A Thin Porridge
By Benjamin J. Gohs
When 19-year-old Abeona Browne's renowned abolitionist father Jon Browne dies in summer of 1860, devastating family secrets are revealed, and her life of privilege and naiveté in Southern Michigan becomes a frantic transatlantic search for answers—and someone she didn't even know existed.
Still in mourning, Abeona sneaks aboard the ship carrying her father’s attorney Terrence Swifte and his assistant Djimon—a young man with his own secrets—on a quest to Africa to fulfil a dying wish.
Along the journey, Abeona learns of her father’s tragic and terrible past through a collection of letters intended for someone he lost long ago.
Passage to the Dark Continent is fraught with wild beasts, raging storms, illness, and the bounty hunters who know Jon Browne’s diaries are filled with damning secrets which threaten the very anti-slavery movement he helped to build.
Can Abeona overcome antebellum attitudes and triumph over her own fears to right the wrongs in her famous family’s sordid past?
So named for an African proverb, A Thin Porridge is a Homeric tale of second chances, forgiveness, and adventure that whisks readers from the filth of tweendecks, to the treachery of Cameroons Town, across the beauty of Table Bay, and deep into the heart of the fynbos—where Boer miners continue the outlawed scourge of slavery.
MY THOUGHTS
This is a story of suffering, revelations and survival. It is also one of hope in a time when hope seemed as fragile as a rose in winter. A Thin Porridge is a novel where I grew to admire the protagonist. Abeona is a character that is initially rather standoffish and arrogant, and in some cases extremely rude. But when the rug is swept from under her feet because of her father’s death, Abeona comes to realise the true depths of despair and suffering that is all around her. The journey, adventure, call it what you will, that Abeona goes on was very moving. The people she meets, the places she goes, the things she sees, help her to grow and by doing so, she becomes someone who is extremely likeable, and by the end of the novel, I was really hoping for the best.
The historical setting, the cruelty, the humility and the terror of the slave market is portrayed in a very realistic way which made my heart weep that these innocent people were treated so appallingly. A Thin Porridge does not leave anything to the imagination, which I think made it all the more harrowing. However, it is not all doom and gloom. There are lighter moments in this book which help to drive the story forward.
There is a cast of colourful characters in this book, and like Abeona’s father, many are hiding their own secrets. I thought the backstories to these characters added a lot of depth to this tale. Likewise, so did the antagonists who I am not going to name because I don’t want to give any spoilers. Needless to say, he sent shivers down my spine.
I thoroughly enjoyed A Thin Porridge. I thought it was a very insightful look into this era.
Benjamin J. Gohs
Benjamin J. Gohs is a longtime award-winning news editor whose investigative journalism has included stories of murder, sex-crime, historical discovery, corruption, and clerical misconduct.
Benjamin now divides his time between writing literary thrillers and managing the community newspaper he co-founded in 2009.
Website: https://bengohs.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bengohs
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20132227.Benjamin_J_Gohs
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