Publisher's Weekly Review
In this richly imagined historical from Pulitzer finalist Verble (for Maud's Line), a young Cherokee woman performs as a horse-diver at an amusement park in Nashville, Tenn. It's 1926, and automobiles and movies are starting to make electric streetcars and live-entertainment venues obsolete, but Two Feathers's novelty act is still a big draw at Glendale Park, built at the end of a trolley line. One day, as Two Feathers and her horse are performing, a giant sinkhole opens up and swallows them. Two's beloved mare, Ocher, dies in the fall, and Two's leg is broken. With her act no longer possible and her future uncertain, Two recuperates in her dormitory. Her friends rally to her side, notably Hank Crawford, the descendant of enslaved people and a plantation owner. But owning land and having light skin don't guarantee protection from the deadly dangers of Jim Crow, and Verble shows how Crawford takes various matters into his own hands rather than go to the racist police. Visions of the departed haunt many of these characters, and the dead have an impact on the present. When a hippo dies and a beloved bear cub is found dead, Two discerns how and why they were killed, and, later, after a man is found scalped, prejudice leads some to suspect Two of the murder. Verble beautifully weaves period details with the cast's histories, and enthralls with the supernatural elements, which are made as real for the reader as they are for the characters. This lands perfectly. (Oct.)
Kirkus Review
A series of strange occurrences befalls a Tennessee zoo in the summer of 1926. Two Feathers is one of the star attractions at the Glendale Park Zoo in Nashville. All her life, she's been an entertainer, having grown up on the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch in Oklahoma, "the last Wild West show in existence." Now, at Glendale, she's reached the pinnacle of her career: She's been given a stage name that plays on her Cherokee identity (her real name is Nancy) and a skill that brings in the crowds: horse diving. Two's act may be beloved by the crowds, but she struggles socially; as a Native American, she is decidedly apart from White society and is most at home with her friend Hank Crawford, who tends the park's animals despite coming from an affluent Black family. When Two has a serious accident during her act, the world of the zoo grows exponentially odder, and the novel's points of view multiply. Animals fall ill. Clive Lovett, the zookeeper and park manager, moves from being traumatized by his experiences fighting for England in the First World War to seeing actual ghosts. Those same ghosts recount their stories, watching and trying to affect the living realm. Verble, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has written an ambitious novel that's impressive in its scope and concept: Glendale Park Zoo and the 101 are rife with narrative possibility and give the author a chance to examine a fascinating cross section of race and class and the uneasy relations between all manner of characters. The research lies heavily on the novel's frame, though, and readers may find themselves wishing to sweep away some of the exposition to stick with Two and the life she attempts to carve out for herself against the weight of history. An overflowing narrative about the ubiquitous presence of the past. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
At the Glendale Park Zoo outside of Nashville in 1926, Two Feathers, who is Cherokee, and her diving horse, Ocher, are among the biggest attractions. One day, Two and Ocher fall through the pool into the caves beneath--caves that are actually pillaged Native American burial grounds. Shell-shocked zoo manager Clive Lovett rescues her with the help of one of his cousins, who died in a trench in Europe years ago. While Two recovers, Little Elk, a Cherokee spirit from precolonial times, watches over her. Despite these supernatural elements, Verble (Cherokee America, 2019) has constructed a vivid world rooted in its time period: the Scopes trial rages on, the zoo owner is haunted by his Civil War boyhood, and racist attitudes of the day prevail, even among the most well-meaning. Even the secondary characters are richly drawn, giving life to romantic (and not-so-romantic) subplots and the deep friendship between Two and Crawford, a Black horse handler. Themes of death, belonging, and our distance from the past make this a good choice for book groups who like historical fiction. This utterly memorable, beautifully written story will linger with readers.
Library Journal Review
In 1926, Nashville was home to Glendale Park, which was built on an Indigenous Mississippian burial ground and boasted a small zoo and Wild West-style entertainment. In this new work from Pulitzer Prize finalist Verble (Maud's Line), Two Feathers is a Cherokee woman "on loan" to Glendale Park from a Wild West show in Oklahoma. At the park, she befriends Hank Crawford, a Black man from a landed local family, and performs daily by diving into a small pool from a high platform while seated on a horse. One day while she is in mid-dive, the earth around the pool collapses into an underground cave, badly injuring Two Feathers and killing her horse, even as the restless spirit of an Indigenous man who died on the property appears to seek revenge. The ghost is drawn to Two Feathers, and, with tobacco smoke allowing him to take corporeal form, he intervenes on her behalf when she rejects the advances of a white man. Effectively deploying her diverse cast of characters, Verble--an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma--captures the complex social interactions of the time. From race relations to social class to working conditions, Verble addresses key issues while spinning her ghost story around the fictionalized employees of a park that actually existed. VERDICT Readers of general fiction will enjoy.--Joanna Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Libs., Providence
