The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard is set in the days of waitstaff and drivers, cooks and lawn caretakers, just after slavery. There is lots of mentioning of street cars and you get the feeling that a hard days work ended in a few hours
of drink in a speakeasy. Early in the book we meet Mr. Sitwell. We want Mr. Sitwell to be the winner of the book as it seems like he is the "day saver" in every situation, from keeping the three house boys out of trouble to making sure the female staff of the house serve the right meal for the many elaborate meetings his boss, Mr. Barclay sets up. Mr. Barclay is in danger of losing the house, thus Mr. Sitwell and the hardworking staff will lose all they have and put them back down in the bowels of poverty, where every other black character is. Ladee Hubbard does not shy away from race issues in the book but also does not focus on the issue either.
You see, Mr. Sitwell has been apart of the Barclay house since he was a boy, which makes for a delicious (no pun intended) plot turn later on in the book. The book started a bit slow but not slow enough to put it down. You certainly had the sense that it was going to pick up at some point, as the characters kept it interesting enough. The Barclay home is not the central setting of the book, getting the characters out into the city is where the real action happens. And oh, there is a winner in the book thought, but its not Mr. Sitwell. On the contrary, it's a completely different "beast".
of drink in a speakeasy. Early in the book we meet Mr. Sitwell. We want Mr. Sitwell to be the winner of the book as it seems like he is the "day saver" in every situation, from keeping the three house boys out of trouble to making sure the female staff of the house serve the right meal for the many elaborate meetings his boss, Mr. Barclay sets up. Mr. Barclay is in danger of losing the house, thus Mr. Sitwell and the hardworking staff will lose all they have and put them back down in the bowels of poverty, where every other black character is. Ladee Hubbard does not shy away from race issues in the book but also does not focus on the issue either.
You see, Mr. Sitwell has been apart of the Barclay house since he was a boy, which makes for a delicious (no pun intended) plot turn later on in the book. The book started a bit slow but not slow enough to put it down. You certainly had the sense that it was going to pick up at some point, as the characters kept it interesting enough. The Barclay home is not the central setting of the book, getting the characters out into the city is where the real action happens. And oh, there is a winner in the book thought, but its not Mr. Sitwell. On the contrary, it's a completely different "beast".