Africaville audiobook

3.5 starsAfricaville is the story of one family in three generations over time. As former slaves, the family settles in Nova Scotia. The family members depicted are Kath Ella, her son, Omar/Etienne, and Kath Ella’s grandson, Warner. They experience the ups and downs of the twentieth century, which unfortunately had the family experiencing more than its share of downs, inclding hardship and turmoil. Racial prejudices exist for each generation, which contributes further to the hardship. Eventually the family leaves this place, Africaville, yet they are never too far from home figuratively because it has become a part of them. Africaville addresses several important social issues and themes. The sense of place, of home, and belonging is at the center of the narrative. It’s also a story of this family of former slaves’ experience over time and across generations. The writing is strong and lyrical, and there’s stunning atmosphere. Africaville is a literary work more so than is typical in historical fiction. The writing definitely takes the front seat in this story. I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com

A saga from Jamaica to Nova Scotia where a village community grows into Africaville. There is an arc of this story that springs up and over and down, like Noah’s rainbow – colored by the different families that mix and mingle and create a new family line. Starting out dark-skinned, with all the trials and tribulations piled on by society, the descendants at story’s end find a surprise as they reach back for family. Reacquainting, redefining and revisiting the prejudices of persons, places and communities – all considered settled present themselves again, in a different skin. Is everything the same or has it completely changed? Lovely writing, well-drawn characters and all the history a reader needs to stay up with the flow of the narrative. With so many characters, which were needed to go through the many families involved in three plus generations, I would have liked a deeper dig at each, along with more time in the storyline before moving on to the next event and character. Also, it should be noted that this is an adult tale, with adult activities described in detail. The rhythm of the telling felt unbalanced now and again, but the end felt steady, strong and hopeful – my kind of conclusion. A sincere thanks to Jeffrey Colvin, HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an unedited advanced DRC from Above the Treeline. Thank you to Amistad Publishing for allowing me to read this book for a review. I have always hungered to know more about my ancestors and where they came from. I’ve always had a complicated relationship with my identity as an American of obvious African descent. I am relatively certain that my ancestors came to North America through the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, I just have no idea of where we were taken and how we got to where we are today. Because of that hunger and uncertainty, I love reading stories (whether fiction or non) that follow or trace a families origins/heritage.I honestly did not know what to expect after reading a couple of chapters of Africaville. I was raised in the US and I do not recall ever learning about blacks in Nova Scotia. Because of that, I stopped reading the book for a couple weeks so that I could research. What I learned helped me to connect better with the book and also to understand the characters. This story mainly focuses on the lives of Kath Ella Seabolt, Omar Platt, their child Etienne, and other family members such as Omar’s mother and Etienne’s son. It is an absolute beautifully written and heartbreaking tale of the lives some of their family’s lineage between the years of 1918-1992 and how they found their lives connected and entwined from Mississippi to Halifax. Reading this made me realize once again, just how broad the slave trade was. Growing up in the US we are mainly only taught about slavery in the US, and very seldom learn in k-12 about the hardships that were endured by families afterwards.Though the pace of the book is a lot more unique than other books that I have read, I thoroughly enjoyed Africaville. It has opened my eyes so much and I look forward to reading more about African descendants in Nova Scotia.

My thanks go to Net Galley and HarperCollins for the review copy; after publication, I used an audio book to finish it, thanks to Seattle Bibliocommons. It's available to the public now. There are two reasons I was drawn to this story. The first is the setting, which is primarily in Nova Scotia's Black community. I have never read or heard a story set there, and so I was intrigued. There's also a Civil Rights Movement tie-in, and for me, that sealed the deal. The book starts out as a rough read, involving dead babies and "bad luck" babies that weren't dead but needed killing. I was so horrified that I had to restart the book several times to get past it. Now that I have, I can assure you that once you're past the introduction, that's it. The dead babies are done. I'm not sure I would have lead off with this aspect, because I'm probably not the only reader to pick the book up and put it down fast. In fact, had I not owed a review, I would not have returned to it. I’m glad I did. The story itself is ambitious, covering three generations of a family there. At the outset we have Kath Ella, who has ambition, but also a mischievous streak. I find this character interesting, but there are times when I don't understand her motivation. The story is told in the third person and not all of her thoughts are shared with us, and so there are times when I'm left scratching my head. When the end of the book arrives, I'm still wondering. Kath's son and grandson comprise the second and third parts of the story; apparently the term used back then for passing as Caucasian was called "crowing," and we see some of that. There are too-brief passages involving the Civil Rights Movement against Jim Crow in the Southern U.S., and I am disappointed not to see more about this or have the characters involved more deeply. What I do see of it is the surface information that most readers will already know. Toward the end there's a subplot involving getting an elderly relative out of prison, and I like this aspect of it, in particular the dialogue with the old woman.The setting is resonantly described throughout. All told, this is a solid work and a fine debut. I look forward to seeing whatever else Colvin has to offer. As to format, although Miles does a lovely job reading, something of the triptych is necessarily lost when we don’t see the sections unfold. For those that can go either way, I recommend the print version.

This is one of those books that you know is going to be important and you know is going to be good. When you open the cover, you know you are going to be affected. Somehow, the author is going to reach into your heart and mind and make an imprint, whether or not you want them to. Do you know what I mean?It's also a book that I feel will be polarizing for some because it doesn't necessarily follow a traditional story telling path. Jeffrey Colvin chose to tell a more nuanced story through the memories and experiences of multiple generations of a family living in different places. Due to his narrative style, it's a little harder to get hooked into the action of the story, but also creates a much broader and layered depiction of these towns and these people as they grow and change through time.Africaville is a journey. It takes the reader to different countries, different civilizations, and different time periods. It's almost too much for one book, because I felt overwhelmed with the amount of information. The characters are flawed but rendered flawlessly. There is so much depth to each person, their story, and how they impact one another for years to come. I honestly believe this book could be studied in literature classes. My English degree is begging me to write an analytical essay on the themes and cultural contexts explored by Jeffrey Colvin, but I know not everyone considers this a fun use of time.I love reading books that expose me to different experiences and force me to open my eyes and mind to other cultures. Africaville does this almost effortlessly. I would recommend this book to anyone, anytime.

Goodreads app is malfunctioning a bit and I cant tell if it allowed me to give this book the 4 star rating I was attempting to give it, so wanted to clarify in a review. Families are complex and heartbreaking, society is plagued with scars and devastation and life in general is complicatedly nuanced; I think this book does a beautiful job of portraying that. I would have given it 5 stars, but there were times when dates didn't add up and dialogue didn't make sense to me. Yet I couldn't reconcile less than 4 stars given the enriching and informative content and the monumental task of telling a story that spans three generations, four technically as the story ends with a great-great grandson and his great-great grandmother finally putting the bones of grandson's great-grandfather to rest. Definitely a book I'm grateful to have the pleasure of reading, as this is a place and these are journeys I never would have known about or considered without it.

This is the story of three generations of the Seabolt family, descendants former slaves who settles in Wind Bluff, Nova Scotia. Legend has it that some of the first settlers back in the 18th century were American slaves who had been put on a ship headed back to Africa that was lost at sea, and these souls made their way back to shore. By the time the story begins, it's the 1930s, and many newer residents have moved north to look for work and escape from the Jim Crow South. Kath Ella Seabolt has secured a scholarship to a Montreal college when she finds herself pregnant. She believes her life plan is ruined and that she has no choice but to settle down in her home town with her child's father, Omar. Until fate, both tragic and fortuitous, steps in. The first of three parts focuses mainly on Kath Ella, who finds a way to continue her education and marries a white French-Canadian that she meets in Montreal. It seems unlikely that she will ever return to her home town. In addition to Kath's story, this section develops a portrait of Wind Bluff and the nearby towns, also primarily black, and the conflicts among the various groups in the community: people descended from Jamaicans, Haitians, and American slaves who hold differing opinions of one another's culture.The second part of 'Africaville' follows Kath's son Omar. Raised by his grandmother for the first few years of his life, he's smart enough to secure a spot in a good school but finds himself often challenged by the other boys. The black students, including his cousin, bait him for not being black enough, and the white boys bully him for being black. Talk about identity issues! When Kath marries, Omar is adopted by his stepfather, who insists that he change his name to Etienne. As he attends college and moves out into the world, he accepts that it's easier for him to just accept what people think they see: a white man. His wife, who is white, knows his history, and she is the one who questions why there are no photographs of his mother in the house. While Etienne loves his mother and stepfather dearly and maintains as close a relationship with them as time and distance allows, his life is clearly compartmentalized. It's Etienne's son Warner, the focal character in Part Three, who longs to connect with his familial past, even taking a job in Alabama near the town where his grandfather Omar's parents lived before they got in trouble with the law and sent him up to Canada to be raised by his paternal grandparents. Like his father, Warner is usually taken for a white man, and for the most part, living in the Deep South, he doesn't object. But he is disturbed by the bigotry surrounding him, and he wants to know more about his great grandmother, who is serving a life sentence for murder, and about his grandmother Kath Ella and rest of the the family in Nova Scotia.While 'Africaville' is a family saga, in many ways it is also the story of race in North American culture. I really never thought much about what life might have been like for the freed and escaped slaves who ended up n Canada. I found it an interesting book, but the pace is a bit uneven, and the author's use of several repeated motifs to connect the three parts and to show that some things change but others never do may be a bit heavy-handed.3.5 out of 5 stars.

Africaville is an unusual and fascinating family saga that also chronicles the development and attempted destruction of a community. It is the story of Black Canadians, the descendants of people who came to the area of Halifax, Nova Scotia, mostly from the Caribbean, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century and settled there. Jeffrey Colvin is a sensitive writer who chronicles the experiences of girls and women as well as he does the experiences of men, which is an uncommon skill. The story begins with a girl, Kath Ella, who is extremely bright and trying to get a college scholarship. But her best friend, Kiendra, is full of restless energy and always getting into scrapes. Not every male author starts a book with the story of a teenage girl--and does it well. White authorities often intervene in destructive ways, but there are also problems within the Black families in the book. One descendant passes as white. Another woman in the book is from Mississippi. She is unfairly imprisoned for life and sends her son to Canada, where she hopes he will be safe. The story returns to her when she is an old woman, still in prison.I strongly recommend this book.

This is a generational saga following the lives of 3 different generations of the same family that started out in Africville, Nova Scotia. I read this for Black History month on a whim and I must say I really enjoyed this.I’m white, I live in Nova Scotia and this was a real eye-opener for me. Africville was something we were never taught about in school, in fact, I only found out about it a few years ago while watching the local news.I really enjoyed following these character on their journeys, the hurdles and heartbreaks they overcome and the awful prejudice they face. Although I didn’t agree with some of the choices that the characters made, I think that made these characters feel all the more real for me and made me enjoy the story that much more.The themes discussed in this novel are things I, as a white woman, didn’t even know about. It has educated me in a valuable way and opened my eyes to a broader perspective.I really enjoyed this novel, the character and stories have stayed with me and kept me thinking.4 stars.

3.75⭐️! A “Homegoing”-style historical fiction that tells the story of Africville here in Halifax and goes through multiple generations across Canada and the US. I knew a shamefully small amount about Africville before reading this novel, and which it is historical fiction it details important historical elements like the founding of the community, the cultures that the first residents hailed from, and more modern issues like the threat of moving the Africville graveyard. In addition to the history lesson, I was compelled to keep reading the interesting stories! A great read that I really recommend especially for Canadians and east-coasters especially!

Rounded up; it had trouble keeping my attention. I loved the beginning and parts later on...but it spanned so much time that I found it hard to get back into it. It was interesting, and I might have enjoyed it more if I was focused and read it in print or ebook vs the audiobook edition. The narrator was good, though.

For those of us who grew up in the 1950’s and 1960’s , like I did, we lived separately and “equally”. This puts that myth to rest in an elegant and well written way. I will remember this book the rest of my life.

A huge thank you to Amistad, an extension of HarperCollins Publishing and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of this book! Africavillle is the debut novel by Jeffrey Colvin, set to release next Tues, Dec 10th! If you like historical fiction that deals with lesser known aspects of history or are looking to read outside the white, colonial narrative, this would be a great one to pick up. Africaville tells the multigenerational story of the Sebolt family and how time and location play pivotal role in how they each view their racial identity and how it impacts their relationships to one another. This story begins in the early 1900s in a small Nova Scotia town that was originally settled by former slaves who came from Sierra Leone, and later the Caribbean. From here, the story moves forward through the American South of the 60s, 80s and 90s. The major thematic elements in this novel consistently juxtapose one another in a way that implies each character feels a degree of Black dysphoria. We see opposing themes of: abandoning/returning to your roots, which town you "belong to," and how it gives you/detracts from your social standing, your ability to "pass" as either white or black and what that means for the relationship you have with your family/yourself, and how you accept/choose to ignore your origin story. There are likely other elements in this book that fall within the Black literature tradition that I am unaware of because this is outside of my own racial experience. The writing in this one is a healthy combination of introspection with external action that propel each character’s story forward at a meaningful pace. We see snippets of each character's lives and how these pieces of their history relate to the larger themes mentioned as well as to the generations that come after them. The apex of each character’s story occurs at different stages in their lives, and other significant moments (decline of health, death, birth of children, grandchildren, etc.) are mentioned in poignant ways that draw an adequate conclusion to their story. Nothing is handled with melodrama, and there are some reading in between the lines in terms of what is said, what is intended, and what is left unsaid.This novel expresses life for what it is given the time and place each of their character's stories unfold. It is a unique experience that tells the history of a group of people that is often largely overlooked. I think it is a story worth sharing, reflecting upon, and celebrating.

On the bluffs of Halifax, Nova Scotia a group of freed slaves made a settlement for themselves in the late 1800's, eventually dubbed Africaville.  Since then, the community grew; although they remained on the outskirts of town.  In 1933, Kath Ella Sebolt is looking for a way out.  A scholarship to a a college in Montreal is her ticket, however trouble with her best friend Kiendra and a pregnancy with Omar Platt's child could complicate matters.  Kath Ella wants more for her son, Etienne than she had.  Etienne does well for himself, but often struggles with the fact that he is what people would consider 'colored.'  Etienne's son Warner, now in Alabama is surprised to learn who his grandparents were and finds himself tied back to the small community in Nova Scotia. Africaville is a family saga that captures to trials of four generations of a family in North America.  I was very interested in the community and it's foundations in Canada.  Picking up in the 1930's with Kath Ella, the story was able to depict the many different ways that racism was able to encroach on the residents of Africaville, from limited opportunities for education and jobs to violent retaliation.  For Kath Ella's son and grandson, the focus turns more on identity.  Colvin was able to capture the complex emotional turmoil of two men coming to terms with who they are.  One of the most interesting characters in the story for me was Zera, Omar's mother.  Zera was jailed for a protest and made the difficult decision to send her son to relatives in Africaville.  In a way, it is her legacy that pulls the other three generations together.  I would have loved to know more of her story and the events that led up to her arrest.   I would have also appreciated more information on the families that founded the town on the bluffs and how they came to settle there.  Overall, a sweeping family story of a group of people that history has forgotten.This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Debut Novel, Africaville, from Jeffrey Colvin started off a little slow then started moving at the speed of a tractor hoeing the fields in Halifax. Kath Ella is a young woman at the start of this book interchanging from the past of her family to the future throughout the book compromising her and her son Etienne's generational life. The story can be a little confusing when it jumps ahead into the future and back into the past as there is not a lead up into the next segment of said time frame. However, as much as you need a little change in gears it does not take away from the story itself. Life as a child living in a mixed-race family can be a struggle as we learn from Etienne. Africaville delves into the question of being confident enough in yourself that you can deal with other people's hang-ups back in the '50s through the '60s about interracial marriage. Even now, not everyone can be civil when it comes to race and intermarriage and this book gets communication and introspection going. The dilemma to try and be who you want to be, but still, be proud of your heritage can be very hard when you decide you just want to fit in. It would be very hard to decide, especially in the eras setting where you would fit in when you are constantly teased about being white-skinned while living in a black community or being black while living in a white community. I can't fathom it. Jeffrey Colvin does a great job of not being preachy when it comes to "crowing" and he doesn't force anything on the reader when it comes to decisions that are made in the story and the hardships that each character encounters. Each struggle is handled as if it is like any other day and that just broke my heart. No one should have to deal with brutality or race-baiting. This story is tragic, and yet provides hope when it is needed. The strength of the women in this book is awe-inspiring. I didn't want the story to end.I appreciate being able to read this book. Thank you Netgalley, Harper Collins Publishing and Jeffrey Colvin for the opportunity. This is my honest review.

** spoiler alert ** An amazing story about Canada's historic Africville community in Nova Scotia- I highly recommend. I think most people in Canada are unaware of the origins and the lives of Afro-Nova Scotians, which is a real shame. Hopefully stories like this can shed a light on their lives, culture and unfortunately the mistreatments and wrongs they endured. While, I really enjoyed the story, it drags on, the further they move from Africville and I find myself getting more and more disinterested in the characters; and thinking, what's the point of this. Even though the characters are "passing" for most of the books, I almost expected them to interact in someway with the Civil Rights and other historical black movements happening around the same time. The fact that they hadn't, was a bit disappointing. Kath Ella's storyline was by far the most interesting (from her time growing up in the bluffs, her misadventures with Kieandra, and her time in Montreal). Her son Etienne was by far my least favourite character in the entire story... there are no villains, but if I had to pick one it would be him. While, I should be more sympathetic of his actions, giving the racism and prejudices in the Jim Crow South, and policies like the "one drop rule", I cannot understand how he could just forget about his mother and neglect his Africville relatives. He is only redeemed in his son Warner, if Etienne is the villain, then Warner the protagonist. The lengths he goes to to reunite with his ancestors and his roots, makes the story worth it.