Angel City by Patrick Smith

 

WRITTEN ON 6/15/2011

"A few miles north of Homestead, Jared thought he recognized the spot beside the highway where they had stopped to let the radiator cool on the day they arrived in Homestead. He remembered the lunch of sausage and crackers and hot Coke, and the conversations about the fruit stand and the ocean and fishing and bathing suits and things to come. He knew now that all those dreams they had talked about were only dreams, and they had been washed away like a sandcastle in a mountain stream."

                                  -from the novel

This novel was very much a page turner, mostly because of the emotional intensity. I am giving it a 5 but not really because I enjoyed it. If you read it, you will know exactly why I say that!

To begin the novel Jared Teeter and family must sell their failing farm in West Virginia and they plan to try their luck in Florida. By a terrible twist of fate, they end up near Homestead, Florida, picking tomatoes and living in a labor camp called Angel City, a misnomer if ever there was one! Though wife Cloma is very pregnant and cannot work, Jared, daughter Kristy and son Benny put in brutal hours in the fields. The boss is Silas Creedy, a character reminiscent of Simon Legree. Jared tries to stand up for himself and his family only to be defeated at every turn, often violently. He cannot seem to find any way out of the situation; they are prisoners by another name.

I felt such sympathy for the characters---Jared, with his self-proclaimed mountain-man integrity, and his sweet family, and also Cy, a black man and fellow worker who shows himself to be a wonderful and faithful friend.

The book reminded me of a mission trip I took with our church youth group several years ago. Part of our time was in Immokalee, Florida, cleaning a building that would become a community center and learning about the plight of the migrant workers who lived there. They were tomato pickers working so very hard for so little. Their lives were likely better than the workers in Angel City but far from comfortable. Perhaps the memory of that made the theme of this novel even more personal.

I understand the author lived as a migrant for a time to get a true picture of life in such a camp. Later "Angel City," a CBS Movie of the Week starring Ralph Waite, further publicized the evils of such labor camps and forced some positive changes in laws and policies. What a blessing for an author to feel his writing has made a positive difference in people's lives!

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WRITTEN IN MARCH

This is our March Page Turners selection. I reread it and the story was no easier to stomach than it was the first time. It will be interesting to see the reactions of our group.

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Unfortunately, I could not attend the meeting when Angel City came up for discussion. One of our dedicated members took notes and recorded ratings. The group average rating was 3.5 with a few 2's due mostly to the disturbing emotional intensity of the story. I am told our people appreciated Smith's writing, especially his ability to portray Jared's feelings. Discussion of the book led to talk of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida and their fight for fair wages and safe working conditions---a very real situation and an ongoing crusade.