of reckoning.” In A Gathering of Old Men, Ernest Gaines presents a story of black versus white; past versus present; fight or flight. This is a dark story of murder on the plantation and the fear of the repercussions of a black man killing a landowner. It is a beautiful story of men coming together to STAND! The old black men stand together and all claim that they are guilty of the slaying. They are standing for freedom, standing against all the shame and sorrow of the past, and leaving an example of strength. A change has come! Powerful and exhilarating, this book can make you angry, make you cry and cause you to laugh. Brilliant!

Humor and Bibliotherapy

Humor is more than a tool for survival—at its best, it becomes an act of redemption. Humor allows us to redeem moments that might otherwise have been lost to pain or despair. Being able to laugh is sometimes more about working through an issue that it is about avoiding or treating it lightly.
Gina Barreca as quoted in “Reader’s Advisory and Bibliotherapy: Helping and Healing?” by Brian W. Sturm

I need to laugh, it is a daily essential. Laughter is good for my soul. I use laughter to help me through boredom, sorrow and of course joy.

When selecting books, I do read a lot of serious stories but they generally have an element of humor. It is a nice surprise when the author adds a great one liner or witty comment to lighten the mood during a particular solemn section of a book. This is true of life. There have been many occasions when I have felt grim and then someone will say something to change my entire mood; unfortunately, something negative can happen or be uttered yielding the opposite effect.

The day after my mother passed away, I went to the bookstore. I needed to escape; I needed some bibliotherapy. I recently grabbed the book that I read during that time period, a bookmark from my mom’s funeral is inside the front cover. Reading helped me through a rough time in my life.

Reading and laughter are coping methods.

Sweet Southern Soul: An Annotation of Her Own Place

Her Own Place: A Novel by Dori Sanders
Algonquin Books, 1993
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
ISBN: 1-56512-027-2
243 pages
Genre, Gentle Read



You are a young teenage girl in love. You marry the handsome boy. He heads to off to war. What do you do next? If you are Mae Lee Barnes you get to work. Told in four parts, Her Own Place is the story of Mae Lee Barnes as she reflects on her life as a daughter, mother, farmer/business woman, and friend. The reader witnesses her triumphs and travails.

The story takes place in Tally County, South Carolina. The author, Dori Sanders, is from South Carolina. Sander’s uses South Carolina as the backdrop for the story. Mae Lee is a senior in high school. She is smitten with Jeff Barnes, who “held her hand for a long time” during a summer picnic. The feeling was mutual as Jeff would like permission to marry her. Mae Lee was able to persuade her mother that this was the right thing to do; her mother’s comment “It’s good to get married.” Now she had to get her father’s approval. This would take some work. Jeff visited her home one Sunday afternoon so that Jeff could see her father. The young couple was married at the courthouse and spent their wedding night in his mother’s company bedroom. The next day Mae Lee watched him board a Greyhound bus heading to war. Mae Lee returns home. Aww….

This is where the story takes a change. Mae Lee goes off to work, saves the money she earns and buys some land (her mother had purchased the farm she and her parents lived on). She is preparing a place for her and her new husband. “Jeff Barnes returned from the war [World War II] without a scratch” and “nine months and four days after” the couple welcomed their first child. Jeff tried to be a farmer but it just did not work out so he went to the city. You never really know what he is doing in the city. He would come home and she would get pregnant. In all they had five children: Dallace, Taylor (the only boy), Annie Ruth, Nellie Grace, and Amberlee. After the last child, she did not become pregnant during his visits.

He offered to take her with him on several occasions. One day she agreed that yes, she should go with him and set out to prepare for her departure. This journey was not meant to be; her husband left her while she was getting herself and their youngest baby prepared to leave.

Mae Lee gave herself six months to get over her husband. Six months to grieve inwardly and be sad. After that it was finished.

And yes, she was finished. (Yeah for setting a time limited and sticking to it.) She figured out a way to take care of her five children, send them to college and manage a successful farm. She is the epitome of a strong woman. Mae Lee represents women at various stages in their lives.

This seems like a not so nice story and not a gentle read but it is a story of accomplishment. The novel is relaxing; your emotions are not put to extremes while reading. There are witty phrases and humor…“you must be looking at your body in your high school mirror” expressed when discussing the need to eat less.

The story is paced like a good road trip; slow (but not to slow) trip with interesting sights. We read about Mae Lee asking her parents to get married, her working at the munitions plant to save for a piece of land for she and her husband, the death of her parents, and the birth and marriages of her children. The story is substantive with interesting characters.

Mae Lee shared strong relationships with her parents, children, cousin Warren (who became a second father), her friend Ellabelle, her hospital volunteer friends and Fletcher Owens (boarder).


This is an excellent choice for readers who prefer portrayals of strong women in developed stories without sex and violence.