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City of Refuge
by Tom Piazza
An unexpected treasure!
In CITY OF REFUGE, Tom Piazza gives readers an inside view of two
families, one black and one white, from the preparations for the
approach of Hurricane Katrina through evacuations to Houston and
Chicago and their return back to a beloved city. SJ Williams, a
carpenter and widower, takes pride in his home in the Lower Ninth, a
place where his father before him had built his own house upon
returning from World War II. SJ's nineteen year old nephew, Wesley has
the youthful attitude, difficulties and culture of the newer face of
the Lower Ninth population, a generation that derives their
understanding of identity not so much from themselves but from how
others treat them. Even before the disaster, New Orleans itself is the
center of struggle within the marriage of Craig Donaldson and his wife
Alice. With his love for jazz, Craig has found a refuge in New Orleans,
a place where he feels at home. As Alice has become a mother, the
city's charm now seems faint as crime, the school system and other
urban problems threaten her vision of family. Tom Piazza follows these
two families through the preparations, Hurricane Katrina herself, the
more devastating flooding from the failed levees to the aftermath and
the rebuilding of lives.
Against the voice backdrop of weather forecasting, politicians and talk
radio, Tom Piazza gives the reader a more intimate perspective through
which to view New Orleans. CITY OF REFUGE paints a portrait of two
families tied to New Orleans, the Williamses by its family's connection
to the place through history and geography and the Donaldsons as
outsiders whose hearts were drawn to the unique cultural legacy of this
American city. At first, the reader, now familiar with Katrina from
countless news feeds, feels the disconnect between what we know now and
the reality faced by families in New Orleans at the time. This
disconnect increases as the storm and flooding cut New Orleans off from
communication systems and the country itself. As Tom Piazza takes the
reader deeper and deeper into the lives of his characters and their
experiences, the reader feels a shift. As we become insiders into the
lives of not only the evacuees but also those who offer assistance, the
reader feels the disconnect of the news and politicians from the lives
of individual Americans and families. Juxtaposed to the disconnected
partisan politics of blame, the reader sees the intimate moments, even
in something so simple as a smile, that unite people, one person to
another. CITY OF REFUGE paints a portrait of one specific place, New
Orleans and its people as displaced evacuees, with all the unique
threads that create its individual flavor, and yet at the same time
through his individual characters and their evacuation, Tom Piazza
allows the reader to see those things that bind us together as
Americans.
Like John Steinbeck's THE GRAPES OF WRATH, Tom Piazza tells a
gut-wrenching story of families struggling to cope with a difficult
moment in American history. CITY OF REFUGE makes vivid some of the
horrifying details of the city's flooding. The New Orleans story feels
more personal and more connected to the ground zero lives of families
than the picture painted by those living outside. Geography, history
and the unique voices of New Orleans combine to tell a story deeply
tied to its location. CITY OF REFUGE inspires both a sense of moral
outrage as the reader hears the voices of those seeking to profit or
refuse responsibility from the natural and man-made disaster. Tom
Piazza, however, takes the reader beyond politics and beyond race to a
vision of New Orleans and indeed America that both celebrates the
individual and the spirit within individuals. Through Wesley's
experiences I was brought close to tears as Tom Piazza gives a vision
of the values and ties that can bind very different individuals
together in ways that transform lives. Although the Donaldsons and
Williamses have very different experiences, ones that often made me
cringe at the differences, Tom Piazza also succeeds in unveiling those
struggles and values that unite the two families. By the end of the
novel, I felt a renewed sense of hope. CITY OF REFUGE is a classic, a
book to be read centuries from now for both its unique vision of a
cultural treasure and its embodiment of the American spirit in the
families and those relief workers near and far who touched the lives of
those families. Ultimately, Tom Piazza leaves the reader with an
insight into New Orleans both deeply personal and also transcendent.
Though not always an easy read (I myself experienced a flood quite
devastating but minute in its neighborhood scope and the book brought
make vivid, painful memories I thought forgotten), CITY OF REFUGE is
one of those rewarding books that will remain with me for many years to
come, one that takes an event of my own life time, one particular
moment in history, and through fiction portrays a depth and richness of
spirit emerging in the hearts of the characters in one beautiful final
image.
I chose to read this book because my mother lived in New Orleans for
several years and New Orleans fills the stories of her youth. What I
got was an American classic likely to be read by generations long after
its publication. Why? This book does something politics and the news
can rarely do. It reaches deeper. It doesn't ignore politics but the
politics are reduced to background noise in a very dynamic story.
Neither national nor local politicians (and neither party) are spared
from responsibility from the disconnect of their dismissal of the
realities. The book does not dismiss race but also, I believe it goes
beyond the separation into little fragments of people who cannot
relate. It also takes New Orleans itself and brings together historic
New Orleans, new residents and even those far removed from the site but
tied through their relief efforts, through a sense of caring and a
sense of values born within individual families. To anyone who has
themselves lived through a disaster, this book will not be an easy
read. CITY OF REFUGE haunts with its vivid portrayal of the sights and
smells of mold and mud. If you are looking for a light read, CITY OF
REFUGE is probably not the best choice. On the other hand, if you are
looking for one of those books that is both gut-wrenching but also
inspiring, one that takes you beyond your own familiar world, CITY OF
REFUGE is a book beyond politics and slogans and divides --- a book
timeless in its ability to go right to the heart of certain values that
have filled the lives of individuals throughout our history.
Publisher:
Harper
(August 2008)
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
Review Courtesy of Amazon Vine
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