Review of And Trouble Followed

[Bertha Jackson]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "And Trouble Followed" by Michael T Tusa Jr.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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And Trouble Followed by Michael T. Tusa, Jr. is a historical fiction that focuses on the post-Civil War era. Despite their race or status, four men became friends during the war, and they are unsure where their lives will lead them as they part ways after the war. Dalton is white, has no family to return to, and does not know if he wants to go to the mountains in Montana or hire his gun out to fight other injustices. Emmet is called Midnight because of his dark skin, and he wants to go somewhere North away from his life as a slave. Harrison is white and is called Reverend because of his spirituality. He wants to go to Boston and open a Morning Glory Church ministry where all are welcome and equal. Shadrach is a runaway slave from the Brentwood plantation in Alabama, and he wants to go back to Alabama and find his mother and sisters. After the Civil War, many people had a hard time conforming to a life different from what they had known. This book follows the journey of these four men as they encounter the new world they find themselves in. Read about the joys and difficulties they experienced as slavery ended, but attitudes remained the same.

This book is written in the third person and has many positive aspects. The author has done an excellent job with the character development showing the significant research he conducted while writing this book. Each chapter focuses on one of the main characters, and even though the chapters are not titled, I could easily follow that character. This book questions the definition of freedom. What does it mean? Is it different for everyone? I agree with the author when he states, “I believe it is important to understand history so that you can understand people.” To demonstrate this concept, the author has included a lot of history in the book to help you understand how people thought during this time. There is a bibliography at the end of the book where the author has provided references for more information on the history and thought-provoking discussion questions.

I am not fond of the way the author incorporated the history lessons in this book. The fictional story would be flowing nicely, and I would be enjoying the plot when he would insert the historical data to support it. This interruption disrupted the flow of the story. I would have preferred that the historical data be placed as a summary at the end of each chapter or in a separate section at the end of the book.

I can only give this fascinating book 3 out of 4 stars due to the number of errors it contains. I will not deduct a star because of the above negative aspect because it is a personal preference. If a professional editor edits the book, it will be deserving of the maximum number of stars.

Individuals over 16 years of age who enjoy reading about the post-Civil War era and its history are the ones I recommend for this book. The book does contain borderline profanity and some gory content that sensitive readers need to be aware of. Some triggers include the rape of slave women and the whipping and mutilations of male slaves. None of this content is overly descriptive, but it is there. There is a lot of religious content in this book, including prayers, sermons, church attendance, baptisms, and confessions. Some readers may be offended by derogatory comments about the Catholic Church.

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And Trouble Followed
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[Rishi_reviews]

The plot of the book is quite intriguing. I'll like to know more about all the boys and what happened next to them. Thanks for the review.

[Sarah Sonbol]

This book sounds interesting. It is also nice to have protagonists from different backgrounds so we can get glimpses of their lives during that hectic period in history.