Of Love and Dust

This is another one of Ernest Gaines books set in rural Louisiana. Marcus, a young Black man, kills another man in a knife fight and is sent to prison. He is mysteriously bailed out and sent to work on a farm for at least five years. Marcus winds up living in the same house with James and both worked on the same farm. James tried to help keep Marcus out of trouble.The farm overseer Bonbon was a white man who didn't care for Marcus because Marcus was not submissive like the other Negro workers. Bonbon was also having relations with the prettiest Black woman, Pauline in the quarter and all of the Negro men didn't like it but we're afraid to say or do anything about it.Marcus decided that he would do something about it and started sneaking into the Bonbon house to have relations with Bonbon's wife. The relationship led to Marcus and Louise, Bonbon's white wife deciding to leave Louisiana together. That decision did not end as intended. A GREAT READ!!!

Well written with down to earth characters and dialog. The story is a powerful one, but with lighter banter sprinkled in to keep it from being too heavy and bogging the reader down. A truly riviting story.

Another in the line of great works by author Gaines. Like the rest of his work this provides a valuable snapshot on what it is like to be Black in the U.S.. Not always pretty but fair and powerful.

Just not one of my favorite books by Mr. Gaines. however he does capture the blatant racism even though slavery “ ended”. Sad times

I am truly disappointed with this novel. Mr. Gaines is a great writer but this novel is whack and out of context. This novel is written as it is addressed to a dear friend who is acquainted with all the characters. It is so hard to follow as many of his books are which were later made into movies. Frist of all, there are too many characters to track. I have trouble with his patois and how he allows it to flow as if it is no problem. The plot is so wack and then leaves us waiting until the end to shock us with a crazy ending of what really happened to Marcus. I don' t know if I believe that a black man would put himself through so much misery to prove a point. Another thing with this novel is I cannot tell what time period this occurred even though I know it was beyond Slavery. Also, why would these black people stay in such a place with such horrible conditions when they were free to leave? Marcus never got the time of day from Paulette and why he found such love for Louise is unpredictable? He never explained what medical condition that Tite suffered from ? There are just way too many unanswered scenarios that bored me to tears. Why did he just drag this story out? It seem like all the folks on the plantations simply worked, chased prostitutes and got drunk.

Like his other books, this one resonates with a deep sadness throughout. Characters grow but can never escape their preordained fate.

Earnest J. Gaines is one of my favorite authors so it's hard for me to be objective but I always love his books and have a hard time putting them down.

we all need to remember the dark days of slavery and not forget what the humanity is capable of .....