Ladee Hubbard’s The Rib King starts out in 1914 New Orleans where Black servants are working in a white home beset by financial woes. There were a few interesting scenes but I was largely disengaged. The writing style in this first part felt formal - stuffy and stilted - and so I felt removed from the story. I had a hard time staying focused on the plot, not something I usually struggle with when I read. I also never felt like I got to know the main character, whose first name I didn’t even learn until I read the back cover because he was only referred to as Mr. Sitwell.
Part two comes a little past the halfway point of this novel and it’s only here, where Jennie’s story is told in 1924, that I developed any interest in this book. Everything I struggled with when reading Mr. Sitwell’s story wasn’t an issue in Jennie’s part but that still wasn’t enough to keep me engaged. By page 250, I finally set this book aside.
Part two comes a little past the halfway point of this novel and it’s only here, where Jennie’s story is told in 1924, that I developed any interest in this book. Everything I struggled with when reading Mr. Sitwell’s story wasn’t an issue in Jennie’s part but that still wasn’t enough to keep me engaged. By page 250, I finally set this book aside.