Beneath the Swamp’s Shadow by Kelvin Ray Oxendine (Book Review #2266)

Beneath the Swamp’s Shadow is an exceptional historical fiction novel by Kelvin Ray Oxendine that connects us to our history and brings us to the present, awakening a legacy of resistance that continues to be felt in the landscape and people of North Carolina today. It takes place during a time of great unrest and racial tension, before the impact of the Ku Klux Klan, in Robeson County, North Carolina, in 1958, on a 22-year-old Indigenous man named Cecil Lowery. He carries on his shoulders the significant burden of both his heritage and the unrelenting spirit of his legendary ancestor, Henry Berry Lowrie.

What follows is not only a fight against an enemy, but also a confrontation with one’s identity, heritage, and responsibility. Oxendine has beautifully captured the boiling point of a community that has been pushed to the brink of no return, and the internal struggle of a man who has to make the ultimate decision to either run from the fight, or to take up arms against an oppressive regime, and not just for his own future, but also, in memory of those who have come before him.

Oxendine has combined the historical elements of this story with the emotional journey of a character and other components to create a crafted education and a profoundly moving experience. Oxendine does not simply retell the historical accounts of what happened in this community; he breathes new life into its history. There is a specific energy on every page; the ancestors of this community imbue the land, both through the swamp itself and through the silence that surrounds it, reminding us that to rebel is to remember.

Cecil’s progress from an unwilling bystander to a courageous figure of light echoes the journey of all those who have lived in the hope of not being erased. Oxendine has presented the Lumbee community with such compassion and authenticity that he provides a rich cultural context for the events of this novel, while maintaining the urgency of the individual stories that it tells. It is a novel about reclaiming one’s history through the telling of our stories, the strength and power of our ancestors, and the fight for our existence as we know it.

With his own experience as a descendant of Henry Berry Lowrie and his almost two decades of military service, Oxendine provides a unique perspective and authority on this subject. He has the most significant authority to write Beneath the Swamp’s Shadow because he has a connection to the land, the history, and the people of this area. To me, this novel is a proclamation, a warning, and a prayer.

This is the novel for anyone who wishes to read about courage, cultural inheritance, and the continuing spark of resistance.

Written by Jeyran Main

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