Cahokia Jazz

This book needs more attention. Probably the best alternate history I've read in decades.

Summary: An alternate history of the midwest in the 1920s.

This is the third novel of Francis Spufford that I have read. They have all been historical fiction of one sort or another. Golden Hill was set in 1746 New York City and has a plot twist at the very end that really made the book. It was written and tightly plotted, but that main twist and some other minor plots twists moved the book from good to excellent. Light Perpetual is also an alternative history that follows a group of children who were killed by a German rocket in WWII as if they had not died. My only real complaint about the book is that the book could have been written as a straight novel without the alternate history. I bring that up because Cahokia Jazz does not have that problem.

Cahokia Jazz is set in the 1920s. The alternative history is not really explained well, but as I explored other reviews, I discovered that the central change is that a less virulent form of small pox was introduced by early Spanish explorers and that instead of approximately 90% of Native Americans at the time dying from European diseases, a much smaller percentage died. The result is that by the 1920s, instead of a minuscule Native American population, there is really three cultural groupings in this midwestern city that is roughly the same area as St Louis. The book opens with a note telling the reader that there are three racial/ethnic groups in the book and the book uses the local terms to describe them. They are, takouma (Native Americans), takata (European Americans), and taklousa (African Americans). I knew in my head the terms and I knew by the story which group was which in terms of cultural power and significance, but I think his renaming these racial/ethnic terms was a savvy way to disguise some of the plot points.

As with other Spufford books there is a top level story, but there is depth that below that. Cahokia Jazz is a classic noir detective novel. The gritty cop finds a body and has to do the hard things to solve the crime. That gritty cop doesn't like following rules and has his own history that influences the case. Joe Barrow is a gifted jazz pianist, but has become a murder detective. His partner, Phineas Drummond, who he met in "the war" is a classic dirty cop who also has PTSD.

Much of the culture and history is familiar. This is the 1920s, prohibition has led to crime and gangs. Tommy guns still shape that violence. The US exists, but the development of it is different because of the precarious nature of a multilingual and multi cultural country. The racial reality matters here. White supremacy is still assumed, but the cultural history of the Native Americans, who are now mostly Catholic, but still are influence by the cultural history. Barrow was an orphaned mixed racial man. He is part takouma who was never taught a language other than English and doesn't know any of the stories and history of his Native American side, but has connected with the jazz and culture of his taklousa side. His partner, a takata, naturally assumes leadership because of the assumptions of white supremacy.

The city has an uncomfortable equilibrium. It is primarily a takouma city with a traditional leadership structure, but while he would be a type of king, the official authority structures have changed and modern economics are attempting to take over the traditional communal systems. Race, economics, power, traditional all come together to tell a story that is both familiar, but different enough to make sense as an alternate history.

I think this is a book that is less focused on the plot twists and more focused on the front end alternate history to be the twist. As much as I can see the through line of Spufford's writing, his ability to write books that feel completely different from one another is something that I don't see from most other writers. Most other writers stick to a genre and become known for that genre. If anything I think Spufford may be known for not sticking to a genre and writing books that feel completely different from all the other books he has previously written. But all of these books are beautifully written with compelling characters.

This was originally posted on my blog at https://bookwi.se/cahokia-jazz/

I was really looking forward to reading this from the blurb I'd read, and I enjoyed the concept of the book. I liked not knowing everything about the society of Cahoka and learning about all the different characters. However, I really really hated the ending of it. Joe was so happy and then he dies? Okay, he dies a hero saving the woman he loves and can't have and also the city, but still.... The book did start out rather slow for me, but the last third of it was action packed. I will say that one should read the acknowledgments of the author at the end of the book. It explains how/where the alternate history starts and the very last paragraph of his acknowlegements does give a little insight into something that happens in the book.