Matthew de Lacey Davidson

‘Precept’ follows Nathan Whyte, a budding adolescent and son to Daniel Whyte, the fictitious printer responsible for creating the British Isles edition of Douglass’s Narrative. Soon after meeting Douglass, Nathan becomes captivated by Douglass and his message.

Before Douglass goes on his speaking tour, Daniel takes Nathan, Douglass, and Mr. Abegg, Douglass’s travel companion, to Skibbereen, the poster child of the Great Famine. They witness the beginnings of the Great Famine and the horror of starvation. Matthew de Lacey Davidson goes on to describe some of Douglass’s speaking engagements and Nathan’s mounting interest in politics.

I enjoyed reading about Douglass’s lectures and how his words were received, particularly his criticism of American Protestant churches. And I think Matthew De Lacey Davidson did justice to Douglass’s legacy as a great orator. I also read the book as a sequel of sorts to Alias Grace and a prequel to Carnegie’s Maid, which was fun. And yes, I’m a huge nerd.

At the beginning of the book, I worried that ‘Precept’ would equate poverty with slavery, but my fears were unfounded. Instead, ‘Precept’ illuminates both struggles, depicting slaves and victims of the Great Famine as kindred spirits, not one and the same.

In less than 140 pages ‘Precept’ showcases a unique and interesting bit of history. So, using Paul Goat Allen's framework for book reviews, ‘Precept’ gets stars for immersion, originality, and thematic profundity but loses stars for readability, and character depth. Nathan and Douglass were the most developed characters. And Nathan’s character was particularly interesting at the end of the book, which I loved by the way. I would have preferred the book to be a little longer in the interest of developing the rest of the characters. ‘Precept’ was also written by a poet and reads as such. Despite being beautifully written, I needed a dictionary by my side while I was reading it. The use of ten-dollar words didn’t affect how immersed I was in ‘Precept,’ but it did hamper the readability for me.

With regard to thematic profundity, ‘Precept’ is thought-provoking. When I went over my notes, I realized how many quotes I loved and how much I learned from ‘Precept.’ So, keep an eye out for my next post on https://pickingbooks.com where I’ll discuss the wisdom I gleaned from ‘Precept.’

For a review with a little more discussion about Frederick Douglass, visit https://pickingbooks.com/blog/precept.… (mais)