This week’s Horror Book of the Week is THE REFORMATORY written by Tananarive Due. Published by Titan Books in October 2023, this horror novel sits on the bestsellers list for U.S. Horror Fiction and Horror Literature.
The book has received positive reviews and even a recommendation from Stephen King who has praised the author for writing a book that is hard to put down. He states that the author has “hit it out of the park” with this novel.
Readers enjoyed the story and praised the author for writing a thought-provoking story that was intertwined with elements of horror but also with sensitive elements such as racism and segregation.
The readers loved the protagonists and the way their strength and resilience was shown throughout the story. There were some negative remarks about how the story was a little longer than it should be and how the novel was focused more on history than horror.
However, there are more positive reviews for this book that has also been described as gripping and spooky.
Quick Review of THE REFORMATORY based on sample
If you have read thousands of books over the years and have a special place in your heart for classics and authors like Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, or Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), then you are going to love Tananarive Due’s writing style.
Due manages to enthrall readers with her style of writing that brings you into the scene with the characters. There’s something innocent and enchanting about the way her storytelling reminds you of the books you read as a child which is perfect for the theme of her latest novel. Considering that THE REFORMATORY is based in the 1950s, the author’s writing style manages to instill nostalgia in the story.
It is the 1950s and we meet Robert Stephens first who may have the ability to sense ghosts if not see them. He has recently lost his mother and he believes she visits him or tries to contact him.
He lives with his sister Gloria who tries to make the best of the dire situation they find themselves in. Their father is in Illinois and has just sent Robert some boots although they are a little big for him. The author manages to convey how cash-strapped the characters are from the beginning.
Things get worse for the siblings when they run into Lyle McCormack who begins to harass Gloria who wants nothing to do with him. Protective of his sister, Robert decides to make Lyle back away one and for all.
After Lyle pushes him, Robert kicks him in the knee. This brings Lyle’s father rushing over to them and boxing Robert’s ears. But the trouble for these siblings have only begun.
Because Robert and Gloria are of a different race, kicking a boy of a different race lands them in a lot of trouble. Robert is picked up by the deputy and brought in front of a judge.
We then get to see how difficult things were for people of a different race. They are told to use a separate entrance from the others and not given a chance to say a proper goodbye to those who have been sentenced.
Because as luck would have it, Robert is sent to a reformatory for six months.
The story does pull you in these three chapters and while there is only a hit of horror so far, the narrative will keep you turning pages.
The Reformatory is one of those books you need to add to your TBR list.
THE REFORMATORY Plot (Taken from Amazon.com)
Gracetown, Florida
June 1950
Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.
The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
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