by Raymond Giles
1970 Fawcett
This slavesploitation novel feels like a follow up, but it appears to be Giles' first effort in the genre. We meet blacksmith Absalom, who has been sold away from his family after getting into some trouble. His new master is a freed black man, who can be as cold and sadistic as the white ones.
Absalom makes a failed attempt to return to his plantation, while his new master Hannibal flirts with Libby, the visiting cousin of the neighboring Drummond clan. Various slave women try to jump into Absalom's bed, and things are fairly mild and chaste. For the first half.
The community white folk gang rape Hannibal's housekeeper, who commits suicide. In retaliation, Hannibal starts to rape Libby, but she's down for it, so they start seeing each other in secret. Absalom develops a drinking problem, but finds a new purpose when Hannibal offers to buy his family if he earns the money blacksmithing. Meanwhile, Hannibal makes plans to sell the plantation, free his slaves, and run off to France with Libby.
Hannibal gives Absalom his freedom, but makes the mistake of informing him that his wife and child are dead. Absalom beats Hannibal from an inch of his life and lets the Drummonds know about Libby's affair. We end the book with the Drummonds killing Hannibal and Libby, while Absalom steals Hannibal's arsenal and heading out for revenge, much like Sweet Sweetback. ..
Despite the themes, the text was quite tame. All of the sex and most of the violence is off-page, and the most lurid passages are characters describing things that happened elsewhere. Still, this is definitely more exploitation than historical romance. Giles avoidance of actual sex scenes actually serves his style well. The gang rape scene consisted solely of the dialogue of the rapists, which made it all the more horrific.
Giles wrote many more slavesploitation books, including the Sabrehill series, but this title evidently stands alone.
Used paperback from AbeBooks
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