The Cherokee Rose: A Novel of Gardens & Ghosts

Much to love about this book. Page turner with real historical impact. Sheds light on the red/black overlaps in the South, showing the complicated and deeply troubling history of oppression and race relations are by no means restricted to a Indian/White or Black/White dyad. There are no easy heroes or villains and the Cherokee are not romanticized. Just a tad formulaic or perhaps rushed at times--all the answers show up on cue for the wrap-up. Still, a novel well worth reading and teaching and one that engages issues too often overlooked.

Very interesting book - hard to get into at first, but keep reading.

In this first novel by noted scholar Tiya Miles, the reader is gently led into a what becomes a stunning mystery linking the past and the present through a subject that is rarely explored: Native American slaveholders in the Southern United States. This well written modern day tale pulls readers back into the 19th century with the discovery of an old diary written by a missionary who once lived on the land recently purchased by a young urban professional seeking to find out more about her ancestry. Nothing is as it appears to be and the major characters, both past and present reveal that slavery and its repercussions are far more complex than imagined. The novel contains a wealth of historical information in addition to a well developed storyline that left me captivated, stunned and pleased all the way up to the final lines. Well done!

Five stars for Tiya Miles and her imaginative novel about the (real) historic house built and occupied by (real) Cherokee Indians and the (real) African American slaves they owned. She has deftly interwoven the known history of the home's occupants and their missionary allies with lively mysteries and surprising people. Easy to read, engaging, and provocative, The Cherokee Rose reminds us that history abounds with amazing characters, some of them really dreadful, and with endless possibilities, some of them really wonderful. As a noted and award-winning historian, Miles writes with a sure hand about documented events and their enduring legacies that shape contemporary behavior. In one slender novel about the fate of an historic house she illuminates the ongoing tensions of race, class, and gender in the political arena. Her first novel is both a delight and an education.

A wonderful novel that explores the often-glazed over truth of slavery in America. Using several modern characters, Miles delves into the painful history of a plantation, using factual research of an existing plantation and it's history. Cherokee Rose discusses the holding of African-American slaves by members of the Cherokee tribe- a truth of history that is routinely erased from the narrative. The characters Miles writes offer a multi-cultural perspective of our shared past, voicing many anxieties about the history of slavery that are common today. This is a brilliant novel, with well-written prose and wonderfully developed characters. I read it in one long sitting, and my only regret is that I can never read it for the first time again.