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A free state : a novel
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2016
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Library Journal Review
Two runaways-one white, one black, one free, one yearning to be-converge in pre-Civil War Philadelphia where they are united through music. James partners with local musicians to form a blackface minstrel group. Joseph, an escapee from a Virginia plantation who goes by the name of Henry, plays banjo on the streets. With James's daring plan, the two propel the lagging minstrel show to new popularity with "Henry" playing and dancing in the troupe under the cover of blackface. Meanwhile, a sadistic slave hunter takes the assignment to recapture Joseph, dead or alive. James soon schemes to help "Henry" escape one more time. VERDICT Blending his fondness for the music of the era with concerns about American race relations, Piazza (City of Refuge) offers a fresh approach for fans of Civil War historicals with its integration of blackface entertainment into this story of escape. The finer points made about the history and development of the banjo punctuated with lyrics from the period should delight banjo music enthusiasts. [See Prepub Alert, 6/21/15.]-Wendy W. Paige, Shelby Cty. P.L., -Morristown, IN © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly Review
In Piazza's well-told historical novel, 19-year-old Henry Sims, an enterprising runaway slave from a Virginia plantation, arrives in Philadelphia in 1855 with a banjo and prodigious music talent. He performs on street corners for money until James Douglass, the manager of a popular black minstrel troupe, catches one of Henry's rousing acts. Searching for fresh stage material to woo back the audiences and bolster his sagging profits, James offers Henry a job playing in the troupe. Piazza (City of Refuge) gives a fasciantingly detailed portrayal of 19th-century minstrelsy, a "national sensation" that could only legally be performed by white men wearing dark grease paint. Ironically, James adopts the practice to camouflage Henry in blackface while he appears onstage. James is willing to run the risk of arrest, but he still worries about reprisals if Henry is found to be an escaped slave or wanted criminal. Meantime, James Stephens, Henry's white plantation master (and biological father) back in Hopewell, Va., hires Tull Burton, an odious and cruel bounty hunter, to track down and return him. The final section loses a bit of steam, but Piazza's novel vividly depicts a cultural pheonmenon through Henry's harrowing journey. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A fugitive slave pursued by a vicious bounty hunter provides the fictional framework for novelist and music writer Piazza (Devil Sent the Rain, 2011, etc.) to ponder the contradictions of blackface minstrelsy. Fleeing the bitter knowledge that the man who owns him is his father, Joseph heads north to Philadelphia, acquiring the name Henry Sims en route. He's a brilliant banjo player and extraordinary dancer, so when James Douglass sees him performing on the street, he knows Henry is the man to revive the flagging fortunes of his minstrelsy troupe, the Virginia Harmonists. It's illegal for a Negro to appear onstage with white performers, but light-skinned Henry audaciously suggests he can hide his race by applying burnt cork as they do. James agrees; having escaped drudgery on a Pennsylvania farm to find paradoxical freedom in "blacking up," he feels a surprising kinship with this proud, assertive artist who doesn't bother to disguise his opinion that he's as good as any white man. Passing off their new member as Mexican, the Virginia Harmonists gain renewed popularity. Unfortunately, their reputation as "the best nigger show in town" attracts the attention of Tull Burton, dispatched by Joseph's owner/father to recapture him. Several sickeningly brutal scenes have already made it clear that Tull is a dangerous sadist, and the tension is nearly unbearable as he stalks Henry. But Piazza's elegantly written narrative also has time for James' poetic musings on the masks all performers wear, as well as his uneasy feelings about finding joy in an act grounded in the culture of an enslaved people. The rest of the Harmonists are also fully fleshed characters, as is the troupe's seamstress, Rose, whose final appearance quietly makes the point that women too are painfully confined in antebellum America. The closing pages offer no neat resolution for anyone, only haunting reminders of life's uncertainties and complexities. A thoughtful examination of the intertwining of race and cultureas well as a truly scary portrait of a genuine psychopath. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Summary

The author of City of Refuge returns with a startling and powerful novel of race, violence, and identity set on the eve of the Civil War.

The year is 1855. Blackface minstrelsy is the most popular form of entertainment in a nation about to be torn apart by the battle over slavery. Henry Sims, a fugitive slave and a brilliant musician, has escaped to Philadelphia, where he earns money living by his wits and performing on the street. He is befriended by James Douglass, leader of a popular minstrel troupe struggling to compete with dozens of similar ensembles, who imagines that Henry's skill and magnetism might restore his troupe's sagging fortunes.

The problem is that black and white performers are not allowed to appear together onstage. Together, the two concoct a masquerade to protect Henry's identity, and Henry creates a sensation in his first appearances with the troupe. Yet even as their plan begins to reverse the troupe's decline, a brutal slave hunter named Tull Burton has been employed by Henry's former master to track down the runaway and retrieve him, by any means necessary.

Bursting with narrative tension and unforgettable characters, shot through with unexpected turns and insight, A Free State is a thrilling reimagining of the American story by a novelist at the height of his powers.

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