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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Madewell Brown by Rick Collignon is the sequel to Perdido that takes place in the fictional town of Guadalupe, New Mexico. When his father dies, Cipriano finds an old leather satchel with the name Madewell Brown on it. In the bag are some old baseball clothes, a picture of a group of fourteen...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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1 of 1 members found this review helpful
“Madewell Brown by Rick Collignon is the sequel to Perdido that takes place in the fictional town of Guadalupe, New Mexico. When his father dies, Cipriano finds an old leather satchel with the name Madewell Brown on it. In the bag are some old baseball clothes, a picture of a group of fourteen black baseball players, and a letter addressed to Obie Poole in South Cairo, Illinois that appears to be over fifty years old. Cipriano drops the letter in the mail setting off a chain of events that will expose a town's wounds and bring peace to a woman's soul. With a few deft strokes of his author's brush, Collignon brings to life each and every character. The small town of Guadalupe itself is a character with its dusty mesas and the fierce loyalty shared between its citizens. With just over 200 pages, this novel is a quiet meditation about seeking truth and finding yourself.”
clockstein wrote this review Thursday, July 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“This is the story of Madewell Brown, told in flashbacks by his friend and fellow ballplayer Obie Poole. Obie and Madewell grew up in South Cairo, Illinois and together with a band of other boys created the South Cairo Greys - an African-American baseball team. For most of the players, the team was the only family they ever really had. As you can tell from the first sentence, Obie is the only one who ever returned to South Cairo - all the other ones dropped out or died or were killed while they were on the road. Madewell just walked off the pitcher's mound in El Paso, Texas and Obie never did know what happened to him.
Kristi (Books and Needlepoint) wrote this review Monday, May 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Many years later, back in South Cairo, a young girl named Rachel wanders by Obie's house - he recognizes her at once as the granddaughter of Madewell Brown. Over the years they form an unlikely friendship, as she provides him company and an outlet for all his stories - and he provides her a link to her past and becomes her surrogate grandfather. When Obie dies, he leaves his few possessions to her - among them a box filled with his memoirs. As she begins to read, she longs to believe that his stories of his baseball days were true.
In Guadalupe, New Mexico Ruffino Trujillo tells his son Cipriano a tale about a black man that he encountered out on the Mesa when he was a boy. It is the last and pretty much the only story, that he shared with his son about his childhood. Cipriano is perplexed by the story, but searches and finds a canvas bag in his father's shed with the name Madewell Brown on it. It is old, waterstained, covered with dust. Inside is an old blanket, some clothes, a photo of the South Cairo greys and a letter addressed to Obie Poole. Not knowing what to make of his father's story or what to do with the belongings, he mails the letter. It falls into the hands of Rachel.
As the stories converge, Madewell's history is told and what really happened up on the Mesa is divulged. It is told in simple language, but hints at the violence and racism that existed in that time.
This is the fourth book in Collignon's Guadalupe series, and I enjoyed it enough that I am going to look for the first three. It was an easy to read book, which would be good for a lazy summer day sitting on the porch with a glass of tea.
The first four books are Perdido, The Journal of Antonio Montoya, and A Santo in the Image of Cristobal Garcia. ”
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Though this is a book meant to be an answer to a mystery created in an earlier
Jackie Blem wrote this review Sunday, March 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
book, "Perdido", it stands alone quite well. It involves a forgotten team in the Negro League baseball of long ago, one old man who tells it's stories over and over, another old man who keeps a dark secret about it until his death bed, and the younger people who inherit the stories and the pall of the secrets. It's a rambling story, changing voices and eras effortlessly, but a fine one, showing the importance of memory and oral storytelling in keeping the past alive long enough for the present to learn from it.”
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