Lovecraft Country
In 1954, 22-year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner returns to his hometown of Chicago and finds his father, Montrose, missing. A cryptic note left by Montrose leads Atticus on a cross-country road trip to New England, accompanied by his uncle George – publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide – and his childhood friend, Letitia. Along the way, the trio encounters racial prejudice and outright hatred, which put their lives in jeopardy on more than one occasion. Arriving in New England, they discover Montrose being held in chains by a secret cabal of wizards named the Order of the Ancient Dawn, led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son, Caleb. It becomes apparent that the Order is intent upon enacting a mysterious ritual that necessitates the participation of Atticus.
As the title of this novel suggests, the reader would do well to bone up on the works of H. P. Lovecraft before reading it, since there are many associations with Lovecraftian tropes. Ruff also attempts to makes a statement about race relations throughout the novel, but there is no cohesion among the scenes of racial confrontation. Although those scenes are well-written and gripping, the reader learns nothing new about race relations. Further complicating the novel is its structure, which divides the narrative into several sections that read more like short stories than parts of a novel.
The novel might be interesting for fantasy fans but the general reader will wish for a tighter focus and greater narrative cohesion.
