Love in a Time of Hate
Young war veteran Emmett Collins is a special agent for the Freedman’s Bureau sent to New Orleans to help set up a school for recently freed slaves. The Civil War may officially be over, but violence and hatred toward the city’s Black and Creole inhabitants still rage on. Injured in a riot and left for dead, Emmett is nursed back to health by Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen. While recovering, he meets Manny, a beautiful young woman Madame Laveau took in after being orphaned. From the two women, he learns more about the side of New Orleans he never knew before. With his better understanding of the causes and consequences of racial inequality, perhaps he will be better able to positively impact the lives of the city’s oppressed citizens and help solve the murders of numerous Black prostitutes by the serial killer known as the Black Dot Killer.
Love in a Time of Hate is the second book in a series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone. Summarizing the novel is challenging because a lot is going on. It mixes politics, mystery, romance, and a little magical realism. In the end, it might have given the book a little more focus if there had been fewer subplots. The chapters about Madame Laveau and her voodoo ceremonies are vividly described and draw you in. But the violence in the book, particularly the torture, rape, and murder of the serial killer’s victims, is graphically described and may repel some readers.
