""Reginald Gibbons's first novel takes place in east Texas in 1910 during the time of white rule, not by law but by lynch mob. Amid the suffocating racism and fear, half-Choctaw, half-white Reuben Sweetbitter and Martha Clarke, a white woman, fall in love. . . . Reuben and Martha's love is strong, but, dishearteningly, racism is stronger. Timely in the subject of interracial love, this authentic, richly -detailed novel plumbs sacrifice, fear, and the loss of one's identity, bringing the -anguish of the two young lovers to life. Highly recommended."" - Library Journal
""Far more than a spellbinding love story . . . a novel wide and deep in its understanding. . . . An unforgettable story, a remarkable piece of work."" - Dallas Morning News
""I love this novel: it sings, it soars. Simultaneously deft and deep, it brings a lost world back to brilliant light."" - Andrea Barrett
""Surprising in every way. . . . The novel's ending is as strong as its beginning, terrifying and beautiful, a true tour de force."" - Chicago Tribune
Reginald Gibbons is the author of seven books of poetry and two of fiction. An editor, translator, critic, and essayist as well, he has received the Carl Sandburg Award, the Balcones Poetry Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and the Jesse Jones Fiction Award among other honors. He grew up in a semirural area near Houston, Texas, and is one-eighth Choctaw. He is a professor of English at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.