ZORA & ME: THE CURSED GROUND Zora & Me, Book 2

Channie Waites is up to the challenge of narrating T.R. Simon’s fictionalized account of the childhood of Zora Neale Hurston and her friend, Carrie. The story alternates between two timeframes: Events in 1903 are narrated by Carrie as racial violence seems ready to overtake Eatonville, Florida. Events in 1855 are narrated by Lucia, a free black girl from Hispaniola, who accompanies her white friend, Prisca, to America, only to find herself enslaved on the plantation of Westin, the same land later occupied by Eatonville. Lost horses, vigilantes, an old mystery, and hoodoo keep the story moving briskly. Waites performs in a somber tone and makes full use of varying pitch, pacing, and accent to differentiate the many characters that comprise these intertwining stories of the unending consequences of slavery. S.G. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2018]