Russell Banks brings to life in The Darling another political-historical narrative of great scope and range. As in Continental Drift and Rule of the Bone, racial issues are explored; as in Cloudsplitter, idealism runs off the rails. Banks always makes it work because he keeps it real.

The "darling" of the story is Dawn Carrington, neé Hannah Musgrave, a political radical and member of the Weather Underground forced to flee America to avoid arrest. At the time of the novel, she is 59, living on her working farm in upstate New York with four younger women, recalling her life in Liberia and her recent return to that country to look for her sons. "Mainly, we return to a place in order to learn why we left," she says. For Hannah, the decision was harrowing. She abandoned her sons during a bloody civil war, after the death of her husband, Woodrow Sundiata, a black African Cabinet Minister in President Samuel Doe's government, who is beheaded in front of her and her three boys. Banks explores mercilessly the corruption, greed, sloth, cynicism, and violence running through the Liberian leaders from Tolbert to Doe to Charles Taylor, weaving the real story of the horrors of West Africa with the fictional narrative of Hannah and Woodrow. He can take history off the page, bringing to life the times, people and events he recounts.

Hannah was born a child of privilege and chafed against it from her youth: "...it was an old impulse ... this desire to separate myself in the dance of life from the people who had brought me and become one instead with the people excluded from the dance..." Her father is a famous pediatrician, her mother a shadow figure maintaining a predictably correct suburban household. Both parents are liberal, but Hannah outstrips their political stance early on. They are estranged for many years because of her flight, but the separation is really much deeper than distance or politics.

She becomes a wife and mother, and is bored and unfulfilled by the role. She turns to creating a sanctuary for chimpanzees and finds her real purpose. "An old pattern. It's how since childhood I have made my daily life worth living, by turning tedium and despair into a cause." She names each chimp, calls them her "dreamers," and cares for them while others care for her children. Self-knowledge is not high on a list of her personal attributes. Although she characterizes herself as "a darling," there is little evidence to support her claim: distant father, cold mother, controlling husband. She finally sees herself in a true light: "Here it all was again: the names and dates, the tired facts of my biography up to then, the description of my few skills and talents. It was the CV of a small-time, would-be domestic terrorist. Sad. Pathetic." Hannah Musgrave is a visitor in her own life, never really connecting with anyone; more a dreamer than a darling.

Russell Banks has, once again in The Darling, shown himself to be one of the finest novelists writing today. He has written very convincingly, in a woman's voice, a story of youthful idealism destroyed by the real world, of a woman who connected more completely with chimps than with humans, and who says, "once it was clear to me that I would have to abandon my husband and children and return alone to the United States, once I saw that I would be alone, safe from prosecution--I realized, gradually at first and then in a rush, that it was exactly what I had wanted all along… I was once again seizing an opportunity to abandon one life for another." Another reinvention for Hannah. --Valerie Ryan


From Publishers Weekly
Six years after the publication of his much-lauded novel Cloudsplitter, Banks returns with a portrayal of personal and political turmoil in West Africa and the U.S. The darling of the title is narrator Hannah Musgrave, a privileged child of the turbulent 1960s and '70s, who now, at 59, reflects on her life. After participating in freewheeling sexual experimentation and radical politics, Hannah is wanted by the FBI for her involvement in the Weather Underground. Under an assumed name, she flees the U.S. for Africa, traveling first to Ghana, then Liberia, where in 1976 she meets and marries Woodrow Sundiata, a government official. Taking on another identity—that of foreign wife, and eventually mother to three sons—Hannah finds herself increasingly involved with the highest members of Liberia's government as Woodrow's political star rises. She also finds purpose in establishing a sanctuary for endangered chimpanzees. When Liberia explodes into civil war, Hannah's life and the lives of her family are in danger. Readers will be stunned by the gut-wrenching (and often foolish) decisions she makes—and by the horrifying outcome of her association with key figures such as Liberian president Samuel Doe and insurgent Charles Taylor. An articulate and keenly observant narrator, Hannah explains Liberia's history and U.S. connections as smoothly as she reflects on tribal practices, the fate of chimpanzees and her own misguidedness. Better yet, for the purposes of good storytelling, she is conflicted and selfish, and often naïve despite her wide experience. She emerges as a fascinating figure, striking universal chords in her search for identity and home, though her life may ultimately be a study in futility. A rich and complex look at the searing connections between the personal and the political, this is one of Banks's most powerful novels yet. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com
It is a wonder that more American novelists don't set their works on the African continent. The backdrop is rich, such a potent character in its own right, provided, of course, it is captured right, without condescension. Hemingway's shadow might indeed loom large, but his novels and stories set there were not really about Africa but about Americans in Africa, distressed lovers, with his males engaging in too much macho posturing. Among our contemporary novelists, there are Barbara Kingsolver and Norman Rush, but the list thins quickly from there.Now comes Russell Banks and his novel The Darling. It is about a disillusioned and seemingly doomed woman, Hannah Musgrave, and her travails in Liberia. Yes, Hannah is white -- a point she often remarks upon -- but her Liberian world is honestly African. Which is to say it is somewhat romantic, brutal, black and quite deadly. Hannah tells this story from the sweep of memory, a woman in her late fifties looking back on an unimaginable life -- and the losses that mounted. Her past has, of course, anchored itself inside her, despite her efforts to run from it: "After many years of believing that I never dream of anything, I dreamed of Africa." But first, Hannah's stateside history: New England-born, she was selfish and impecunious in her youth. At Brandeis, where she listened to jazz and dated black men, she was seduced into radicalism. Her ideology stamped upon her, she set off and joined the Weather Underground. Dynamite was rigged; people, we are to assume, died. Hannah fled overseas with Zack, one of her slippery cohorts. Zack settles in Ghana; Hannah, long on fearlessness, moves on, in 1976, to Liberia. "Years ago," she remarks, "when I was in my early thirties and living underground in the States, moving from safe house to safe house, I was taught by comrades more experienced at flight than I that if a person, especially a woman, travels in fear, she is never safe." Liberia, in reality, is not just any African country, and Banks takes full and knowledgeable advantage of its old and modern history. It has a magnetic link to America: It was established by freed American slaves, and English remains widely spoken. The descendants of those early slaves came to be known as Americo-Liberians, distinguishing themselves from the native-born Liberians. It is in this mix of tribal warfare -- native-born against non-native-born -- that the fuse of Liberia's present-day conflict was lit. This reviewer covered the Liberian civil war in the 1990s and can attest that Banks gets the sweaty trickery of the land, the deceptions that must be played out by almost everyone, just right. Tribal factions might have smiled during the day at one another, sitting inside dilapidated office buildings, but at night, under darkness, they allowed the decades-old tensions to flourish. The gun battles began anew in the darkness. I heard gunfire nightly; then next morning, remarkably, life resumed -- particularly in the capital of Monrovia -- as if a different script must be adhered to. Rebels I'd seen walking with guns at night walked hallways the next morning, smiles upon their faces.Liberia kept reminding me of my grandmother's Alabama. Hannah Musgrave quickly realizes she's landed in a place as mystifying as Oz. "Oddly, the streets and buildings of Monrovia and the overall ambience of the city, despite its size and sprawl and mix of architectural styles, didn't so much suggest late-twentieth-century West Africa as it did a 1940s sleepy Southern county seat; and the city might have been a set for a sentimental movie about postwar Dixie, To Kill a Mockingbird maybe -- except that all of the actors in the movie, even the extras, were black." In Africa, then, Hannah could hide. She could be born again. Above ground.Into her life walks Woodrow Sundiata, a government official. Woodrow is one of those descendants of exiled American slaves. Hannah and Woodrow marry. She doubts she loves him, but compromises must be made, out in the open. The CIA (why of course!) takes note of Hannah's presence in Liberia. Hannah, her antennae sharp, recognizes the effect of being married to Woodrow. "With me as his wife, however, Woodrow was exotic, a little sexy, and possibly dangerous, as if his newly consecrated American connection gave him access to power and information that were unavailable to other Liberians, even among the elite."In time Hannah becomes enamored of chimpanzees -- "dreamers," she calls them. She nurses the desperate and starving animals back to health. She also gives birth to three sons and admits she has no passion for motherhood.Meanwhile, Hannah's Liberia slowly becomes unglued. At the center of that unraveling is Charles Taylor, himself an Americo-Liberian who had fled the country and been imprisoned in Massachusetts for embezzling money from the Liberian government. Banks -- wonderful at melding fact and fiction -- hews close to Taylor's true-life criminal past. His escape remains unsolved to this day. In the novel, Hannah will have more than a little to say about the dramatic turn of events. Charles Taylor's dream of liberating Liberia from its autocratic and unschooled president, Samuel Doe, had played shrewdly into Hannah's tattered idealism. "And Charles had a plan, he wanted to break out of prison, make his way to Libya, raise a guerrilla army there and return to Liberia and overthrow Samuel Doe; and he had a place, Liberia, that I had come to know better than any other place; and he had a dream: to establish in his country and, as I was beginning to think of it, mine, a socialist democracy that could by its very existence renew the dream of my youth."But soon enough Taylor, back in Liberia, sets loose upon murderous rampages, blood and bones everywhere. He aims a part of his revenge at Woodrow himself, which means that Woodrow's family is in danger. No need to detail their fates here.Hannah, daring and brave when she needs to be, soon comes to grips with the fact that there is a price for running, for depositing one's dreams in strange lands. "Everything that lives in Liberia and that you kill will eventually kill you for it," Hannah realizes. "Something rots beneath the soil and taints the air above it." But, living on a farm back in the states after having fled Liberia and its dangers, leaving behind family and friends, Hannah dreams of Africa and grapples with the emotions that have long bothered her: "When you part with someone you love, there's usually an aura of grief attached. But saying goodbye has never been difficult for me. I do it quickly and with little felt emotion, until afterwards, when I'm by myself and it's done and it's too late for any feelings that might slow or clog my departure. I sat at the foot of my eldest son's rumpled, empty bed alongside the two empty beds of his brothers and saw that for the first time in nearly eight years I was alone again. And for the first time since the day I went underground, I felt strong and free."For years now, Russell Banks has explored race, political dramas, migrations. As our best novelists must do, he creates multidimensional characters, stories that make you think how life really must be, or once happened to be. It is not for Banks -- whose last novel, Cloudsplitter, told of John Brown's messianic odyssey during America's era of slavery -- to offer the thin novella that so often passes these days for literature. His are big novels, with daring, sweep and depth. In The Darling, he is working at full strength, and readers are in his debt.In the end, you might well not love Hannah Musgrave, might even revile her, but you won't forget her honesty and the bravery in it: "I was a bad mother, yes, but not a neglectful one. And I was an inattentive, detached wife, but not a cruel or malicious one." Her wrongs are hardly on the level of the warlords, but they prey on the mind nevertheless. "Liberia," concludes Banks's unforgettable Hannah, "is a permanently haunted land filled with vengeful ghosts, and I had committed many sins there." Reviewed by Wil Haygood Copyright 2004, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved.


From AudioFile
Like many of Banks's works, this novel unfolds like a memory for the reader, taking a natural route into the imagination and leading from there. As the novel opens, Hannah's dreams are invaded by memories of Africa, leading her to revisit her past there in an attempt to reconcile old ghosts. This audiobook is performed with gentle, reserved skill by Mary Beth Hurt, whose style and delivery are as appealing as that of a dear friend recounting her own anecdote. Quiet and yet dramatic, familiar but so very foreign, THE DARLING is a memorable listen for its contemporary echoes of the hope, fear, and tragedy that can erupt when cultures collide. L.B.F. 2005 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
*Starred Review* American Hannah Musgrave, aka Dawn Carrington after her radical politics necessitated her going underground, ends up in Liberia in the 1980s, a struggling country once conceived as the promised land for freed African American slaves. She finds work in a shabby medical lab that houses a group of traumatized chimpanzees, and forms a deep bond with them that is more meaningful to her than relationships with humans. Even so, she is grateful enough for the protection of Liberia's minister of public health, Woodrow Sundiata, to marry him. She and he are essentially unknowable to each other--Hannah's visit to Woodrow's village is a brilliant rendition of culture shock--but their marriage is mutually beneficial, and Hannah quickly produces three sons. But not even chameleon-like Hannah and Woodrow can steer clear of the bloodshed that erupts when corrupt and vicious Samuel Doe comes to power and is, in turn, challenged by the equally ruthless Charles Taylor. Clearly smitten with his thorny narrator, Banks brings the full weight of his storytelling genius and psychological perceptiveness to a novel as compulsively readable as it is eviscerating in its dramatization of cultural divides, political mayhem, psychotic violence, and profound alienation. Banks' dramatic interpretation of Liberia's real-life tragedies brilliantly extends the vital inquiry into the consequences of slavery found in Cloudsplitter (1997), and his meditation on our close ties to other species poses urgent questions about how our greed and cruelty result in the endangerment of not only animals but also human kindness, empathy, and peace. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Newsweek
"Once again, he has produced a novel that is searing, demanding and unforgettable."


Newsweek
"Powerful and evocative..."


O magazine
"Banks’s novel is a vivid account of a time of terror, exposing the secrets of the soul."


St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"A powerful new novel."


Boston Globe
"Hannah’s story shows why Banks ranks among our boldest artists."


St. Petersburg Times
"Banks has created a heroine every bit as complex and flawed as something out of Jane Austen."


Village Voice
"Reverberating with ideas and startling prose."


Washington Post Book World
"In The Darling, he is working at full strength, and his readers are in his debt."


Associated Press
"Banks has written a novel that is utterly accessible, forcefully wrought and undeniably passionate."


Orlando Sentinel
"Banks’ mastery of his material makes this a compelling and important book."


Book Description

Russell Banks has exhibited an astonishingly imaginative range throughout his distinguished career as a novelist, and his uniquely realistic American voice, on display in such modern classics as Rule of the Bone and Continental Drift, continues to shine in this latest effort. Fans and newcomers alike will be rewarded by his incisive eye for character and his ability to deliver a relentless and engaging narrative -- always in the service of his inimitable style.

The Darling is Hannah Musgrave's story, told emotionally and convincingly years later by Hannah herself. A political radical and member of the Weather Underground, Hannah has fled America to West Africa, where she and her Liberian husband become friends and colleagues of Charles Taylor, the notorious warlord and now ex-president of Liberia. When Taylor leaves for the United States in an effort to escape embezzlement charges, he's immediately placed in prison. Hannah's encounter with Taylor in America ultimately triggers a series of events whose momentum catches Hannah's family in its grip and forces her to make a heartrending choice.

Set in Liberia and the United States from 1975 through 1991, The Darling is a political-historical thriller -- reminiscent of Greene and Conrad -- that explodes the genre, raising serious philosophical questions about terrorism, political violence, and the clash of races and cultures.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Darling is Hannah Musgrave's story, told emotionally and convincingly years later by Hannah herself. A political radical and member of the Weather Underground, Hannah has fled America to West Africa, where she and her Liberian husband become friends and colleagues of Charles Taylor, the notorious warlord and now ex-president of Liberia. When Taylor leaves for the Unites States in an effort to escape embezzlement charges, he's immediately placed in prison. Hannah's encounter with Taylor in America ultimately triggers a series of events whose momentum catches Hannah's family in its grip and forces her to make a heartrending choice.

FROM THE CRITICS

Mary Gordon - The New York Times

The Darling is not a perfect book -- its very expansiveness of vision and range make that almost impossible -- but it is admirable, compelling, always surprising and never cliched. At the end of his chronicle, Banks takes a daring last step of reminding us that, despite what she has witnessed, Hannah is one of the privileged of the earth, ''an American darling,'' whose story, after the planes went into the towers, ''could have no significance in the larger world.'' These last mordant notes provide a brilliantly sour decrescendo to Russell Banks's symphony of history, politics and impossible, failed dreams.

Wil Haygood - The Washington Post

For years now, Russell Banks has explored race, political dramas, migrations. As our best novelists must do, he creates multidimensional characters, stories that make you think how life really must be, or once happened to be. It is not for Banks -- whose last novel, Cloudsplitter, told of John Brown's messianic odyssey during America's era of slavery -- to offer the thin novella that so often passes these days for literature. His are big novels, with daring, sweep and depth. In The Darling, he is working at full strength, and readers are in his debt.

Publishers Weekly

Six years after the publication of his much-lauded novel Cloudsplitter, Banks returns with a portrayal of personal and political turmoil in West Africa and the U.S. The darling of the title is narrator Hannah Musgrave, a privileged child of the turbulent 1960s and '70s, who now, at 59, reflects on her life. After participating in freewheeling sexual experimentation and radical politics, Hannah is wanted by the FBI for her involvement in the Weather Underground. Under an assumed name, she flees the U.S. for Africa, traveling first to Ghana, then Liberia, where in 1976 she meets and marries Woodrow Sundiata, a government official. Taking on another identity that of foreign wife, and eventually mother to three sons Hannah finds herself increasingly involved with the highest members of Liberia's government as Woodrow's political star rises. She also finds purpose in establishing a sanctuary for endangered chimpanzees. When Liberia explodes into civil war, Hannah's life and the lives of her family are in danger. Readers will be stunned by the gut-wrenching (and often foolish) decisions she makes and by the horrifying outcome of her association with key figures such as Liberian president Samuel Doe and insurgent Charles Taylor. An articulate and keenly observant narrator, Hannah explains Liberia's history and U.S. connections as smoothly as she reflects on tribal practices, the fate of chimpanzees and her own misguidedness. Better yet, for the purposes of good storytelling, she is conflicted and selfish, and often na ve despite her wide experience. She emerges as a fascinating figure, striking universal chords in her search for identity and home, though her life may ultimately be a study in futility. A rich and complex look at the searing connections between the personal and the political, this is one of Banks's most powerful novels yet. Agent, Ellen Levine. (Oct. 7) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Hannah Musgrave, the privileged daughter of a prominent left-wing pediatrician, throws herself into the antiwar movement of the 1960s, joins the radical Weather Underground, and ends up on the FBI's most-wanted list. She flees to Liberia, impulsively marries a government minister, and then switches allegiance to notorious warlord Charles Taylor. This is an intriguing development, since Taylor is a real person frequently in the news for his involvement with "conflict diamonds." Unfortunately, he makes only a cameo appearance here. Hannah herself is utterly unconvincing, both as a revolutionary and as a woman, and it is impossible to feel much sympathy for her. While her motives are impeccable, her actions inevitably backfire and result in appalling carnage. Banks explored the themes of radical idealism and racial struggle with much greater success in Cloudsplitter, his take on abolitionist John Brown. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/04.] Edward B. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

AudioFile