Anaward-winningauthorpresentsaportraitofBlackAmericainthenineteenthcenturyOverthecourseoftwodecades,award-winningpoetPatriciaSmithhasamassedacollectionofrarenineteenth-centuryphotographsofBlackmen,women,andchildrenwho,inthesepages,regardusfromthestaggeringdistanceoftime.Unshutteredisavesselforthevoicesoftheirincendiaryandcriticalera.Smith’ssearingstanzasandrevelatorylanguageimbuethesubjectsofthephotoswithdynamismandrevivedurgencywhilesheexploreshowherownpastoftriumphsandlossesislinkedinextricablytotheirlong-agolives:Weacheforfictionetchedinblackandwhite.Oureyesnevertouch.Thesetragicgraysandbustles,mourners’hatsploppedhighuponourtamedbuttangledcrowns,straintodisguisewhatyearningdoeswithus.Thepoet’sunrivaleddexteritywithdramaticmonologueandpoeticformreanimatesthesecountenances,staringbackfromsuchyesterdays,andthestoriestheymayhavetold.ThisisoneofAmericanliterature’sfinestwordsmithsdoingwhatshedoesbest--unreelinghistorytofinditsfierceandformidablelyric.
