Book Blurb:
"An engaging novel and a beautiful coming-of-age story." ~Rebecca Makkai, author of Pulitzer-finalist The Great Believers
The year is 1963 in small-town Virginia. Willa McCoy is a strong-minded teenager who longs to follow in the footsteps of her father, an important member of the KKK. Willa believes the Klan is daring and brave—like the father she idolizes. She wants only to rise in his esteem; he wants only to keep everyone in their place. When Willa is sent to babysit for the new minister's wife, Ruth Swanson, she finds herself at Ruth's kitchen table with Langston Jones, a smart young Black man. At first they despise each other, but they have one thing in common: they both love Ruth. When Langston reveals a secret he's discovered--that Willa's father is having an affair--the once-loyal daughter plots to destroy her father's reputation, unwittingly setting into motion a series of events that leads to her family's demise.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/zrSCA
Author Bio:
A.D. Nauman is a literary author and educator in Chicago whose second novel, DOWN THE STEEP, will be released in October 2023. Her short fiction has appeared in Chicago Quarterly Review, Willow Springs, TriQuarterly, Roanoke Review, and many other journals. Nauman’s work has been recognized in Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart Prize anthology, produced by Stories on Stage, broadcast on NPR, and granted an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award. Her first novel, Scorch, was recently re-released in an ebook StoryBundle. Nauman’s fiction investigates the sociopolitical in the personal, especially the impact of culture on identity, the mechanisms of power in personal relationships, and the challenges of life in a hypercapitalist society. Now a Midwesterner, Nauman grew up mostly in Tidewater, Virginia.
Editorial Review:
Set in rural Virginia in 1963, Down the Steep by A. D. Nauman tackles the themes of racism and civil rights in a whole new way. Willa is thirteen years old and thinks the world of her father who just happens to be highly involved in the Ku Klux Klan. He has influenced her views of African Americans. When Willa gets a new job babysitting for Ruth, the local minister’s wife, she is introduced to Langston Jones, an intelligent and surprising young black man. Willa’s upbringing leads her to dislike him immediately but her beliefs are challenged as their love for Ruth brings Willa and Langston together. When Langston learns a secret about Willa’s father, everything Willa knows will be challenged. In an emotional tale, readers will follow Willa as she learns to challenge herself and her own upbringing.
“Again something rankled in my head, a kind of subtle alarm set off by that part of my brain that noticed adults’ inconsistencies, their lapses in logic. The voice that had spoken up before, which had pointed out I could not be as stupid as my father believed, suggesting the adults around me might sometimes be wrong, wanted to speak again.”
The prologue of Down the Steep sets up the background of the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow South, and the Civil Rights Movement. It is moving and sets up the content of Down the Steep in a profound way. The storyline in this novel is deep, moving, and sometimes hard to read. It will tear at readers’ heartstrings at times and disgust them at others. Much of this book deals with hard topics like racism. It is beautifully done and is one of those books that should be genuinely read and felt by everyone. Even though the topics within the novel are sometimes difficult, the lessons are profound and will stay with readers long after the last page of Down the Steep.
“That Sunday Reverend Swanson preached a sermon about brotherly love and John F. Kennedy and civil rights, and the next morning a copy of The Fiery Cross appeared on the Swansons’ front step, rubber-banded around a brick. I discovered the paper on her kitchen counter: the “Official Organ Of The United Klans of America.” Of course I recognized it. It was a couple of months old, the issue with the Statue of Liberty on the cover. I remembered that issue because inside was the list of officers just elected at the Klonvokation and my father had pored over the names, memorizing them.”
It is incredibly clear that A. D. Nauman has done a plethora of research about the history of racism, Jim Crow laws, the South, and the Ku Klux Klan. The author takes that research and knowledge and uses eloquent and emotional writing to impart it. Readers will hardly notice all the historical elements that are incorporated into the story thanks to the incredible writing and emotional details. The author also does an excellent job of presenting different perspectives that readers can empathize with. For example, many readers will not like or support Willa’s father and his involvement with the KKK but will be able to understand and empathize with how a young girl loves and idolizes her father. It is amazing how the author can create such conflicting and varied emotions in readers with his writing in Down the Steep.
“For a moment I stood in our backyard, feeling the air cool with spring, the grass yellow-green and soft underfoot, and I thought, this is a sign from God. It’s a sign that I shouldn’t go. Then I remembered I didn’t believe in signs from God. It was just my cowardly self resurfacing, looking for a way out. I’d always thought of cowardice as weakness, but the coward in me had a damn sharp elbow, pushing to the front of the line.”
As mentioned previously, the author is a skilled writer who does a fantastic job at invoking a variety of emotions and taking readers through a myriad of changing emotions throughout the entire novel. This obviously takes excellent writing skills. Those writing skills also translate to beautiful prose full of imagery that pulls the readers into the story. This style of writing also creates excellent pacing. For many readers, this will be a book that they are able to read very quickly.
“I’d understood that my father and his friends went around harassing Negroes. I understood now that it was despicable. But last night was an aberration: Doyle and Buck and the Parkers lost control of themselves. Probably they’d been drinking. I’d seen boys get into fistfights; eventually they quit. Doyle and Buck and the Parkers would have quit, even if Jim Darden had not appeared when he did. Surely they would have quit. I believed this, with my whole heart—they would not have killed Langston. Right? The sunlight grew harsh through the narrow opening in our drapes. Suddenly, I felt frightened.”
The likely intended audience for Down the Steep is those who really enjoy historical fiction set in the 1960s. Those with an interest in civil rights and the experiences of African Americans will appreciate this book. The emotions it invokes and the lessons that it imparts make this novel a fantastic choice for all readers. There are no inappropriate scenes that would cause young readers to avoid this book. It would be appropriate for young adult readers who enjoy historical fiction as well. Those who are particularly sensitive to racism and Civil Rights history might find this to be a difficult book to read, however.
“I inhaled. The sanctuary, shadowy and small, was foreign and familiar at the same time. Here was the pulpit where Reverend Swanson had stood to preach about brotherhood. Here was the flaxen wood cross above the altar, and blond Jesus in all the stained-glass windows. I scanned the crowd, realizing some of these people may have been my former classmates. There were men with broad swaths of gray across their foreheads, women with hair dyed champagne blond, ash blond, golden blond, platinum. Their faces were leathered and mottled from exposure to more sun than their British-white skin could withstand, never meant for this latitude. Of course, not one of them was Black.”
Incredible writing, an emotional and thought-provoking narrative, and a story that readers won’t be able to stop thinking about earn Down the Steep a five out of five rating. It is one of the best historical fiction books that tackles racism and the emotions of both sides of the issue in such a real way.
*****
"Down the Steep" by A.D. Nauman receives five stars and the "Highly Recommended" award of excellence from The Historical Fiction Company
Award:
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