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Andy Carmichael, a Chicago reporter, is hired to write the memoirs of an ailing important southern elderly woman, Miss Penbrook. Andy is of mixed-race and lives in a sort of no man’s land where he’s not accepted by whites as or white, or by blacks as black. Once he is in Georgia, his world explodes with violence he’s never experienced. As he unravels the tangled Penbrook history, more of his own history is revealed. Andy and Miss Penbrook share secrets that have long been buried in the pages of these family diaries.
To say much more about the plot would give away too much of the story.
Ms. Bateman writes with historical accuracy and a feeling for each side of the race story. She uses the southern woman’s family diaries – The Penbrook Diaries- to tell the story of two seemingly similar women with vastly different destinies, simply because ‘black’ blood flows through one woman’s veins. The story moves from these two depicted in the 1800’s diaries, to ‘contemporary’ 1948 and Andy’s quest. Carefully weaving faith, plot, and character threads, until the final secret is revealed, the author leads us to read one more page. Along the way Ms Bateman masterfully balances tinderbox situations: marital relations between races, and the ‘reasoning’ behind the abhorrent practice of slavery. She shows God’s redeeming love throughout – that even when we’ve acted in such a manner as to mess with His plan; He is still God, still forgiving to the repentant heart, we are all His children, and He is a miracle maker.
This book will make you examine your own soul in the light of God’s pure love. And perhaps realize that it’s never too late for forgiveness or redemption.
Color of the Soul is much more than a book about race. It’s a historical, contemporary, romantic, mystery, suspenseful, allegorical story, all at once. And, a must read.
Reviewed by Linda Mae Baldwin
for The Road to Romance
November 17, 2005
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