Historical Horror of The Reformatory

 The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

The Reformatory book cover

Author Tananarive Due speaks at the 2023 National Book Festival

Major thanks to Saga Press and NetGalley for making Tananarive Due’s incredible novel The Reformatory available for preview, even though the novel has already been published. I’ve had this on my to-read list since last year, but I was a little unsure about whether to read it since the story sounded similar to Colson Whitehead’s Nickel Boys, which I loved, but absolutely destroyed me. I wasn’t sure that I could read another novel about the unjust incarceration of young Black boys in segregated Florida. However, Due’s novel is definitely different in that it incorporates supernatural elements, especially ‘haints’, or ghosts who have been “done dirty” and are kind of stuck in this world in between. Robbie Stephens Jr., one of the main characters in the novel, has the gift of seeing ‘haints, although he’s not really aware of it until he is unjustly sent to the Gracetown School for Boys for defending his sister, Gloria, from the advances of an older, bigger white boy, whose father also happens to be one of the most prominent landowners in the area. Robbie’s ability can be both a comfort and a curse, a skill which will bring him both knowledge and privilege, but also the kind of unwanted attention he is advised to avoid upon entering Gracetown.

I absolutely loved this book, although the themes and racial violence and discrimination are difficult to take. However, Due expertly integrates the novel’s chapters, focusing on both Robbie’s experiences in the juvenile justice system and at Gracetown, and Gloria’s experiences trying to navigate the same system that unjustly punished her brother to find a way to justly have him exonerated or have his sentence reduced. I couldn’t put this book down, and I found myself continuing on despite late hours and fatigue. However, Due would move from a horrific event or revelation at Gracetown to Gloria’s struggles to find a way to secure Robbie’s freedom, challenging the white establishment in the town that initially imprisoned him. It made me wonder what was scarier, the Reformatory and its haunted souls condemned to drift between worlds without justice or peace, or the town’s blatant racism and violence that challenged the efforts of family and friends to find justice for Robbie. Due’s pacing, narrative, and character development all contribute to make this not just a supernatural horror story, but a horror story of racism and Jim Crow violence and injustice.

Robbie and Gloria are both realistic characters who I could root for. They lost their mother, and their father had to flee town due to his attempts to organize a union for the local mill. In addition, he’s been accused of raping a white woman. While Due’s book shares similarities with both To Kill a Mockingbird and Whitehead’s Nickel Boys, The Reformatory hits so much harder, and the characters, especially the Black characters, are so much more developed than those from To Kill a Mockingbird. I think that is what makes this book so powerful and important. I could see this book replacing TKAM as required reading or a novel to teach for high school students. The Reformatory is exciting, compelling, and deals with real events and people from history. Furthermore, I think that the action and events in the book would engage reluctant readers, and I could see teachers creating engaging research and projects from this book’s themes and historical context.

Both Robbie and Gloria are relevant and realistic characters, but Warden Haddock is truly an evil character—as another character says, he is truly the worst of the worst. Due adds some details that point to his truly psychopathic nature as a killer and sadist who delights in torturing the boys assigned to his care at Gracetown. Sadly, his story is probably a compilation of many of the other sadistic and racist men who ran similar schools in the segregated south, where bodies were discovered later. Haddock is a reminder that some of these horrors were real and not supernatural. Other characters, like Boone and Crutcher, are more ambiguous in understanding their motivations and influences. While they want to please Warden Haddock, it’s also unclear if they are trying to avoid punishment and further violence. As Due explains, Gracetown is not just a reformatory, but the center of the town, where many people have jobs that provide food for their families, and other materials and goods produced by the boys’ labor. Yet, some characters, like Baymon, eventually make the decision to leave Gracetown, noting how it changes everyone there—like they become meaner than they ever were before. Something about the Reformatory brings out the worst in people. There are many other instances in the book where the children and even adults also experience the kind of ambiguity of answering questions—unsure of which response will provoke more scorn, derision, or even violence from the white interlocutor. This experience was most prominent with Robbie, especially when dealing with the juvenile system and his interactions with Boone and Haddock. These parts also reminded me of other literature, especially Richard Wright’s Black Boy and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, where, as Trueblood notes, Black people have to learn how to “move without movin’”. Robbie eventually uses his gifts to his advantage, although he’s never quite sure if he is doing the right thing—working for Haddock or betraying the haints. Regardless, Due uses this kind of supernatural story to further the plot, and it works so well. This book has such an exciting and compelling ending, which I won’t reveal here, but I would definitely encourage anyone who likes stories about racial injustice, history, or ghost stories to read this book. It has so many elements to appeal to different genres, and it uses other instances of American literature in such an imaginative way that it makes the story and characters both familiar and unique.

I’m so glad that I was able to read this book, and I hope that more teachers, schools, and others who enjoy reading will consider implementing it in their curriculum and book clubs. It is a difficult read—there is plenty of violence and racism, and Due doesn’t just make implications. However, like another story about haints and ghosts, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, we learn that it is important not to cover things up or just forget the past; rather, we sometimes need to open up the wounds and scars to let them heal correctly. We need to confront the wrongs of history or in order to bring about true healing. Teaching books like The Reformatory will enable students to learn about the wrongs done to young Black boys (and poor white boys as well), to ensure these kinds of injustices do not happen again.