Speak Right On

by: Mary E. Neighbour

Published by: The Toby Press

Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart

In this historical ficton, Mary E. Neighbour took on a difficult task with her debut novel, Speak Right On. Most Americans know of Dred Scott and his famous fight to cast off the bonds of slavery, but few of us know the man behind the 1857 Supreme Court Case that ignited the flames of the American Civil War.

One-fourth biography and three-fourths fiction, Neighbour takes the reader on an incredible journey of dignity, accomplishment, and bonds of the mind, spirit and heart. Neighbour fills in the gaps of Dred's life from its humble beginnings in Virginia where he worked in the house with his Gran, then as a field slave in Alabama, onto St. Louis, the Wisconsin Territory, Illinois, back to St. Louis, then Louisiana, and back to St. Louis once again. "I was nothing more'n a mule that could talk, property writ down in a white man's book with a price after my name, and a price less than any other man slave 'cause I was such a runt."

Neighbour uses storytelling as a framing device for Dred's life. It works well. I especially like the "upriver, downriver" analogy that the author employs to dictate Dred's life. Upriver are the stories of Dred growing up; downriver stories after he is separated from Gran and his childhood and becomes a husband and father.

Narrated by Dred, his daughter Lizzie, and Gran, the story is sometimes confusing, but the attention to language and place makes the story come alive and, as a reader, I'm willing to overlook that small detail.

There are some other editing problems in Speak Right On. The setting abruptly changes in the middle of one scene and, near the end, Dred is dying at the end of one chapter and dancing as a porter at Barnum Hotel at the beginning of the next. Sloppy editing aside, I give this a "you gotta read this" nod. It's a fine piece of fiction from well-cared-for slaves point of view that is reminiscent of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye.

Armchair Interviews says: In Gran's words, "A story! A story! Let it go, let it come."