Exiled South by Harriet Cannon – Review by Santana Hicks

Exiled South by Harriet Cannon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was very emotional. Not for the lighthearted. It starts off with Lizbeth who lost her husband in a car accident. She finds out that her husband was a gambler causing her to almost lose everything. She is angry. As a result of her anger, she sells her home and almost everything in it and moves back South where she originates.

As a way to cope she looks into her family’s past, trying to find information on the Gordon family from the 1800’s. She discovers that a couple of her family members disappear during the reconstruction after the war. Lizbeth gets a job in Rio de Janeiro. Upon landing Lizbeth meets someone with the same surname. Thinking that this woman may be a lost descendant, they look into it.

Lizbeth is given documents and a diary of Laurette, a woman from the 1800s. The second part of the book is set in the past and is the most interesting part. It is a tragic story. The book mentions a lot of racism and slavery. Like I said, not for the lighthearted. This portion of the book was so well written. My heart broke over all of the things the poor family went through, especially Laurette.

Compared to the second part of the book, parts one and three were lacking. I found the present day was rushed and stiff. I feel like the author could have spent more time expanding on certain things.

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