The Travelers by Regina Porter: A Joy to Read!

The Travelers by Regina Porter is a novel about two families in the US. An Africa-American family and a white family. We follow the two families named Vincent and Christie from the 1950s and up to 2010 where Obama is in office as the first non-white American president. The author uses the families Vincent and Christie as models for the development of the American society through six decades. Decades where the American society struggles with major repercussions after WW2. Not only economic but the fight against racism, civil rights, the Vietnam war, the division between the North and the South, homosexuality, gender equality and lots of other important topics.

The white James Vincent is raised in a family dominated by domestic violence and numerous adoptions to new places. Despite the hard odds James manages to go to college. He becomes a lawyer and even a successful one. However, his private life is nothing like his professional career.

The Africa-American Agnes Miller grows up in the southern state of Georgia. A state which she must flee from at a young age after she had been the victim of a brutal and racist assault. An incident she never overcomes. She gets married to Eddie Christie who is a veteran from the Vietnam war. Eddie is a simple man, but for some strange reason a huge fan of the drama Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead by Tom Stoppard. This drama plays an important role throughout the whole book.

As I mentioned the two families are the starting point in the Travelers, but we also meet their children, grandchildren, neighbors, friends, and enemies in the six decades the book cover.

The Travelers is a joy to read. It is written in a refreshing and explicit language. The storyline is great and well thought of and you are often surprised of the twists and turns that the plot takes. The book is easily read, but a little malice if I may. There are too many characters to keep track of. You’ll have to go back to the character list frequently to see where this and that character belongs. When that is said The Travelers is a really good book – not only to read but also to become wiser of.

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