Copper Crown

Copper Crown takes place in a Texas town full of racial turmoil. Best friends Cass and Allie seem to be caught up in the middle of it. Cass is white and Allie is black. When Allie's brother gets lynched the girls take off in search of a better life. With them they bring baby Ruby, Cass's cousins baby who died during childbirth. These friends endure much along the way, they gain a food establishment, one finds love and after many years together they become torn apart for years before finding their way back to eachother. This story was rich in history. The characters make you feel their pain. The story is unforgettable. A must read. reviewed by Dawnny

I came to Copper Crown after first reading Lane's second book, The Unfastened Heart. Both books share amazing women characters. In both, the men are decidedly imperfect while the women are fully fleshed with rich detail. Copper Crown is episodic in construction with no huge climax at the end, but a great sense of journey. Cass, through whose eyes we hear the story, is a practical girl who we come to fully love. She sees the world with a second sight that can also see into the spirit world. We see almost a parallel universe of spirit figures who inhabit and intertwine with the living. The story is also remarkable in the sense of friendship that we taste between Cass who is white and her best friend Allie who is black. With a story that spans 1913 to 1932, we see a friendship unusual for its time and a book with the great moral that we ought to consider people first as persons rather than judging by the color of our skin. The minor characters are good too, although the men are much more loosely drawn. Skeet, the dining house owner who first hires Cass, is probably the clearest, however unpleasant. Lloyd, the artist who repaints one canvas over & over, was also a favorite of mine, however brief his appearance. If you've ever watched the series "Any Day Now" with Annie Potts on tv, you might see a similarity here. This book is a good story, an excellent journey, and a friend you hate to part with at the end. Enjoy!

The story takes place in turn of the century Texas. The two main characters are young women who are the best of friends, one is white the other is black. The lynching of a black townsman sets the girls off into the world to find their own space. Fabulous descriptions of the land, food and people of the time. A great story with moving characters.