The Devil Three Times

 

The Devil Three Times by Ricky Fayne, 416 pages.

When the devil gets to feeling homesick, he asks his brother Jesus to put in a good word for him with their father. Jesus says he's willing to help him out if the devil will help him by putting his efforts to stopping the horror of slavery. So off the devil goes to a slave ship coming over from Africa, where he finds a woman stolen from her home with only the ghost of her dead sister to talk to. Through the generations the devil will go to her and her descendants in their time of need, long after slavery ends (although that does not save them from the racism of a former plantation town in West Tennessee), each generation with unique problems that often too unlike that of their forebears. 

Despite how that summery sounds, this book was a lot more historical fiction than magical realism. It is difficult to summarize, because there are so many characters in this book doing so many unrelated things, with most of the through-line being that they are all family, but I found the historical writing very solid throughout, and it kept me engaged. The synopsis mentions that this book draws on the spiritual traditions and oral history of the Black diaspora; so I picked up the audiobook, and I think it made the experience of reading this even stronger. I definitely recommend it.