A Million Nightingales
by Susan Straight
Published by Anchor Books
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Reviewed by Brenda A. Snodgrass
Set in Louisiana, in the eighteen hundreds, this is a heart-wrenching and gut-churning tale of the inhumanity of slavery. Centered around the life experiences of a mulatresse (half white, half black) girl, Moinette, until she reaches her early fifties.
Moinette is the only child of Marie-Therese, an African slave who had been “bred” with a white man that Moinette never met or knew as her father. “Bred” because the blacks were considered animals whose only value was to produce more slaves for their masters to work in the fields or in the house. But this story is told in first person, with such intelligence and tenderness that the reader can’t help but become fascinated and drawn into the story. Moinette is raised in her mother’s sparse cabin, but is content to just be with her mother.
As a teenager, Moinette is the servant to the Bordelon’s daughter, Cephaline. While Cephaline was being tutored, Moinette was always nearby absorbing the information and even learning (illegal for slaves). When Cephaline dies young, her father sells Moinette because he could not stand that his beautiful daughter was gone, yet this unworthy slave girl was the picture of health.
At first, Moinette hates and distrusts her new single owner, and feels certain he will force himself on her unexpectedly and repeatedly. When this doesn’t happen, and he leaves her to run his boardinghouse, a delicate bond is formed. When his male business partner moves in, Moinette sees their affection and respects their privacy. Using her as cover for their relationship, they eventually give her the boardinghouse and her freedom.
Raped more than once, Moinette produces a son. So much hard work and sorrow have filled her life, yet she keeps trying to better herself. At age 30 she is an old woman, used hard but not used up.
A Million Nightingales is told with such tenderness and candor, and resonates long after the book is finished. The author’s delicate storytelling skills wrap the reader in the cocoon that is Moinette’s life. The violence will rock the emotions, and the few glimpses of happiness will tug the heartstrings. This story educates as well as entertains.
Armchair Interviews says: A very moving and yet disturbing piece.