The Reformatory: A Novel
*Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner * New York Times Notable Book * Locus Award Finalist * Winner of the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award * "You're in for a treat...one of those books you can't put down...Due hit it out of the park." --Stephen King A gripping, page-turning "masterpiece" (Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman) set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he's sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead. Gracetown, Florida June 1950 Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie's journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory. Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it's too late. The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award-winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
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Community Reviews
Jaw-dropping plot twists, both living and supernatural horrors and heroes—this book had me glued to the pages from the outset. Time went by so quickly reading this that I was shocked to realize I'd breezed through more than 500 pages when all was said and done, but I could not put it down. Tananarive Due has crafted an amazing work of fiction, inlaid with factual nudges to remind readers of the atrocities humankind is capable of inflicting. I cannot speak highly enough of this book, and the author is now high on my list of favorites.
Also, so much love for Ms. Lottie. We need more Ms. Lottie's in the world.
Also, so much love for Ms. Lottie. We need more Ms. Lottie's in the world.
Amazing.
I read the blurb once a while back and didn't read it again before I read it, so I had thought this was a horror book. And indeed, horrific things occurred in this book, but it was more of a nail-biter at times and dark. The turns that happened occurred realistically, and everything that happened in this book was reflective of the times. I love the spiritual aspects tied into this book.
This book contained demons and angels of the flesh, the good, the bad, and the ugly. What was most impactful was that it was about things that happened in the South.
This was truly masterful.
I read the blurb once a while back and didn't read it again before I read it, so I had thought this was a horror book. And indeed, horrific things occurred in this book, but it was more of a nail-biter at times and dark. The turns that happened occurred realistically, and everything that happened in this book was reflective of the times. I love the spiritual aspects tied into this book.
This book contained demons and angels of the flesh, the good, the bad, and the ugly. What was most impactful was that it was about things that happened in the South.
This was truly masterful.
The Reformatory is one of the best books I’ve read this year and one of Due’s best, which is hard tos ay because all of her books are phenomenal.
Steeped in history and her own personal family trauma is a tale of a young boy in the south sent to a horrific “school” for boys and his journey to find freedom with help from the spirits who refuse to leave without justice.
This story is heart wrenching and horrifying, made all the more painful because it’s based on a real place where real boys were tortured, raped, abused and murdered. I highly recommend looking at triggers before starting this one just to be safe, because it’s brutal. While spirits and the supernatural are paramount to this story, the true terror is in the lack of humanity and completely disgusting and historically true displays of racism.
This story was phenomenal but so hard to get through, there were several times I had to put this down and just decompress because it weighed so heavy on my heart. Books like this are some of the most importantly literature in my eyes, especially at a time right now where racism and bigotry are being paraded around as political candidates.
10/10 everyone should read if you can handle it. I will be thinking about Robert, his family, the boys left behind, and the message of this novel for a very long time.
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