Winner (Fiction)
Title: A Seed From The Serpent
Author: Noel Goodwin Hubbard
Publisher: Create Space
ISBN: 1481039482
Pages: 720, Paperback/Kindle
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: Tiffany Ezuma, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
Reminiscent of Tom Sawyer, Jubilee Summers is always up to something. As the son of a brimstone and fire, Pentecostal preacher Asa, Jubliee has high expectations to live up to. It’s clear from the start of the novel that Jubilee’s biggest challenge in life will be making his father proud—and it won’t be easy. As a young boy growing up in the 1940’s South, times are hard and his father depends on him to use his talents as a singer to panhandle; his father’s dependence on him sets up the struggle that will precede the rest of the novel.Throughout the novel we follow Jubilee from one adventure to the next as he meets the cast of peculiar characters in Dew Valley. Hubbard’s talent as a writer is his ability to create such rich characters. The best parts of the novel occurred whenever Jubilee met someone new. Standout characters include the larger-than-life deaconess, Sister Jetta and the family’s matriarch, Granny Lou Ella. Even animals have personality in this book, like Boomer the dog of the town shut-in.
Hubbard is able to take these quirky characters and develop interesting, real relationships. One of the strongest relationships is between Jubilee and his African-American friend, Mud. The two boys have such a complex relationship, filled with equal parts love, jealousy, and misunderstanding. Their relationship has its best moments in times where Jubilee doesn’t understand where Mud is coming from. His character learns a lot from Mud, and their interactions enrich the text.
As the book progresses, the reader will experience the story really picks up in pace. The beginning serves as more of a backdrop to Jubliee’s life and the characters around him. But Hubbard knows when to ratchet up the stakes and accelerate the pacing of the story. As the tension builds, readers find themselves guessing frantically at where the story will end.
This novel blends so many of the elements of classic Southern fiction; there’s racism, religion, poverty, and classism as some of the many themes at play. He weaves these themes into the plot, creating a rich story that readers will find it hard to walk away from until the novel’s end. This book is great for anyone who loves to revel in good, character driven stories. Just like Jubilee, readers will walk away questioning their own beliefs and the difference between right and wrong. It’s a bildungsroman for the Southern set.
