ONCE TWO HEROES
Calvin Baker, . . Viking, $23.95 (275pp) ISBN 978-0-670-03164-1
The specter of racism hangs ominously over this intelligent, harrowing novel of death, loyalty and revenge. In 1940, Mather Rose, a young African-American raised in Paris, returns to his extended family in California, where he marries and starts a family. With France under siege, his parents attempt to flee to America but are killed en route, prompting Mather to enlist in the army. He rises to the rank of sergeant and comes home a decorated war hero. Because of his race, however, he is denied the Medal of Honor he is due, so he travels to Washington in hopes of collecting it. As he is driving back to L.A. through Mississippi on Thanksgiving eve, a confrontation with racist Nathan Hampton ends in the white man's death. Meanwhile, Nathan's brother, Lewis, has also recently returned home from the war, winding up in an uneasy marriage to the daughter of a wealthy New Orleans businessman. An otherwise tolerant and reasonable man, when Lewis learns of his brother's death he vows revenge on Mather. Baker (
Reviewed on: 12/23/2002
Genre: Fiction
Hardcover - 397 pages - 978-0-7862-5463-7
Paperback - 288 pages - 978-0-14-200382-4