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A review by mwgerard
Bunyan and Henry; Or, the Beautiful Destiny: A Novel by Mark Cecil
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Read my full review: https://www.mwgerard.com/review-bunya...
Mark Cecil has deftly reframed the hallowed figures of Paul Bunyan and John Henry in this book. The legendary men are forced to go toe to toe with the capitalistic greed of an expanding America. They remain heroes in this retelling but their foes now include amorphous ideals as well as bad guys.
Paul Bunyan works a backbreaking job as a miner in Lump Town but can never quite get ahead. He toils each day with the mine owner’s promise that any worker who makes it ten years will earn a gold bar and can choose a new home from his shiny catalog. But his beloved wife Lucette has contracted the dreaded silver dark disease. Paul must leave Lump Town, and risk his promised pension, to find a cure for her.
Along the way, he meets John Henry, a wanted man determined to escape with his family to a country where they can truly be free. A wrongly convicted Black man, he was put on the chain gang where he drove spikes along new railroad. His speed and strength were renowned, so much so that when he sentence was nearing its end, the warden fabricated a reason for the judge to extend his sentence — he was too valuable to the railroad expansion project. He escaped his chains and is now running for his life.
Both men have been beaten down by life and yet have found hope and something to fight for. Their unlikely adventures require each to trust the other, consider unusual possibilities, and be brave in the face of monsters real and imagined.
Mark Cecil has deftly reframed the hallowed figures of Paul Bunyan and John Henry in this book. The legendary men are forced to go toe to toe with the capitalistic greed of an expanding America. They remain heroes in this retelling but their foes now include amorphous ideals as well as bad guys.
Paul Bunyan works a backbreaking job as a miner in Lump Town but can never quite get ahead. He toils each day with the mine owner’s promise that any worker who makes it ten years will earn a gold bar and can choose a new home from his shiny catalog. But his beloved wife Lucette has contracted the dreaded silver dark disease. Paul must leave Lump Town, and risk his promised pension, to find a cure for her.
Along the way, he meets John Henry, a wanted man determined to escape with his family to a country where they can truly be free. A wrongly convicted Black man, he was put on the chain gang where he drove spikes along new railroad. His speed and strength were renowned, so much so that when he sentence was nearing its end, the warden fabricated a reason for the judge to extend his sentence — he was too valuable to the railroad expansion project. He escaped his chains and is now running for his life.
Both men have been beaten down by life and yet have found hope and something to fight for. Their unlikely adventures require each to trust the other, consider unusual possibilities, and be brave in the face of monsters real and imagined.