The Underground River
Ratings1
Average rating5
"Set aboard a nineteenth century riverboat theater, this is the moving, page-turning story of a charmingly frank and naive seamstress who is blackmailed into saving Ranaways on the Underground Railroad, jeopardizing her freedom, her livelihood, and a new love. It's 1838, and May Bedloe works as a seamstress for her cousin, the famous actress Comfort Vertue--until their steamboat sinks on the Ohio River. Though they both survive, both must find new employment. Comfort is hired to give lectures by noted abolitionist, Flora Howard, and May finds work on a small flatboat, Hugo and Helena's Floating Theatre, as it cruises the border between the northern states and the southern slave-holding states. May becomes indispensable to Hugo and his troupe, and all goes well until she sees her cousin again. Comfort and Mrs. Howard are also traveling down the Ohio River, speaking out against slavery at the many riverside towns. May owes Mrs. Howard a debt she cannot repay, and Mrs. Howard uses the opportunity to enlist May in her network of shadowy characters who ferry babies given up by their slave mothers across the river to freedom. Lying has never come easy to May, but now she is compelled to break the law, deceive all her new-found friends, and deflect the rising suspicions of Dr. Early who captures Ranaways and sells them back to their southern masters. As May's secrets become more tangled and harder to keep, the Floating Theatre readies for its biggest performance yet. May's predicament could mean doom for all her friends on board, including her beloved Hugo, unless she can figure out a way to trap those who know her best"--
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
I was thrilled to get an ARC of The Underground River, Martha Conway's third novel. I was thrilled because I had bought her first two and had become a fan of her writing. In each of her novels, Martha captures a period of American history, that could easily be forgotten. It's one thing to read an academic text on the subject. It's another to become immersed in some of the characters of the day and what they are hoping to achieve. What I especially love about the author's stories is her portrayal of ordinary people with hopes and dreams that we can relate to.
In The Underground River, May Bedloe, a seamstress for her cousin, an aging and still aspiring actress, finds herself out of work when an abolitionist appears on the scene and gives her cousin the job of speechmaking for the cause. Determined to find her way without her cousin by her side, she becomes involved with The Floating Theatre, a showboat on the Ohio river. She meets a variety of people, both off and on stage, some savory and others not. One of them is Hugo, the director, who develops more than a passing interest in her.
During the showboat's tour of small towns, May learns about the plight of slaves in the south and how abolitionists are working to set them free. May is an intriguing protagonist, not only because she is insecure but also because she is annoyingly honest when honesty is not the best policy. Though timid in general, May surprises the reader with her resourcefulness and personal sacrifice.
Author Martha Conway's writing is both fluid and colorful. I was swept along the river with all the delightful characters. The seriousness of the subject is well balanced by the lightness of some of the performers' escapades on The Floating Theatre. Having acted myself on stage in the past, I can say that the scenes are believable and well characterized.
A highly recommended read. I was sorry when the story ended. I wanted to keep reading about May.
