Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

The Second Life of Samuel Tyne

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Publication date
  
2004

Originally published
  
2004

Publisher
  
Alfred A. Knopf

2.9/5
Goodreads

Media type
  
Print (Hardback)

Author
  
Esi Edugyan

Country
  
Canada

The Second Life of Samuel Tyne t2gstaticcomimagesqtbnANd9GcQSdHYwf3nhn6GHoh

Pages
  
328 p. (hardcover edition)

ISBN
  
0-676-97630-1 (Alfred A. Knopf Canada)

Genres
  
Canadian literature, Historical Fiction

Historical Fiction books
  
The Book of Negroes, More Than Conquerors, Barkskins, Three complete novels, The Happy Return

The Second Life of Samuel Tyne is the debut novel of Canadian author Esi Edugyan. It was published in 2004 by Alfred A. Knopf.

Contents

Plot

In 1968, Samuel Tyne, an unhappy Ghanaian civil servant residing in Calgary, Alberta, learns that he has inherited his late uncle Jacob's estate in rural Aster and soon tries to persuade his wife Maud and twin daughters Yvette and Chloe to move to the once African Canadian town.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews described the novel as "unrelenting" in its portrayal of life as "somber and bleak", with a "suitably ominous atmosphere" and a conclusion that is "astonishingly moving", but stated that the plot developed "haltingly and predictably". Bronwyn Drainie characterized Edugyan's portrayal of rural Alberta as "vicious and hilarious and pitch-perfect", but stated that the mental illness of Tyne's daughters was "not a very compelling fictional device", and that the novel had "illogicalities" and "too much telling and not enough showing". Similarly, Malcolm Azania stated that although Edugyan writing showed "a poet’s attention to wordcraft" and "extremely refined skills", both the novel and its characters were "frustrating", and the overall negative portrayal of humanity "makes for joyless and ultimately rather flat reading".

The novel was shortlisted for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award.

References

The Second Life of Samuel Tyne Wikipedia