Child of God. (fiction reviews).

Child of God
by Lolita Files
Simon & Schuster, September 2001
$23.00, ISBN 0-684-84143-6

Child of God is something of a departure for Lolita Files from her first three novels--Scenes From a Sistah, Getting to the Good Part and Blind Ambitions. In this saga--loosely based on Shakespeare's Hamlet--everyone in the seemingly innocent city of Downtown is talking about the Boten family's "strange" children and whispering about the voodoo in their midst.

Set in Downtown, Tennessee, the central characters in Files's latest novel--the Botens--start out as simple folk living in simple times, trying to get by living off the land. Over three generations, we see the Boten clan transform itself from humble beginnings to a family divided by deceit and consumed with life in the big city and the promise of fast money.

The story opens as Ophelia Boten's infant son dies in a tragic fire. His anguished cries travel on the wind, haunting her. Despite her loss, Ophelia is the one family member who has the courage to chart her own course--way from her family.

Throughout Child of God, the author skillfully navigates back and forth in time, as Ophelia struggles to break free of a legacy she does not fully understand. As the story unfolds, we eventually learn of the family's hidden secrets--a taboo love affair that damns the Botens for generations. Ultimately, she finds a relationship that helps her come to terms with her family heritage.

Files succeeds in sustaining a difficult story line. And although Child of God is essentially a tragedy, it does not overwhelm the reader with suffering. Instead, in the end we are left with a sense of vindication. For fans of Files's other books, Child of God is a refreshing and welcome change from her earlier relationship-based novels.

--Nina Foxx is the author of Dippin' My Spoon and the coauthor of Do The Write Thing: 7 Steps to Publishing Success.