I bet if you asked most people what this book is about, they'd tell you it's about Reconstruction and the post-Civil War years. And that is what it's about. "The Book of Lost Friends" is a book that former slave, Hannie, and Juneau Jane, illegitimate daughter of Hannie's former master, keep to hopefully help former slaves reconnect with their families. "Lost Friends" was an actual advertisement published in Southern newspapers after the Civil War and read by preachers at Southern churches. Lavinia, Juneau Jane's legitimate sister, and Juneau Jane are looking for word about their father, mostly to protect their inheritances. At first Hannie follows them to make sure that her sharecropping contract is protected, but gradually she is led to search for her family that had been sold away over 10 years earlier.
The parallel story is about Benny, a brand new English teacher who has been sent to Augustine in rural Louisiana for her first few years of teaching in order to get student loan forgiveness. Many of Benny's student come to school hungry, when they're able to come to school. She yearns to find a way to connect to these students. Although Benny's upbringing was much different, she sees a part of herself and her teen years in many of her students making her want to connect even more. When Benny meets some old-timers from Augustine, she becomes interested in their stories. And realizes that perhaps her students should be hearing those stories rather than reading books like Animal Farm.
Benny's story was the story that I connected to. I really wanted her plan to reach these kids to succeed. I found that story more engaging than the 1875 storyline, but I also wish that there was more backstory to Benny's tale.
I think you really have to be a serious historical fiction fan to like this sometimes slow-moving book, but I did enjoy it and would recommend it to some.
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