I wrote the above with a wink. I found re-reading it more difficult too. Perhaps it's because the subjects/characters are so complex. When Rice first wrote the Feast it was quite daring...not that it is ho-hum now.

There is a restlessness .. to get to the heart of the story. My reference point is much broader now than 20 years ago. Thanks to Afrigeneas and my own research of the class system...slavery in the Lower South, vs. slavery in the Upper South...they have given me a better understanding of free people of color.

My big question about the book then and now is "Why did you come home?" Why come back to the repressive South? It's the same question that I had of Sally Hemmings...Why return from France?

Perhaps the answer is... it was still home...no matter how bad..it was still home. It's the same reason why many ex-slaves chose to live in the area in which they were born. It was home..no matter how bad.

So Dena, I've thrown down the gauntlet.

Zora is still in my mind, too.

K