Innocent young Black men jailed by a racist judge. Jim Crow trauma that still haunts. Can two women on opposite sides of the color divide unite to seek justice and right the wrongs of the past? Pop singer Regina Day vowed never to return to Jefferson Springs, Arkansas, the Jim Crow city of her youth. She learned to fit in with the white celebrity world of Los Angeles. But when her mother dies, she knows she must attend the funeral, because "there are some things you owe your mama." Now, after thirty years away, she dreads returning to the humiliation, anger, and fear of her youth.
Karen Whittier worked for her father, the bigoted Judge in Jefferson Springs, for more than a quarter of a century. She longed for a true father-daughter bond, but in his eyes, she could do no right. Now she fills her barren life with chocolate and English romance novels.
When the two were young, Regina's mother cleaned for Karen's family. But racial bigotry wouldn't allow them to be friends. In 1963, when they were teenagers, President Kennedy was assassinated, and all hell broke loose in the town. Regina and Karen became engulfed in a tragedy that changed the course of their lives and left them both traumatized.
Now thirty years later, can the two women unite to uncover the truth about their family history and find justice and peace in a world still enmeshed in racism?
The Snake in the Garden is a timely collaboration between two women -- one Black, one white. Brenda Sutton Taylor grew up under Jim Crow laws in Arkansas. Deborah Hand-Cutler was raised in white suburban Los Angeles where bigotry was in the language around her. With these two perspectives, the novel delves into the minds of both Black and white characters. The result is an explosive depiction of racism in twentieth-century America told through four generations of interracial relationships. It's a powerful story of transcendence over the scars of the past, and the healing that can come when truth is exposed and faced head on. It gives hope that the "snake" of racism could one day be cast out of the garden.
Filled with historical detail, The Snake in the Garden will leave you with a better understanding of how this poison of racism affects us all. But be warned! This book will cause you to look deep into your own heart to examine your feelings about race in our society today.
This book would be a great addition to every library's anti-racism shelf, and has been well received among book clubs that like to delve into the social issues we face today. Although the setting is a fictional town and county in Arkansas, the historical details woven throughout the story concerning the Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights movement and the justice system of the time would make it a good choice for high school senior or college English or social studies classes. The topic certainly resonates in our time.
