To Walk Humbly: The Chicago Trilogy, Book II

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406-Word Summary, TO WALK HUMBLY
The Chicago Trilogy, Book II


It's 1952, nighttime on the South Side of Chicago. Steve Feinberg, 14 and White, is walking the dog when four Black youths assault him. They pelt him with anti-Semitic taunts as they beat him, then ride off on bicycles.

Shift to Steve's family arguing over whether to send Steve to Hyde Park High School or flee a neighborhood undergoing rapid racial change. Mother: "Hyde Park High was fine when I went there, I had lots of friends, got a perfectly good education." Father: "That was a long time ago Jean." Mother: "Where are these people's principles They live here all their lives then scoot to the suburbs on account of a few colored. What kind of Jews are they anyway" Father: "The kind who want to get their kids through high school without landing in the hospital."

Shift to the home of Jesse Owens "Sass" Trimble. Like the Feinbergs, this family is thinking to flee their neighborhood the overcrowded Black ghetto known as Bronzeville. And flee they do to Hyde Park, in the vanguard of the Black influx that so worries the Feinbergs.

Steve and Sass aren't strangers though. Four years earlier they were thrown together on an all-night quest for a missing silver talisman [the subject of To Love Mercy, Chicago Trilogy Book I). Now they are to meet again at Hyde Park High School and try to rebuild a friendship in the face of rejection from Blacks and Whites alike.

They'll discover shared interests in R&B, gospel and jazz. But the friendship will be tested to the limit when Sass poaches Steve's White girlfriend, Judy.

The boys' lives are entangled in other ways too. Dora Barfield, an elderly Black woman from rural Mississippi, is both housekeeper to the Feinbergs and member of Sass's father's storefront church. Frederick, a school friend, has a 12-year-old cousin nicknamed Bobo who doesn't always watch his mouth. The youths who mugged Steve include Sass's no-good older brother Nubby. And "Mister Lucky," a brilliant jazz musician and small-time criminal, touches the lives of them all.

The novel comes to a head as Cousin Bobo is tortured and lynched in a brutal slaying that echoes the real-life martyrdom of a Black Chicago boy named Emmett Till. Cousin Bobo's funeral draws thousands who view an open casket where his mangled remains lie for all to see. As Steve and Sass pass, they pause in a gesture that sums up all they've learned.

Reviews

Joseph demonstrates an exceptional talent for blending historical accuracy with compelling storytelling, creating characters whose struggles feel deeply personal and authentic. Steve and Sass's relationship pulled me in from the start, capturing just how tricky it was to navigate a friendship like theirs in such a divided time. The dialogue feels true to the era without being outdated. I admire how Joseph conveys the tensions within their families as they try to adjust to a rapidly changing world. He handles the tough subject matter with honesty and compassion, never watering down the difficult realities but still leaving room for hope. What makes this book stand out to me is its ability to make history feel immediate and personal, showing how the past continues to shape our present understanding of race and identity in America. Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend To Walk Humbly to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of America's racial history through the lens of personal experience. --K.C. Finn, Readers' Favorite(R)

I particularly appreciated the author's use of multiple perspectives in the relating of this narrative. This gives readers a deep insight into each of the protagonists' and antagonists' perspectives and insights. ... The brutal slaying of Emmett Till reminds us of the deep divide that still must be breached before true reconciliation can be achieved. This is a powerful and thoughtful story ... I loved this story and its characters and highly recommend it. --Grant Leishman, Readers' Favorite(R)

Author Bio

Frank S Joseph is the author of the award-winning "Chicago Trilogy," novels that tell a panoramic tale of race, religion and social conflict in mid century Chicago. As an Associated Press reporter, he covered the inner-city riots of the mid '60s that inspired TO DO JUSTICE, the final "Trilogy" novel. Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. called To Do Justice "a fast-moving tale of race, corruption and self-discovery set against the unrest -- and the hope -- of Chicago during Martin Luther King's fateful 1965-66 fair housing campaign." TO DO JUSTICE is published in Spring 2024 by Key Literary (ISBNs: 979-8-9904409-1-3 paperback; 979-8-9904409-0-6 e-book). TO LOVE MERCY, Trilogy Book 1, is forthcoming from Key Literary in 2024; TO WALK HUMBLY, Trilogy Book 2, is forthcoming from Key Literary in 2024-25.