Book Review: No Pockets In a Shroud,

"You’re no sicker than your secrets," it is often said. Family secrets, the subject of Maxine E. Thompson’s second novel, No Pockets in a Shroud, are examined through the hidden histories of an African-American minister’s family and his forebears. This is the story of how old family secrets can impact the family when they come together for reunion. The need for forgiveness, healing and spiritual reconciliation is one of the themes of the book.

We all suffer from bad consciences at one time or another. These are often the things we hide; our secrets. And these secrets become our ghosts, with the ability to keep us up at night and haunt our lives. In No Pockets in a Shroud, one of the secrets concerns a child given up for adoption twenty-five years earlier. This secret is mirrored by other generational secrets, which keep repeating themselves, because no one shares their past histories. By the end of the book, the past and present ghosts of hidden secrets come home to roost for all of the major characters.

Another issue in the book is that of identity. In the same way that Alex Haley’s book, Roots, published over twenty years ago, appealed to the need of all races to know their family tree, the desire for people to know their roots is as innate as one’s own DNA, as witnessed by the Adoption Reunion Movement. Likewise, in No Pockets in a Shroud, one of the characters, an adoptee, is searching for her birth family’s roots. Ironically, many of the secrets surrounding her birth will be found in the graveyard. Just as many of the pivotal characters are taking their secrets to their graves, a lot of good information -- the family’s roots,-- are buried with their ancestors in stories the family will never know. When each character confronts his or her past, it becomes a case of "The Truth will set your free."

Throughout the novel, the adoption search also operates as an allegory. The search of the Diaspora of Blacks for wholeness in America (in that they were torn from Mother Africa) is mirrored by the search of one of the characters for her birth mother. As quoted by the Elders, "A people without a knowledge of their history is like a tree without roots."

Not only is this novel a story of redemption and restoration, it is a tale of the triumph of the human spirit in spite of a past history of enslavement. This book is a must read. To order, use order form, contact Black Butterfly Press (323)242-9917 or Amazon.com.