Claire L. Datnow

Claire Datnow's novel, One Cause Too Many, is the rich and complex story of Valerie Crider, a forty-year-old Southern-born activist struggling to rise above her past. The daughter of a Klansman, Val is haunted by several spectres: her patents' innate bigotry; the death of her brother, Byron, a martyr for the cause of civil rights; her grown son Jason, the product of an interracial affair, whom circumstances forced her to give up for adoption while he was an infant; and her own inability to sustain a meaningful relationship with any of the men who enter her life.
As the novel opens, Valerie has established a semblance of stability after working, and failing, at various charitable or humanistic causes. She is living with Sid Russakoff, a wealthy, 65-year-old entrepreneur; a German Jew who escaped the Nazis as a young man, Sid has his own set of prejudices to deal with. Valerie designs bamboo furniture for a company Sid has set up, assisted by Johnny, a craftsman, and by Medlin Medea, a Mexican who oversees the processing of bamboo from plantations on the Yucatan. The business is thriving, when suddenly Valerie is shot and seriously wounded by an unknown assailant.

Her near-death experience and long recovery force Valerie to confront a number of deep-buried issues. Is Sid truly the man for her? Are the workers Sid employs being fairly treated, or do they deserve a greater share of the profits from the business? Can she-should she-reconcile with the son she gave away? Will she finally be able to come to terms with the death of her beloved brother? Can Val and her bitter mother, Marilyn, ever achieve an understanding of one another?

One Cause Too Many sweeps across three tumultuous decades, encompassing settings from the steamy Amazon to hurricane-wracked Florida, and involving a cast of unique characters who step fully formed from the pages speaking believable dialogue. Claire Datnow's prose is lyrical and evocative: the reader can feel the heat and humidity of the Deep South, see the kudzu creeping like a living carpet and the Spanish moss dripping beard-like from the trees, and smell the magnolia blossoms in the night air. One Cause Too Many is a book to be savored like fine, expensive wine, a vintage with a heady bouquet and an acrid aftertaste that tarries, titillating the tongue.… (mais)