4 out of 5 books
ALL THE DAY LONG is the first book in Embassie Susberry’s The Lost Boys series. Henry Jones Dabney-Sinclair is the product of an illegal interracial relationship. Despite interracial relationships being against the law during 1930s, his parents still managed as best they could to live as husband and wife and love their sons Jimmy who is white and Henry who is bi-racial. Growing up in Dabney/Sinclair Mississippi, Henry didn’t really fit in with anyone. He attended church with black members, but he was schooled at white institutions. When he start his courses for law school, he meets a band of seemingly mismatched friends who become known as the Lost Boys.
The novel is told during 3 time periods, the 1930s when Henry goes off to college, early 1940s when he and the other Lost Boys have taken on their alter egos and are involved in some shady activities and later 1940s where he meets Petula Taggert, a young lady from his hometown who is desperately seeking to find her mother’s killer. Henry’s life plans have been derailed because he was drafted to fight in the war and his assignment was as a medic. Trying to balance his love for Tula, supporting her in finding her mother’s killer and attempting to decipher who from his past is blackmailing him and why, Henry discovers he has found his place and purpose.
Embassie Susberry is a new author I discovered, and I am so glad I did. I love books from this time period, and she has a talent for the craft. For this book to be written during a time where racial tensions were on the rise during the Jim Crow era, it did not come off as traumatic. The characters, scenes and plot are very well written. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Reviewed by Paula Allen
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