Anne Aletha

Anne Aletha 

by Camille N Wright

Description:

“Meet Anne Aletha, who fought for equality for all … in 1918. Amid World War I, the Spanish Influenza, and a re-emerging Ku Klux Klan, a young unconventional schoolteacher inherits her uncle’s farm in the Deep South with the intentions of opening a school to educate all children—rich or poor, black or white. Her ambitions and her courage to challenge the systematic racial injustice she witnesses daily plunge herself and those she loves into the violence of the Klan."

I was expecting a lot more depth from this story. Having read the description I guess I focused on the promised KKK aspect and thought I’d read more about that, but it was a small part of the story and basically consisted of Anne Aletha standing up and walking out of church when the Klu Klux Klan was welcomed in by the minister.

Overall, I found the story to be very superficial and I wasn’t very engaged with the heroine. She had high ideals that were not developed enough to feel realistic for the era. The violence she experienced was not written about in such a way as to make me tense and worry for her safety. I prefer a book that draws me in to the story. I did not feel that. 

The most engaging section of the story was the writing about the Spanish Influenza. This most likely hit home because I can relate to it during the current Coronavirus pandemic.

If not for the unnecessary “love” scenes, I would have thought this a book was written for a middle grade or perhaps a high school reader of historical fiction.

My score for Anne Aletha is 2 of 5 shots. 

Thank you, Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.