Review: Clans by Frederick Albert

Showing the rise and fall of beliefs in two men connected by loyalty and brotherhood, Clans by Frederick Albert is a modern-day musing on race relations and the gap of ideologies still fracturing America.

Jimmy Brett is doing all right for himself, enjoying the fruits of early internet success, including a fancy Jaguar and a sprawling house he can almost afford, but he’s still missing someone to share it with. When a blast from his romantic past reappears, it feels like the chance at happiness he’s always dreamed of, but the timing is awkward.

Jimmy has just come into possession of a classic and highly controversial book called The Clansman. Realizing that it’s a first edition with an author’s inscription, he knows it could be worth a fortune he could certainly use, but his quest to sell the racist manifesto causes serious clashes with his rekindled love, who has questioned his less-than-acceptable attitudes about race in the past.

When the pressure rises and the bullets start to fly, Jimmy ends up in hot water with the authorities and must call on his old friend George Farrell to help him sort out the racially charged turmoil. Offering advice from the other side of the color line, George has no idea that Jimmy’s desperate dealings will end up putting his own life and community in jeopardy. Navigating skinhead gangs, angry locals, suspicious authorities, and the desires of his dream girl, Jimmy will need all his charm and luck to stay alive, and prevent the unthinkable.

At times insightful, while others times too heavy-handed, the novel boldly takes on contentious subjects, from support for police to the plight of inner cities and rising levels of poverty. It is clear that the author wants to establish clear political values for his main character, but it can make Jimmy Brett feel like something of a caricature, or a pawn rather than a fully fleshed-out character. The exploration of racism too often comes across as a thought experiment, disconnected from real consequences or nuance that is required of such sensitive topics.

The author has a strong tendency to show, rather than tell, making most of the prose quite declarative, with one event numbly following the next. Some of the language surrounding sex, consent, and other races also induces some cringes, particularly when it doesn’t feel directly applicable to the plotline – just intimate details of Jimmy’s sexual performance or personal biases. The lack of repercussions and deeper thought processes can leave readers sitting on the surface of the story, unable to see deeper into the character’s emotions, aside from their sex drive, or knee-jerk reactions to a given stimulus or comment. Other elements of the premise are equally hard to understand, such as Jimmy and Marian confessing their love moments after a serious fight, and then not seeing one another for two years.

A savvy editorial hand to soften those sharper edges in the characterization would help deliver the overarching message of this timely novel. As it stands, however, this story of learning and unlearning biases is an intense cautionary tale that courageously examines many of the vital issues affecting America today.