The Undertaker's Assistant: A Captivating Post-Civil War Era Novel of Southern Historical Fiction

by Amanda Skenandore

An enthralling novel of historical fiction for fans of Lisa Wingate and Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Undertaker’s Assistant is a powerful story of human resilience set during Reconstruction-era New Orleans that features an extraordinary and unforgettable heroine at its heart.
 
“The dead can’t hurt you. Only the living can.” Effie Jones, a former slave who escaped to the Union side as a child, knows the truth of her words. Taken in by an army surgeon and his wife during the War, she learned to read and write, to tolerate the sight of blood and broken bodies—and to forget what is too painful to bear. Now a young freedwoman, she has returned south to New Orleans and earns her living as an embalmer, her steady hand and skillful incisions compensating for her white employer’s shortcomings.
 
Tall and serious, Effie keeps her distance from the other girls in her boarding house, holding tight to the satisfaction she finds in her work. But despite her reticence, two encounters—with a charismatic state legislator named Samson Greene, and a beautiful young Creole, Adeline—introduce her to new worlds of protests and activism, of soirees and social ambition. Effie decides to seek out the past she has blocked from her memory and try to trace her kin. As her hopes are tested by betrayal, and New Orleans grapples with violence and growing racial turmoil, Effie faces loss and heartache, but also a chance to finally find her place . . .

• ISBN10: 1496713680
• ISBN13: 9781496713681
• Publish Date: 30 July 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9781496713681

Reviews

[Heather]

The Reconstruction period after the Civil War was a time when the hopes of the newly freed African-Americans were built up and then dashed by the resurgence of white supremacy.  This book looks the life of a black woman during that period.

Effie is a fish out of water.  She escaped slavery as a child.  Her first memory is being taken in by a Union army camp.  She was cared for by an Army doctor who took her home with him to Indiana after the war.  She was raised as his ward and trained to help him with his new career as an undertaker.  Now as an adult she is drawn back to New Orleans to try to find out more about her life.  Did she have family?  Can she find them?

Her instinct is to stay to herself.  She has an introduction from her guardian to an undertaker who was a Union officer in the war.  She gets a job that takes up most of her time but she slowly starts to meet new people.  She gets involved in Republican politics after developing a crush on a black state senator.  This exposes her to the ambitions of people who were formerly enslaved.  She also meets a Creole woman and her mother.  They are biracial upper class women who mourn the loss of status and wealth that has come about because of the war.  These two groups of people allow the author to explore the effects of the end of slavery on several different classes of black and mixed race people.

I would have liked to known more about her employer.  He was a southerner who chose to fight the for Union and then came back south to his hometown.  Stress from the war and his unwelcome reception back in town have started him drinking.  Over the course of the book he works on acclimating back into upper class white society.  He needs to abandon the beliefs that would have led him to fight for the north to do this.  Because we don't see his point of view, it appears very random and arbitrary.  I would have like to have seen this change explored more deeply.  

I loved this book.  It shows how historical fiction can be used to explore many points of view and experiences in the same time frame.  Using Effie as an outsider to all of them is a good device to see everyone clearly.  

About the Author

Amanda Skenandore is a historical fiction writer and registered nurse. Between Earth and Sky was her first novel. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Readers can visit her website at www.amandaskenandore.com.

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Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, July 23
Review at The Lit Bitch
Review at Broken Teepee

Wednesday, July 24
Review at Coffee and Ink
Review at Reading the Past
Interview at Jathan & Heather
Review at Suzy Approved Book Reviews

Thursday, July 25
Review at Jennifer Tar Heel Reader
Interview at Let Them Read Books

Friday, July 26
Review at Orange County Readers

Saturday, July 27
Feature at Donna's Book Blog

Monday, July 29
Review at Macsbooks
Review at CelticLady's Reviews

Tuesday, July 30
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at Melissa Reads

Wednesday, July 31
Review at McCombs on Main
Interview at Jorie Loves A Story

Thursday, August 1
Review at A Chick Who Reads
Review at Clarissa Reads it All

Friday, August 2
Review at Based on a True Story

Saturday, August 3
Feature at Mama's Reading Corner

Monday, August 5
Review at Bibliophile Reviews

Tuesday, August 6
Review at 100 Pages a Day
Review at LadyJ's Bookish Nook

Wednesday, August 7
Review at A Bookish Affair

Thursday, August 8
Review at Comet Readings

Saturday, August 10
Feature at What Is That Book About

Monday, August 12
Review at Cover To Cover Cafe

Tuesday, August 13
Review at Reader then Blogger
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time

Wednesday, August 14
Review at Amy's Booket List

Thursday, August 15
Review & Interview at Passages to the Past

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour, we are giving away two signed copies of The Undertaker's Assistant by Amanda Skenandore! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on August 15th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
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– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud will be decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or a new winner is chosen.

The Undertaker's Assistant


 This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

[kimbacaffeinate]

Effie a former slave escaped the south during the war and, raised as a ward by a couple in the north. At, the tender age of seven she began learning the skills of an embalmer. Now as a young free woman, she has returned to New Orleans, near the place they found her. She finds work as an undertaker’s assistant to a northern sympathizer who’s beliefs, drinking, and unsteady hands have left his business in shambles. She quickly turns things the business around, earning herself a dollar a day.

She lives in a boarding house for young women on the colored side of town, and stumbles upon a Ward meeting. Here she hears the charismatic state legislator named Samson Greene speak. It is the first time she feels smitten for a man.

Through the girls at the boarding house she visits a fortune teller and meets a beautiful young Creole, Adeline whom she eventually befriends.

There are a lot of firsts for Effie in this story and as she experiences things, the memories of her past sneak back in flashes, smells and more. Effie cannot remember anything before her ward found her beside a river bank where she uttered the words, “I’m lookin’ for da’ Yankees.”

Amanda Skenandore recreates the dangerous political climate highlighting some darker moments that occurred in Louisiana during this period. She shared the struggles, fear, hatred and determination of these proud people. From social activism to burned marble cake she shared it all.

I laughed, and I cried right along with Effie. The scenes where she regained her full memories felt very surreal, as did her fear by the river, and in the woods. Mixed in we have romance, betrayal, friendship, family and finding home.

I would be neglectful if I didn’t mention the darker sides of this tale. There is murder, racial brutality, rape, physical beatings and flashbacks. While none were overly graphic, the author didn’t gloss over these painful truth to our nation’s history. Then we have the embalming details. The geeky side of me found all of this fascinating but once again confirmed my preference for cremation.

The story offers a glimpse into Effie Jones life and journey as she looks for answers and a place to call home. I laughed, cried, was angered and became emotionally invested in the story as it unfolded. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer