The Removed by Brandon Hobson

The Removed

by Brandon Hobson

“A haunted work, full of voices old and new. It is about a family’s reckoning with loss and injustice, and it is about a people trying for the same. The journey of this family’s way home is full—in equal measure—of melancholy and love.” —Tommy Orange, author of There There

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Steeped in Cherokee myths and history, a novel about a fractured family reckoning with the tragic death of their son long ago—from National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson

In the fifteen years since their teenage son, Ray-Ray, was killed in a police shooting, the Echota family has been suspended in private grief. The mother, Maria, increasingly struggles to manage the onset of Alzheimer’s in her husband, Ernest. Their adult daughter, Sonja, leads a life of solitude, punctuated only by spells of dizzying romantic obsession. And their son, Edgar, fled home long ago, turning to drugs to mute his feelings of alienation.

With the family’s annual bonfire approaching—an occasion marking both the Cherokee National Holiday and Ray-Ray’s death, and a rare moment in which they openly talk about his memory—Maria attempts to call the family together from their physical and emotional distances once more. But as the bonfire draws near, each of them feels a strange blurring of the boundary between normal life and the spirit world. Maria and Ernest take in a foster child who seems to almost miraculously keep Ernest’s mental fog at bay. Sonja becomes dangerously fixated on a man named Vin, despite—or perhaps because of—his ties to tragedy in her lifetime and lifetimes before. And in the wake of a suicide attempt, Edgar finds himself in the mysterious Darkening Land: a place between the living and the dead, where old atrocities echo.

Drawing deeply on Cherokee folklore, The Removed seamlessly blends the real and spiritual to excavate the deep reverberations of trauma—a meditation on family, grief, home, and the power of stories on both a personal and ancestral level.

“The Removed is a marvel. With a few sly gestures, a humble array of piercingly real characters and an apparently effortless swing into the dire dreamlife, Brandon Hobson delivers an act of regeneration and solace. You won’t forget it.” —Jonathan Lethem, author of The Feral Detective

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

3 of 5 stars

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The Removed is yet another book that I might not have heard of (and thus considered reading) if not for BOTM. Written by Brandon Hobson, it's a novel that weaves together myths, family history, and the process of grief.

Fifteen years ago, Ray-Ray was shot by a police officer. From that moment onward, the path for this one family changed forever. The Echota's each had their own way of processing the loss, and for many, it has taken years to come to terms with what has happened.

It's taken even longer to approach a world where they're willing to forgive and forget. Interwoven through their grief, and their journeys, are details and legends from their heritage – as the anniversary of Ray-Ray's death also falls upon a Cherokee National Holiday.

“Look, look. The stories all have something in common, right? They’re like medicine, but without the bad taste, right? It’s good for you.”

To be clear, The Removed is far from being a happy novel. That's okay. It deals with heavy topics, such as the loss of a family member, and the different ways everyone deals with it. In that sense, that makes for a beautiful foundation.

Speaking of, I did love that The Removed was steeped in Cherokee legend and lore. It made for a very different reading experience for me. It raised a lot of interesting points, and even touched upon the racism and discrimination many face, even today.

All of that in mind, I didn't end up loving The Removed as much as I hoped. I adored the foundation, as I said. However, it's the characters that I had trouble with. I should probably mention that the novel is told through multiple perspectives; namely Maria, Sonja, and Edgar.

I actually really enjoyed Maria's story the most, while I had trouble appreciating Sonja and Edgar's to the same degree. Though they did a solid job of adding tension to the tale, I will give them that!

The Removed is a novel rife with allegory, some easy to spot, while others take a bit more effort. The end result is a novel that will almost certainly force the reader to think and process the world in a different light.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 10 January, 2021: Finished reading
  • 10 January, 2021: Reviewed
  • Started reading
  • Finished reading
  • 10 January, 2021: Reviewed