Wake of the Wind

This is one of those timeless books that will remain in my library. A novel written in 1998 I believe and I'm reading it in paperback in 2019. I honestly did not want it to end. J California Cooper has done it again. I thought nothing could be better than her novel Satisfaction but this book was right up there with it. This novel does not disappoint!!!!!

I used to say that the most stirring book I had read was Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Well, after reading The Wake of the Wind, Zora's got good company. Very good company. J. California Cooper does in this book what every writer should aspire to do in every piece that he or she writes: cause an emotional eruption. Many of the younger generation are tired of reading novels that are set in the slavery or post-antebellum periods. Please don't let your taste for contemporary tales cause you to miss out on this GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL. The story of Mordecai and Lifee is a love story like no other. It is a story of truth and endurance because it has been tested by the worst of circumstances: a master's oppression; racial hatred; the stress of life. Yet through it all, they not only endure--they succeed. They thrive. They fight evil with good and prevail. They remind us why we're here and what we must never take for granted. They show us that our lives are about so much more than us, and that we really have no basis to complain. We need only live, live, and live--and thank our ancestors in the process.Bravo to one of the greatest writers of our time. To your list of things you must do before you die, add this novel.

[review published for May Issue] Amid the hoards of boilerplate pulp fiction novelists who crank out predictable endings, there remains a gifted writer who is true to her craft. In her latest novel, The Wake of the Wind, J. California Cooper has woven a tale not bound by time or space. This generational fiction piece opens in Africa, but the reader is given a bird's eye view of the blood-history of two men, Suwaibu and Kola, stolen from the motherland that endured a gruesome Middle Passage to land on the unwelcoming shores of America only to be sold as chattel in the Deep South. Unbeknownst to them, they are men whose lives are eternally intertwined. Through a creatively threaded series of events, brutal slavery, emancipation, and post Civil war reconstruction, Cooper leads the reader down the path of several hundred years to end up with a remarkable tale of survival, triumph, and overwhelming fortitude. Though Lifee is the central figure of the story, it is clear that the story belongs to every African American acting as a piece of bitter Americana-a sort of unwanted patch on the quilt of our heritage in this country. The majority of the novel's events are played out in the post Civil War South, during an era when southern whites felt that everything good had `gone with the wind.' The tale is poignantly told and relived through the reader's own imagination. All the struggles, victories, anxieties, and familial pride that propel modern day families to press on in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds are the same driving forces that were born in the breast of ex-slaves who made their home in southern towns all over America during the reconstruction. This is not merely a tale glorifying blacks to the exclusion of all others. Much to the contrary, the reader is given a glimpse into the souls of folk of all walks of life who simply want to live out their days in peace in the company of their loved ones. This novel comes as a resounding rebuttal to the notion that nothing productive could come of the South at the close of the Civil War. Cooper's refutation hinges on the principle that even though a horrific storm blew through the south, a number of resilient African American souls endured the bitter fallout and lived to tell their tale in The Wake of the Wind.

I enjoyed this book very much from the beginning to the end. The reason why I like The Wake of the Wind is because it had a lot to do with my ancestors who fought, died, and continued to keep faith in themselves and most importantly God. I think it's very important to raise your children and discipline them and teach them how to become a better man and woman. It was very hard to read this book at a certain point when there were black people getting killed by people who hated our color for no reason. To me personally I don't think they know why they really hate. The devil is every where. Another reason why enjoyed this book was their were vocabulary words that I learn from the book and not only that I can be able to advance my skills more by reading Ms. cooper books and others. She is a very great writer and I will continue to buy her books. This is my first time reading your book and I will keep reading and learning. I, as well working on my writing as a journalist. Keep up the good work.

I am so glad for the opportunity to read this book. One reader commented that it was a disappointment because of its shallowness and simplicity, but many of us African Americans raised in the North graduated ignorant of the plight of our ancestors. The true horrors of slavery can never fully be told or comprehended, but more importantly, if truthfully told, would grieve our hearts beyond repair. I perceive Ms. Cooper understood this profoundly and travailed in her soul seeking a way to tell the story of our people that would "free our spirits, but not crush our souls." The pain of our ancestors' past is "without remedy," but the joy of a freed spirit is more valuable than pure gold. This is what Ms. Cooper's story accomplishes.

I know somewhere in her former life J. California Cooper had to be a former slave! How this woman finds the words to make you feel as if though you are that person she is talking about. You can feel the emotions just jumping off the page. If her characters are nervous, you are nervous if they are afraid, you feel afraid. I just don't feel that any other author can compare to this woman. All her books are not about slavery. Ms. Cooper makes a person get in touch with reality. The way she uses african dialect. It just compells me to read for hours on end. She has 7 books. And "every last one of them" are excellent. All her books rate 5 stars to me. These are the types of books that you tell your friends about. In my book club we have read all of her books and for 2-3 hours we dicuss them in length, never really finishing. The only bad thing about Ms. Cooper is she is not writing them fast enough. I wish she would write a little quicker. It was three years before she came out with The Wake of the Wind. And was just to anxious to get my hands on this book. I was not dissapointed. This book was awesome also. My hats off to Ms. Cooper. God has given her a talent and she definately uses it. Keep up the good work.