Day of Tears

On March 2nd and 3rd 1859, American history was forever changed when the largest slave auction was held in Savannah,Georgia. A total of either 429 or 436 slaves were sold due to the fact that the slave owner, Mr. Pierce Butler was a gambler, and couldn't afford to pay off his debts. Though the Butler family and the slave auctioneer in the story are actual people and the story is based on historical events of that family, the writing is historical fiction. Julius Lester writes this novel in the form of dialogue in order to capture the stories that weren't told, the voices of the slaves can be overpowering and heard much louder than the long days of rain that flooded such a dehumanizing event. “The Weeping Time” was what they called that period of time in which those hundreds of slaves were sold under that heavy rain, and once it was done, the sun shone bright. This is a really good book if anyone is interested in historical fiction. Lester is a really good writer so thats the main reason why I decided to read this book and its definitely a page turner.

Short and powerful, this novel told in dialogue weaves fact and fiction together seamlessly as it relates the story of the largest slave auction to ever take place on American soil. Lester tells this story not only from the perspective of the enslaved people who had their families and lives torn apart, but their owners as well. This was a brutal read, but an important one, as this part of history seems to get overlooked quite a bit. 5/5 stars.