“The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead
The title of this novel comes from the name given to the children who are sent to a juvenile reformatory in Florida, where cruelty, corruption and abuse seemingly are the order of the day and are quite acceptable. I would start by saying it is not a “comfort read” in fact maybe the opposite, but the author does inform us that whilst the book is fiction it was inspired, worryingly, by a true story of such an actual Institution.
The book is in three parts, and the start introduces us to Elwood Curtis, a bright boy, left in the care of his grandmother, when his parents left to go west. He is studious, and a follower of Martin Luther King, the best present he ever received was in Christmas 1962, being an album of his speeches. Throughout the book, King’s words are quoted to reinforce the message. Our introduction to Elwood is a gentle start to this story; he is a good kid, who ends up being in the wrong place at the wrong time and is convicted of auto theft and sent for correction to the Nickel Academy.
The second section is the most disturbing part of this novel, and the author does not pull his punches, but he emphasises in his acknowledgements at the end, the authenticity of fact on which his fiction is based. Elwood quickly suffers the cruelty of the Academy’s regime, but as he recovers in hospital he bonds with Turner, and they are the principal inmates whose story is recounted here, supplemented from time to time, by vignettes of other juveniles sufferings. There are however, good, easily digestible parts to their story and those of the other boys.
The third section is years later in New York where some flashbacks to the Academy are recounted, and of the inmates; but this part is of a life beginning to come together, to re-establishing a presence in the community, and of the big city.
There are sections of this novel where the writing stops you by the sheer descriptive fluency of language Colson Whitehead uses, even sometimes when describing the bleakest of events. Colson Whitehead won the Pulitzer prize for this book, and is one of only a few authors to have won it twice. He has also justifiably been awarded it for successive novels. His previous much acclaimed work is “The Underground Railway” [also featured in our Read and Recommended], do read that, it is a longer novel. However, The Nickel Boys” is more than complete in just over 200 pages, so longer than a novella, but the conclusion shows a writer at the top of his skill set.
