Book Review Robert Wiersema THE NATCHEZ BURNING TRILOGY by Greg Iles Mississippi writer Greg Iles had already published three novels featuring Penn Cage (among a number of other best-selling titles) by the time of the 2011 car accident which almost claimed his life. The first Penn Cage trilogy (The Quiet Game, Turning Angel and The Devil’s Punchbowl) followed the story of former prosecutor-turned-novelist Cage, who returned to Natchez, Mississippi – his hometown – with his young daughter following the death of his wife. The first Penn Cage novels didn’t shy from history; it would be impossible for a writer raised in the American South, and still living there, to avoid questions of race and violence. These issues run through those books as a minor chord, present, but not the focus of the stories which saw Cage confronting corruption, drugs and false accusations both in and out of court. In the years of recovering from his injuries (which were so severe that he spent more than a week in an induced coma, and which cost him his right leg below the knee), Iles wrote another trilogy featuring Cage. The accident galvanized Iles, who had already begun planning the fourth Penn Cage novel. In the wake of his near-death experience, he decided to confront the racist past ‒ and present ‒ of his beloved South head-on. The result is a powerful trio of books (Natchez Burning, The Bone TreeandMississippi Blood) which comprise a trilogy in name only; in practice, they read as a single, epic, 2,000-page novel. Be warned: you’ll want to have all three books on hand before you start reading. You won’t want to even pause between books. The second trilogy is a stunning achievement, a fusing of fast-paced storytelling with a deeper sense of history, its secrets and its shames. It’s not, strictly speaking, necessary to read the first Cage trilogy before reading the second, but you definitely should. Not only are they terrific reads in their own right, the first three novels introduce readers to both the complicated relationships and social politics of the community as a whole, as well as to characters who will appear again in the Natchez Burning trilogy. Chief among these are Caitlin Masters ‒ a crusading journalist and Cage’s on-and-off girlfriend ‒ and Cage’s parents, especially his fatherThomas, a retired and beloved doctor noted for his treatment of both black and white patients during a time when even medical services were culturally segregated. TheNatchez Burning trilogy revolves around a murder trial. Thomas Cage is accused of murdering his former nurse Viola Turner, a black woman who worked for him in the 1960s and with whomhe had an affair. Turner was terminally ill and returned to Natchez to die, possibly with the assistance of Thomas Cage. Cage’s father, however, refuses to defend himself or to have his son defend him. Rather than waiting on the sidelines, Penn begins to investigate not only Turner’s death, but also the circumstances of her life and the history of Natchez, most crucially: what happened in the 1960s, why did Viola have to flee Natchez and why did she return? The novels, which are rooted in the domestic, are shockingly expansive, incorporating a history of racial violence in the South over the last six decades ‒ everything from the legacy of school integration to the political assassinations of the 1960s to the racist violence and politicking in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in NewOrleans. The world which Iles reveals is startling in its secrets and the lengths to which some will go in order to keep them, and in its casual bloodthirstiness and racism. The Natchez Burning trilogy is a powerful, disturbing, breathtaking piece of fiction. It succeeds as both a straight-ahead thriller (there are attacks and near escapes aplenty, and no one is safe from harm) and as a critical examination of a world ‒ and world views ‒ which will be alien to most readers, a pulse-pounding read and a chilling view into a nation’s darkest shadows. It’s an unforgettable reading experience, and one which you should not miss. (Natchez Burning, The Bone Tree and Mississippi Blood) 44 | www.snowbirds.org
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