The Reformatory
£5.03
“The Reformatory is one of those books you can’t put down. Tananarive Due hit it out of the park.” – Stephen King
A gloriously creepy Deep South horror story based on the infamous Dozier School for boys, perfect for fans of The Only Good Indians and Nothing But Blackened Teeth.
Jim Crow Florida, 1950.
Twelve-year-old Robert Stephens Jr., who for a trivial scuffle with a white boy is sent to The Gracetown School for Boys. But the segregated reformatory is a chamber of horrors, haunted by the boys that have died there.
In order to survive the school governor and his Funhouse, Robert must enlist the help of the school’s ghosts – only they have their own motivations…
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Additional information
| Publisher | Titan Books (31 Oct. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 3088 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 626 pages |
by Ririkku
I was gripped from the start and struggled to put this book down! Mostly because I was soooo hopeful for a happy ending because it is a very very heavy book! A lot of evil done to poor innocent children, it was a hard read, & so well written you felt the emotions yourself. Pheeww! I’m tired after this one, I might need to move to romance novels for a while!
by W.Fenlon
A truly magnificently written book that I hope to read again before the year is out.
At nearly one hundred books in for 2023, I think this could be my favourite. Definitely in the top three. No question.
This has everything, but it does have its brutal moments. I’d advise reading the synopsis before going in.
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due deserves all the awards and accolades.
Seek out a signed copy and treasure it.
Just… wow!
by Thomas John Carlisle
This was a magnificent and strange piece of writing, not at all what I was expecting but all the better for it. In many ways it’s got parallels with Colson Whitehead’s THE NICKEL BOYS, in so far as it concerns a boy who’s unjustly sent to a brutal reform school, but Tananarive Due twists things off in a more supernatural direction. Much of the book focuses on the protagonist’s experience of the ‘haints’ at the Reformatory, each of them a visible emblem of the horrors perpetrated there, and the literal realisation of these horrors is a real strength for the book.
Structurally it’s really effective, alternating between the story of Robert and his sister Gloria’s desperate attempts to free him from his incarceration (in which she is thwarted at every turn by a multitude of systemic injustices). Due depicts all of this in a way that maintains a terrific pace and intensity. It rarely feels like a preachy book: while the messages are hardly subtle, they are secondary to telling a good story, and one that’s full of surprises. It all comes together in a visceral, shocking conclusion that I found deeply satisfying.
I suspect there will be some people who find the Reformatory disappointing in that it rarely feels spine-chilling. It’s not that kind of horror novel, not really. Instead you’ll get something more thoughtful and powerful, that finds visceral horrors in systemic injustice and in conveniently forgotten history. It’s quite an achievement, and one that I hope will find a wide audience.
by Goddess of Gore
What a beautiful, terrible and grief riddled historical horror. I knew this would fill me with so many tears, reading with a pain in my heart, knowing that although fictionalised, this was based on an actual time in history, an actual place that existed- well that made this horror the most important book to be read.
The writing is gorgeous, and so easy to grip your imagination and bury yourself in that I found myself not wanting to put it down because Robert Stephens story was so important to me that I wanted to read it all at once.
Robert Stephens has already lost his mother to cancer and his father has been run out of town when he defends his sister by kicking the older, bigger white kid that is pawing at his big sister. After getting a beating from the boy’s father Robert and his sister Gloria was thinking the matter was dealt with, until he was arrested and sentance to 6 months at the Reformatory. Robert is uncanny and sees the terrible fates of the boys from the past everywhere and it’s not long before he finds out first hand how cruel and unjust life for boys like him are.
If you liked the film The Devil’s Backbone, you’ll love this book. And if you love grief horror, and ghost stories this is going to be your next read. Just make sure you have something to catch your tears.
by lynnsbooks
5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Wow, where to even begin
The Reformatory is without doubt one of the most powerful stories that I’ve read so far this year. An absolute tempest of shock, horror, unbridled emotions and abject terror. And then, there’s also the ghostly elements of the story to take into account. Yes, for me, the most horrifying aspect to this particular story was not the haints of tortured boys but the historical facts that this tale is grounded upon. What a story. I mean, literally this story made me want to cry, it made me feel outraged and the final chapters had my pulse racing imagining all the many disasters that felt inevitable.
The story is told from two POVs. Set in Gracetown (a fictional place) in Florida 1950 we meet Robert Stephens Jr and his older sister Gloria. The two are living on the outskirts of town, parentless and struggling. Their father has gone into hiding, classed as an agitator he has been accused of the rape of a white woman and has had to disappear to basically escape a lynching. Their mother died tragically and the two are now living day to day. Following an incident in which Robert tries to defend his sister from the son of a local influential landowner he is arrested and sentenced to six months in prison the Gracetown School for Boys – a reformatory with a terrible reputation. This is a segregated institution with both white and black boys and whilst it calls itself a ‘school’ the only real teachings here seem to come from bullying and beating and the place itself is little more than a front for modern day slavery with the boys being used as free labour on the surrounding farms.
So, the two characters. Well, I did find myself gravitating to Robert. His sister’s chapters at first felt a bit less gripping as she races around trying to get someone to help her (Gloria soon realises that Robert’s incarceration is little more than a ruse to lure their father out of hiding and is desperate to get him out) but, that being said her chapters become a horrible race against time and the conclusion had me reading and holding my breath at the sametime – which I don’t recommend to be perfectly honest. Robert is just so innocent really. I’m not saying he hasn’t suffered or been the victim of racial abuse but his incarceration into Gracetown is terrifying for him, and for the reader also as a result. At first, he finds himself a couple of friends,and that,together with the promise of regular(ish) meals lulls Robert into thinking he may be able to cope but within a very short time he has come to the attention of Warden Haddock. Dear god, this character should go down in the literary hall of fame for being the nastiest excuse for a human ever. No moustache twirling villain stereotype here. Haddock is absolutely an afront, he’s written so believably that he radiates evil and frankly I felt chills every time he appeared on the page.
Of course, on top of the bullying. the fear and the torture the school is haunted. And given the number of boys who have died over the years it’s little surprise that their souls have become trapped. This feeds so well into the story creating a perfect blend of horror with the actual horrible reality of the situation itself. Robert can see these ‘haints’ as they’re called. Without realising he soon becomes embroiled in a terrible battle between the ghosts, who want something from Robert and the Warden – who also wants something from him. The two are both pulling in opposite directions and Robert’s situation grows worse by the day .
This is so well written. It really did hold me gripped. It’s a disturbing read and very difficult to read but at the same time you have to keep going. You have to find out what was going on, what terrible secrets the Reformatory holds. And the tension and atmosphere is palpable. I was like some of the secondary characters depicted here, I wanted to know what was going on but I was scared to find out.
I don’t know what I can say. For a 600 or so pages book this one held my attention and kept the pages turning with indecent haste. Like I said, it’s not an easy story to read and this is compounded by the fact that the author based this on a real reform school although obviously Gracetown and its reform school are fictional- I would give a shout out to the Author’s note – make sure to give it a read when you finish.
Difficult to read but at the same time, I feel, a must read. A horror story contained within a story of horror based on historic happenings. Plus a fantastic twist. Did I forget to mention the twist? It’s very good but my lips are sealed.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the author, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.