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Summary: A hero to enrich our story
Review: "Under the swamps and barrens of Robeson County there is no bedrock, and in Drowning Creek no stones." Yet every few years the earth brings forth seemingly from nowhere a strange stone large enough to be prized as a grave marker. So Josephine Humphreys tells us in the voice of the narrator of Nowhere Else on Earth. The earth gives birth to stones, and history brings forth legends. One with considerable basis in fact is that of Henry Berry Lowrie, the hero of the novel. Lowrie was a latter-day Robin Hood, a man who did much to rebalance the scales of justice in favor of the marginalized in the lawless aftermath of the Civil War. Humphreys tells his story and in the process sheds light on a period, place, and people neglected in mainstream historical accounts, overlooked perhaps because the people involved are too solidly centered in themselves to make much of a fuss. But adding Henry Berry Lowrie to the list of heroes school children know as well as they know Daniel Boone would do much to enrich the story of America.
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Summary: It's like being there....
Review: As I read the opening pages and started to get Rhoda Strong fixed in my mind, I realized early in the book that all the characters would stick with me through to the end. That is the gift that Josephine Humphreys has for story telling. You inhale and exhale every breath with the characters.The story of Robeson County, North Carolina and the Lumbee people was opened up in a new light. The Lumbee, a closed subject to the world for countless generations, now are transformed and explained to us: from preferably non-existent in society to real people with real life experiences of happiness, pain, trauma, hardship, and monotony--just like everyone else. The book causes one to look at the heart of those we would rather ignore.
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Summary: A Civil War Pembroke
Review: Excellent work of historical fiction. A very enjoyable book to read. I grew up in Pembroke and really enjoyed reading about Henry Lowrie during the civil war period. I heard the story as a young boy from my father and was very happy to read a more detailed and accurate account. Everyone with any interest in the history of Eastern North Carolina should read this book to better understand the Pembroke area..
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Summary: A Fantastic True Story
Review: Humphreys' book is an evocative and moving portrayal of a time period and people that have stayed hidden for too long. While most of us know a lot about the Civil War, we know nothing of the role that Indians played in it or the realities of wartime for the civilian. Even better, the characters in the book are real, not fiction--their descendents are still living and remembering this story. The whole work is a testament to how human beings can not only survive but thrive with optimism through horrendous circumstances.
Rating: 
Summary: A falling off
Review: I adored "Dreams of Sleep" and was, frankly, indignant when I read Gail Caldwell's review in the Boston Globe that called this "paint-by-numbers fiction." Having read the book, however, I'm inclined to think Caldwell got it right-- a 10 for historical research; for imagination, fictional accomplishment, a 5, at best.
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Summary: A New Voice on My Culture
Review: I have heard countless tales about the adventures of HB Lowrie and his brothers, but not until reading Nowhere Else on Earth have I found myself immersed in the little none scenarios that truly make the legend powerful to me on a personal level. In fact, last Sunday afternoon, I took a 2-hour excursion to several landmarks in rural Robeson County where he and Rhoda Strong lived as man and wife until his disappearance in the late 1800s. Reading Humphreys' novel has made me all the more appreciative of my Lumbee heritage.
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Summary: A Joy To Read
Review: I know that anybody who liked Cold Mountain will love Nowhere Else On Earth. The details here are even more finely written and complex. The wrenching plot builds on the history of a fascinating, underexplored corner of the East Coast--a mostly Lumbee Indian community in North Carolina--and a perspective on the Civil War I had never even pondered before. Surprising and very eye-opening. I just love Josephine Humphrey's knack for beautiful speech, especially the way it reflects the colors and metaphors of Southern talk. At the same time the characters she creates (esp. Rhoda Strong) are so astute about human nature, and so wise, I'm always wishing I could meet them. THose of you who enjoyed Dreams of Sleep and Fireman's Fair will go crazy over this one. I think the historical novel really shows off her strengths as a writer.
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Summary: Down and Out in Robeson County
Review: I read this book from first page to last, never able to quite put my finger on its pulse. In 1864 the Civil War raged in its 4th year and the "macks" were separatists with zero tolerance for their neighbors in Scuffletown, who hid their eligible young men in the swamp. The macks (Mac this and Mc That), the Scots planters who were original settlers of the North Carolina land, were in constant opposition with the indiginous people of the land. The landscape of Scuffletown changes like shape-shifters, as these proud Indian descendants move from place to place. Rhoda Strong, daughter of Cee, tells this rambling tale of good vs. evil. We follow as she makes life-choices and committments that seem irreversible. Basing her decisions on the attitudes of this poverty-riddled family, she seems proud of two questionable virtues: stubborness and ignorance.
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Summary: True to the Tales of the people of Scuffletown
Review: I was eagar to read this book after living amoung the Lumbee Indians for ten years (and marrying one). This book is wonderfully written and carefully researched. I found it to be so true to the way the " Old Timers" in Robeson County tell the tales of Henry Berry Lowrie and his gang. The discriptions of the area and the feelings of the Lumbee come through loud and clear as Humphreys tells the tale through the eyes of Rhoda Strong Lowrie.
Rating:
Summary: Good writing, good read
Review: If you love a beautifully written story with a strong central character and plenty of fascinating historic detail, you will enjoy this book. Rhoda's observations about the world around her are sheer poetry and immerse the reader in a remote and unusual community worth knowing about. The other characters are, unfortunately, too numerous and too hastily drawn for the reader to become fully invested in their fates. But if you are a writer, or just love good writing, you will not regret the time you spend in Rhoda's world.
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