SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY
When Joe escapes from child slavery he knows he can't trust anyone. And it's up to him to take care of his little sister, Annie. But it doesn't help that she acts so strange and yet still seems to fit in better than he does. Eventually Joe has to decide how to obtain what he wants most in life: freedom. And who he can trust.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Joe is both stubborn and proud. He has a strong desire to be independent and free of any responsibility most likely due to the fact he has been abused his whole life. He loves his sister but at the same time hates her.
Annie is quiet and a little strange. She is very attached to her brother due to the fact that he is all she has in the world. She seems meek at times but can be oddly persistant.
Trevor is a traveling man who lives his entire life on the road. He is in the first story and becomes a father figure to both Annie and Joe.
The Little Angels are a street gang that Joe ends up joining. He learns a lot of his skills regarding stealth and theft from them. They are led by a girl named Queenie.
Mr. M is a wealthy man who takes in Joe and makes sure he recovers his health. His motives for doing so are not obvious.
Abel is a man who runs a secret newspaper that prints materials that the government forbids due to its criticisms of them.
STRUCTURE
The story is set up into three parts. Joe finally gets his independence by the end of part one, and when part two starts he joins a gang.
This entire middle section of the story consists of his adventures with the gang, his leaving the gang and then ending up in the care of Mr. Mosley. After that he leaves Mr. Mosley and ends up with a man named Abel. Only when he learns about his sister does part three start.
I can't say that part one is merely an introduction to the characters and their world, because it's far too long to be an introduction. It's sixteen chapters long and 144 pages in.
Neither is part three the climax, more like the aftermath of the plot, as Joe finds his sister and learns about his mother. It's as though the author is reminding us he hasn't forgot these plot points. Even if Joe barely thought of them all through the story.
A SERIES OF STORIES
The story may be set up into three parts as described by the author but it's really set up into an abundance of smaller parts that sometimes feel self-contained.
It goes something like this: Joe meets a person or a few people. He gets to know them; They help or hurt him, or seem to help and then hurt him. Then Joe escapes or moves on to the next person. Rinse and repeat.
To be fair it's not all the same. Both Trevor and Arlin don't ever abuse Joe or Annie. Neither does the Gang, even though the relationships aren't exactly healthy. And near the end, Abel and his coworkers all treat Joe well.
THE PROBLEM OF RELATIONSHIPS
Because Joe meets so many people and then moves on, it's hard for relationships to really form. Most characters he never sees again and often the ones he does see were villains to begin with.
The strongest relationship I felt that he developed was with Trevor in the first story. Joe clearly desires a parent and that made him very likable.
Arlin was a good guy, but I barely got to know him, let alone understand why he would go out of his way for a pair of strangers. I hoped for him to form a relationship with Joe and Annie but he was barely in the story and I felt it was a missed opportunity.
Joe tells the reader he is close to one of the gangmembers but we don't ever see this relationship forming. I believed he felt bad when a few died and others were put at risk, but they still just felt like a group of people, not any individuals.
As for the last story, I wanted Abel to be a mentor character but there just wasn't enough time to learn anything about the character other than the basics. And the the new surrogate parents felt thrown in merely to give the story some sort of closure.
MOST PEOPLE ARE BAD
Before Trevor says goodbye to Annie and Joe, he tells them its better to live on the road, rather than in houses. And that they should stay away from people because they will buy and sell them and teach them to be slaves. Only on the road can you be free.
I suppose he is talking about his own experiences. But this is a theme in the story, that you can't trust most people. Not that everyone they meet is bad, just most people. For instance, besides Trevor, when Annie and Joe get tricked into believing a man is nice only to discover him trying to sell them, a young man stands up for them and helps them escape.
THE TRAVELING TROUPE
Annie and Joe get taken to a group of traveling performers after avoiding being sold as slaves. Annie suddenly fits in, and has a part written for her in a play. She is doted on by one of the woman who treats her like her own daughter.
Joe on the other hand, can't seem to please Old Burt, as he lies about accidentally hitting a horse and gets the stage props stolen when he is supposed to be watching them. And Joe kind of came off as unlikable, treating the horse like he did.
GOODBYE ANNIE-SPOILERS
When Annie's gift is revealed, Old Burt realizes how much money he can make off of her. Joe has had such a rough time with his new life and his jealously of Annie causes him to lash out at her. I admit, I struggled to like Joe in this moment. I understand that characters must have flaws, but Joe's anger felt so out of proportion. It's clear that Annie is a very sensitive child who can't help her gifts, and has been through just as much as her brother.
I kind of wish there had been one incident where Annie actually showed some sort of fault, even just the appearance of one that was actually a misunderstanding. The moment that Joe left Annie behind whlie she was sobbing, I truly hated him. What had she done to deserve this treatment? And the fact that he doesn't much think of her when he is with the gang and with Mr. M didn't help matters.
A GANG OF HIS OWN
Joe finds the Little Angels, a gang who stole props from the troupe. He earns their respect by helping them rescue a member of their gang. Turns out he stood up to a scary woman called the Tally Lady (on accident) after he is sent their by a stranger who was supposed to be helping him.
Joe eventually gets cocky and arrogant. He starts to feel like he should run the gang and that a girl like Queenie shouldn't. So he offhandedly suggests they change their names and that she can keep her name but they'll all change it. No one takes the suggestion seriously. Except Queenie.
Joe awakens in the night to her choking him. I was rather shocked by this, and I thought she would be a threat to him later on. But it never happens. And Joe even jokes, asking if she doesn't like the name change idea.
THE END OF THE GANG-SPOILERS
Eventually the weather gets so hot that the gang members start getting sick. They think it's from drinking water. When one dies and another shows the same symptoms Joe reveals he has money (left over from a previous event). This eventually leads to him confronting a gang boss and accidentally killing him. Queenie tells him he can't stay with them, because they are going back to their old boss and he would just hand over Joe as a way to keep the peace.
THE PROBLEM OF THE POOR
After the gang ends, Joe ends up passing out and waking up in a well furnished bedroom and eventually learns that he has been taken in by Mr. Mosley. He later meets Miss Chitter, who teaches him to read.
Mr. M and Miss Chitter, both very wealthy, seem to think it's up to them to get rid of poverty. Only Joe, who has lived a poor life, understands that this is an impossible task. Also he observes from their behavior, neither of his teachers really care about the distress of the poor. They see them as a mere incovenience to society. A bother that should be fixed, so they can go on unmolested by such depressing thoughts as of how the poor live.
They need to stop them from having babies, and stop them from consuming alcohol. They need to be policed by the upper classes (who of course, could have more children because they can afford it, and can drink because they deem themselves responsible). And since they have all of the political power, it would be the first nanny state not voted into power by the poor.
The conversation's between Mr. M and Joe were actually some of my favorite dialogue in the book. I thought it was insightful when Joe points out that they say “the problem of the poor” and not the “problems of the poor”. It summed up their beliefs.
It may come across as rather blunt and perhaps if the majority of the story was about Joe's experiences with Mr. M, it could have been less so.
FREE SPEECH
When Joe finally escapes Mr. M, he goes to the only place he can think of, the print shop where he looked for his mother. There he gets a job delivering papers as well as place to stay. There he learns about the lack of speech rights. Turns out some ideas are considered dangerous, so they aren't allowed. Apparently all speech isn't free speech if it offends the wrong people.
THE RETURN OF QUEENIE-SPOILERS
Near the last part of the story, Joe runs into Queenie on the streets. She looks thinner and weaker, and is now wearing long dresses like a lady. Joe realizes, without her saying so, that she is a street walker.
He suddenly becomes desperate, telling her she can come with him and leave her life. I was struck with how sad this scene was, especially since I barely knew Queenie as a character. I think the fact that it's not spelled out, but merely implied that she is a prostititute suffering from an illness, makes it more effective. It was one of the few scenes in the story that struck me emotionally.
THE RETURN OF TREVOR
Trevor returns near the ending of the story, setting the ending in motion, revealing that Annie was not with the traveling troupe. Now he has lost both a leg and an eye (wouldn't that have been an interesting story to witness, and not just learn about after the fact?).
THE TRUTH ABOUT MOTHER-SPOILERS
While in the hospital, a nurse asks what his name is, because she overheard it. Turns out that she knew Joe's mother and had a message for him. To be honest I almost forgot about his mother, as it had been so rarely mentioned in the story. I thought, are we really going to finish this aspect? Get a satisfied resolution?
She said she loved them and never stopped looking for them, but she died. I guess it is to be expected. No effort was put to find her, and to actually find her alive and well might be too coincidental. Either way, I didn't care too much.
I get that the author was trying to get Joe to let go and move on (it kind of works with Annie, who chose a new mother) but Joe just never thought about her. It would make sense if his mother abandoning him was the clear reason why he distrusted everyone but this case is never made.
CLIMAX
Joe eventually learns where Annie ended up, in a sanitarium. Joe speaks to the doctor, trying to explain that his little sister is just different. Turns out she has refused to speak to anyone and doesn't even feed herself. Joe visits her but she doesn't respond, so he promises to come back and see her. He keeps trying to bring her back, apologizing about leaving her and hugging her.
NEW PARENTS-SPOILERS
While Joe is working for Abel, he meets a woman who lost her two kids. Turns out they were not Joe and Annie, but the two dead children that Annie saw earlier in the story. This felt contrived to me. Joe goes on a carriage ride, hears a woman saying her babies were taken by Mr. M; So he finds her thinking she meant him and Annie.
I get why he would go find her, it's just her dead children being Annie's ghosts that feels forced. I would have liked if instead, the ghosts had led Annie and Joe to their parents. Annie using the attributes that her brother most hates about her to give them what they both most want (a family) would have been poetic.
Or maybe Joe could have been skeptical of the ghosts (it isn't revealed if he believes it or not, he is just annoyed with Annie). And this revelation could have made him value Annie and take her more seriously. Instead of just giving her up.
THE PROBLEM OF JOE
I already mentioned the times that Joe comes off as selfish and unlikable. I couldn't help thinking how it could have been handled better. Like actually finding a place where Annie clearly loved being there (that wasn't clear with the troupe) and where she would be loved and safe. He could rationalize to the reader that this was best for Annie, and even lie to her, saying he would be back. We, the readers, could still dislike him for the moment but not hate him completely.
But when Old Burt explains he wants Annie to merely make money off of her and buys her from Joe, it's obvious that this won't be a good place for her. Joe and Annie were slaves, so if anything Joe should be horrified by the offer to buy Annie. And he does seem slightly hesistant, but that is all.
Also, what Joe wants the most is freedom, but why does it mean freedom from Annie? She clearly has a gift, why not think of a way to make money off of her, himself? Like I mentioned before, he could eventually follow her ghosts to his new parents. This could come from him trying to entertain others by using her gifts.
CONCLUSION
The main gripe I had with the story is that it feels like a bunch of little stories that should each have their own bigger story. Because of this aspect, relationships never form between characters that have any depth. I wanted the whole story or most of it to have Trevor in it, to develop a relationship with Annie and Joe. And to learn more about his history.
I would have liked if we had gotten more time with the Little Angels gang, to actually get to know the children.
The last portion of the story, where Joe was working for a newpaper could have been really interesting. If we had a chance to learn about the owner and publisher better. But I only got the bare minimum of who he was.
By reading the Author's notes I understood that he wanted to put many historical aspects into his story, but I felt it would have served him better to pick one (like child slavery) and stick with it.
It could have been a story about surviving on the streets as a gang, intermixed with Joe getting saved by Mr. M. That alone could have carried the story.
Or it could have been a story about a search for their mother, that ended up with a search for Annie, who is valued and kidnapped due to her spiritual abilities.
In the end, I never felt invested in the characters or the story.
I give “The Whispering Road” two and a half stars.
