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    The Secret of Magic
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    The Secret of Magic
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    The Secret of Magic
    Audiobook14 hours

    The Secret of Magic

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    Narrated by Peter Francis James

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction

    "If you liked The Help, you'll love this one!"--EW.com

    In a novel that "brings authentic history to light,"* a young female attorney from New York City attempts the impossible in 1946: attaining justice for a black man in the Deep South. 

    Regina Robichard works for Thurgood Marshall, who receives an unusual letter asking the NAACP to investigate the murder of a returning black war hero. It is signed by M. P. Calhoun, the most reclusive author in the country.

    As a child, Regina was captivated by Calhoun's The Secret of Magic, a novel in which white and black children played together in a magical forest. The book was a sensation, featured on the cover of Time magazine, and banned more than any other book in the South. And then M.P. Calhoun disappeared.

    With Thurgood's permission, Regina heads down to Mississippi to find Calhoun and investigate the case. But as she navigates the muddy waters of racism, relationships, and her own tragic past, she finds that nothing in the South is as it seems.


    *Augusta Trobaugh

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 21, 2014
    ISBN9780698149564
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for The Secret of Magic

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      A letter sent to the NAACP in 1946, asking for help getting justice for a murdered, black war hero on his way back home to a small town in Mississippi, catches the attention of newly minted, black lawyer Regina Robichard, as much for the case as for the person who sent the letter: M. P. Calhoun, author of Regina's favorite book when she was growing up. That book was "The Secret of Magic," a story about black and white children playing together in a magical forest. Convincing her boss, Thurgood Marshall, to let her go investigate, Regina heads from New York City to the heart of the South, lugging her own baggage of injustice with her.M. P. Calhoun, aka Mary Pickett, isn't anything she expected. An aristocratic, older white woman, Pickett makes it clear to Regina that she sent the letter purely to satisfy Willie Willie, the victim's father, someone she's fond of. But Regina is determined to get justice for Willie Willie's son Joe Howard. Her presence brings out distrust in the white community, and having lived a long time in New York City, Regina has a lot to learn about race relations in the South, where everyone knows everyone's business and only a few black people seem to want her to succeed. There isn't much of a mystery here; in fact, about two-thirds through, Regina is told what happened by the killer. The book is more an examination of a changing environment where the way things were and are and always will be can no longer be sustained. For a book grounded in reality -- in the Author's Note, Johnson cites the real people who inspired the story -- it reads like a fairy tale at times, especially when quoting M. P. Calhoun's "The Secret of Magic." All the characters, white and black, are fully drawn. None feels like a stereotype. The feeling of satisfaction I got after reading the last page is lingering with me, something my favorite books do.
    • 4/5
      A little of everything I love in a book. The way the author writes about discrimination in the south slowly absorbed me into the story. The characters felt real. Their flaws apparent. Although a slow paced story, the last 50 pages were impossible to put down. The ending was unexpected and perfect. Deborah Johnson is a wonderful novelist that I will be recommending.
    • 5/5
      The secret of World War II is that sometimes survivors died. The secret of racism is that sometimes the good die young. And the secret of a beloved children’s book is the mystery of who wrote it, where and why. In Deborah Johnson’s The Secret of Magic, protagonist Regina is a black female clerk, working for the soon-to-be-famous lawyer, Thurgood Marshall. When Marshall is asked to solve a mysterious death, she steps in boldly and learns another secret, that the North of America, in the late 1940s, is nothing like the South. And that assumptions are not a good basis for moving forward.The plot is fascinating, sometimes confusing, and always absorbing. The characters are strong, weak, fierce, helpless, and enthralling. The mysteries are dark and haunting. The locations are totally believable, beautiful and, occasionally scary. And there’s magic in the words. I really enjoyed this novel.Disclosure: I got it for Christmas and I loved it.
    • 4/5
      Heartwrenching. Soul searching. Terrifying. Vindicating. Powerful. Tragic. Real.
    • 5/5
      A slow and pleasant read, a book I thoroughly enjoyed for the richness of the character development and the care the author took in making you feel "in the moment" of the times and the range of settings where the story unfolds. While told in time and place in history that reflects on a particularly disappointing time in our past, the author finds a way to tell her story with a graveful bluntness that allows the reader to empathize with the story's main characters.....or at least most of them. A sadly touching story that draws you in and leaves you wishing you could follow each of the characters through the balanc of their lives.
    • 5/5
      The Secret of Magic is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Inspired by a true case of a WWII serviceman who was singled out and arrested on a bus in the North Carolina, then brutally abused while in custody for insisting on his most basic civil rights, Deborah Johnson weaves a magical realist tale combined with realities of the the early Civil Rights era. Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund figure in the novel, and 1940's Columbus, MS, provides much of the backdrop for the fictional town of Rever). Invented characters and events, as well as a novel within the novel, provide Johnson the magical elements needed to weave an important statement on race relations in the past, present, and future South.
    • 4/5
      Lieutenant Joe Howard Wilson is returning home via bus after being honorably discharged from the Army for his service in WW2. He ends up being brutally murdered before he can make it all the way home to Mississippi. Regina Robichard is a rookie lawyer from New York who works under the tutelage of Thurgood Marshall at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She feels that she can prove herself to her male coworkers by helping to solve this case and getting justice for Joe Howard's father, Willie Willie. Regina is also drawn in by the fact that her favorite author, M.P. Calhoun, is connected to Joe Howard and is the one who has asked for help.

      "The Secret of Magic" begins with Joe Howard's last moments before he is murdered. Anticipation builds quickly since we all know what will ultimately happen but not why. The rest of the story focuses mainly of Regina's experiences in the South while trying to build a case. I felt the middle sagged a little even while there subtle things were happening that would all add up eventually. There were a lot of run-on sentences that I had to re-read to understand what was being said, and the phrase "at least" was used to the point of distraction. Regina's thoughts got a little repetitious. The middle and the writing style kept me from thinking of it as a 5 star book although the overarching story is 5 stars.

      What I appreciate most about this book is the fact that it provides a realistic sense of race relations in the South and the rampant terrorist acts that were occurring at that time against African-Americans. I liked that the main characters aren't cut and dried, especially Willie Willie and Mary Calhoun. You can't just guess what they're all about. While "The Secret of Magic" has been compared to "The Help" (and both books were published by the same house), they are not very similar. "The Secret of Magic" has a more serious vibe, a slower pace, no caricaturistic humor, and more believable characters. I enjoyed certain aspects of both but they are very different stories.
    • 1/5
      I read this because it won the 2015 Harper Lee Przie or Legal Fiction. It is sort of fantasy book which reads as if the author expected teenage girls to be the readrs of it, asminly. A young black lawyer from New York goes to the fictional townof Revere, Mississippi, where a black Army office is returning from a heroic time in Europe. It is 1946 and on a bus in Alabama he refuses to give up seats that blacks are sitting in to German POWs. He is murdered, but the grand jury does not indict, though the whole town knows who killed him,. The New York lawyer piddles around and accidentally gets the murderer to confess to her. Really incredable scenarion. The dead soldier's f father manages to get his white benefactor to get the New York lawyer but she recklessly gets into a situation where she is almost killed. The story seems like a fantasys tory for teenage girls. I was hugely disappointed and was glad when the book cam to an end.
    • 4/5
      When a young black man is killed on his journey home from WWII Regina Robichard working for the NAACP heads down to Mississippi to try and bring his killer to justice. Here she faces the racism of the south and some of the ghosts of her path. I liked this book and the writing. An interesting story that delves into the workings of a small town in the deep south and the actions of its citizens it is willing to overlook.
    • 3/5
      The basics: Set in 1946, shortly after the end of World War II, The Secret of Magic is the story of the death of Joe Howard Wilson, a young black man who was returning home to Mississippi after serving in the war. M.L. Calhoun, the notoriously reclusive author of The Secret of Magic, who is from the same town as Joe Howard, writes to the NAACP. Young, African-American NAACP lawyer Regina Robichaud, who loved Calhoun's book as a child, convinces Thurgood Marshall to let her go investigate Joe Howard's death.My thoughts: I'm a huge fan of both novels based on real events and novels about racial and gender equality, so I was very excited to read The Secret of Magic. The novel begins with the last moments of Joe Howard's life. It was difficult to read, but I appreciated how it set the stage and gave him a voice and personality. When the action shifted to Regina in New York City, I hoped for a heroine like Alice in Scottsboro. But too soon Regina began to drive me a bit crazy in passages like this one:"And Regina knew that that something would be about the shirt. She'd felt a knowledge scintillating around them all afternoon, since before that, even a feeling that Peach knew secrets, things that might make a difference, could bring them to the tip of her tongue."Regina had too many premonitions and feelings and not nearly enough thoughts. It quickly became hard for me to root for her, and the novel is mostly devoid of other people to root for.Johnson captures the complicated racial relationships in small town Mississippi well, but unlike Regina, these realities weren't surprising to me, so I grew increasingly impatient as a reader waiting for a revelation in which I could share. Despite its title, The Secret of Magic, this novel isn't about secrets in terms of a mystery. The death of Joe Howard is solved relatively early on, and the emphasis of the novel is on the racial culture of this town, Calhoun's novel (long banned there), and the lingering impacts of Joe Howard's death.Favorite passage: "What you just witnessed," he said, "why, that's nothing but the secret of magic. Ol' Man Magic always does that. Makes us forget what we started out after. Makes us look where he wants us to look."The verdict: I found The Secret of Magic lacking in both secrets and magic. The book within a book execution never fully clicked for me, which ultimately hampered my enjoyment of the story itself. While I had high hopes for Regina as a character, I liked her less as the novel wore on. Despite a promising set-up, one based on a real murder, this novel left me wanting more story, more character development, and more magic.Rating: 3 out of 5
    • 5/5
      This is an outstanding book that kept me riveted from the first page until the author's note where she explains why she wrote the book.Fans of the book "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett will enjoy this book as well. 5 stars
    • 5/5
      To be honest, I wasn't sure what I would think of The Secret of Magic . There's a comparison to The Help in the blurb on the front of the advanced copy I received from Penguin, and that was almost enough to put me off of reading The Secret of Magic . You see, while The Help was good for a few chuckles from me, I still couldn't get past how much I disliked the dynamics of the book. I hated seeing everything made right by yet another privileged white woman who comes to the rescue. And while I understand there was more than just that happening in the book, it still bugged me. With that said, it was refreshing to see a similar scenario happening in The Secret of Magic - but an entirely different outcome.Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on Jan. 22, 2014.
    • 4/5
      As WWII decorated soldier Joe Howard rides a bus Southward on his way home after serving his country, The Secret of Magic, flexes and nudges the reader into an edgy state. No warm scene here, but you cannot turn away.The Secret of Magic hooked me from the beginning with characters such as Joe, and later Regina, the new lawyer sent from Thurgood Marshall's office to uncover the truth of young Howard's death. Regina is drawn to the truth and the tangled mysteries of the author M.P. Calhoun and Howard's father Willie Willie, their neighbors, and roles in revealing and covering up their lives in both fiction and conversation. Is the magic ever the same if we look too closely? Are we to be forgiven if forfeit the truth to sustain our illusions? The Secret of Magic is a memorable literary location that will linger with its questions.
    • 5/5
      Right up front, I'll state that this goes on my all-time favorites list. I usually wait a year or so after reading a new work before giving it that tag, but I suspected Deborah Johnson's latest would push my buttons when I read the title on that magical-yet-real cover image. This is one of those stories that will live with you for a long time. Johnson brings together a 21st century voice and a 1940s story, and does so in a way that is completely absorbing - an 'I was there' feel for a story that is a mix of history, fiction, and human nature. I have nothing negative to say about this work. The pace, the narration, the weaving of a fictional "The Secret of Magic" into the real "The Secret of Magic"; the fictional struggles in 1940s Mississippi with the real struggles of 1940s America...all work so well as to make them almost unnoticeable once you are drawn into the characters and events. This is one of those stories that, once you feel it moving towards the denouement, will keep you up as late as it takes to finish.Os.
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed the master storytelling of The Secret of Magic. The author used the history of Mississippi in 1945 and the early days of the NACCP Legal Defense League and the fictional book that one or two of the major characters wrote decades earlier to showcase her storytelling styles. I found the details finely wrought and that the book was extremely readable. It was a bit of a slow start, but quickly picked up and became a page turner. I think it would make a wonderful book club pick. It didn't include the humor and the characters weren't as likeable as "The Help", but I think it was a much more realistic view of the struggle of the African Americans in the South. I have highly recommended this book to several of my friends.
    • 2/5
      Regina, a black woman working for Thurgood Marshall is awaiting her bar results, when she receives a letter asking the NAACP to investigate the murder of a black soldier. Written by author M. P. Calhoun, Regina is instantly fascinating, wanting to meet the author and bring about justice. She travels to Mississippi where she learns that everyone in town already knows what happened to the soldier and who did it. I thought the book moved very slowly. Regina kept saying "I know what they are saying is important" during every conversation. Yet, the "revelations" didn't seem so important or fascinating. Overall, this book was a bust. It had very little momentum and did not hold my interest.
    • 4/5
      The Secret of Magic by Deborah Johnson is a story about justice. Or maybe it's a story about injustice. Because even in the year 1945, there is plenty of that. Injustice and murder. A young black man returning home from war goes missing, and is later found murdered. But it isn't quite that simple. The young man was headed home to a southern town where bigotry was acceptable and where money and white skin make a difference. But, it's even more complicated than that. There was a book written many years before by someone who lived in that town... and the story it told hinted at another murder. Are the two connected? and if so how?Into this fray sails Miss Regina Robichard Esquire, a young black woman sent by NAACP Legal Defense Fund to try to sort it all out. She is hindered by not only racial but gender bias. There are many secrets in Revere, Mississippi and the death of Joe Howard, and the name of his murderer are simply the most recent. What happens when the truth begins to leak out is well worth exploring. The ending worth the journey.Some of the characters in this book are smarmy and loathsome, but then, they are meant to be. Others are very compelling and intriguing. That kept me reading, that and the unraveling of a good story. To me, 3 stars is a good solid read, 4 stars even better. and this is indeed a good solid read, and more.
    • 4/5
      Reading this novel was like studying a piece of art. It makes the reader feel a gamut of emotions and like a connect-the-dots, you try to figure out how it all comes together. And though it doesn't tie itself up in a tidy bow in the end--this is about real life, after all, you're somehow left feeling satisfied.You walk away from it with your life more enriched than before the book appeared in your hands.In a nutshell: an African-American woman is trying to make it as a lawyer with the NAACP, working for Thurgood himself. She has a lot to prove. In her case, it's not so much white people standing in her way, but men in general. Even her own co-worker scoffs at a woman lawyer. So when she goes down to Mississippi aka the Jim Crow South to investigate a tragic case, she must succeed.'Sides, something about that soldier in the picture is speaking to her.That soldier was a decorated WWII Veteran coming home from Italy. That soldier was asked to give up his seat on the bus to a Nazi POW. Why? Because his skin was dark.That soldier refused and he was beaten to death. And that's the case. Welcome to Mississippi, eh?What a hateful time that was. Enter a bigoted, wealthy woman who claims she's doing all she can but really won't go against the white folks'. I did not like Ms. Calhoun and the only reason I'm taking away a star is I feel I missed something with her. I couldn't figure out why Regina warmed to her. The lady was a racist who wouldn't even address Regina appropriately with a miss. I felt like the woman was confused about what she believed and perhaps that was the intended effect. The lady didn't really do anything for anyone; just tried not to make waves when waves needed to be made. Darned placed needed a typhoon.Enter the time of segregation, separate drinking fountains, and a world in which if you're rich and white, you can do as well please, including commit murder and walk away.We meet a variety of characters, but my favorite was def Regina. What a strong, amazing woman, a woman who doesn't get scared and run away, but keeps on facing things down as she tries to get justice for a man she never knew. All around her, nobody gives a straight answer to anything. The mystery is riddles, vague references, insinuations.What was important to Regina was that she'd gone into that courthouse. She'd gone up those stairs all by herself and she'd asked for what she wanted. Openly, in plain view of anybody standing there watching, she--Regina Mary Robichard--had defied that Confederate flag.I can't say I always understood the references to the old published book either. But I enjoyed this story tremendously. We must never forget this stuff really happened, that white men pulled black men off buses and beat 'em to death, that hatred ruled an entire group of people, that others stood up for themselves and sought justice, that there was hope in a time where there didn't appear to be any reason for it.I gotta add this story also--as inappropriate as this will seem, it is a frustrating and enraging and sad tale--made me laugh. Those Southerners and their Raginas. LOLI'm not going to summarize anything more. There's action, history, laughter, tears, and at times, you'll scream with rage and want to throw the book against a wall, but it's an important piece of history and I think this author found a fantastic way of sharing it with us. Oh--and DO read the author's note at the end. It's fascinating, as she talks about her grandfather fighting for equal pay in Missouri, the real-life and very sad case about the soldier, and Constance Baker Motley, the lady lawyer for the NAACP who inspired Regina's character. Constance was a real trailblazer and I guarantee that after reading this story, you'll want to find out more about her.
    • 5/5
      This beautifully written novel is the story of a young woman lawyer whose father was lynched before she was born. While waiting for her bar results and working for Thurgood Marshall, she travels to 1946 Mississippi to investigate the murder of a World War 2 veteran. Her discovery of the South and the details of the young veteran's violent death are portrayed in a gripping, yet beautiful manner. I highly recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      This book would make an excellent book club read for groups who enjoyed The Help, but were frustrated by the sense that the novel portrayed that changes were not being driven by African Americans themselves. The Secret of Magic is told from the point of view of a young female African American attorney working in Thurgood Marshall's office who becomes involved in an investigation into a lynching in Alabama. The pace and interest of the story is kept high by a variety of back stories, including snippets of a (fictional) children's story titled the Secret of Magic, which appears to be a fairy tale but reveals important truths.
    • 5/5
      This book is a deeply moving story about a Jim Crow days in the deep South, in Mississippi, after World War II. This fictional account is based on an actual event when a young black veteran is murdered by a group of white hooded men shortly after retuning home from the war. Following an incident on a public bus when the Honored Veteran Joe Howard Wilson refused to give up his seat to a Nazi prisoner he was removed by a group of white hooded men, and his body is found floating in a river several days later. His death is ruled an accident. Regina Mary Robichard, a bright and spirited young attorney is assigned the investigation and thus begins a story within a story, for this book is about the abuse and discrimination shown to Black Americans during this era, and by some still today. There are many secrets to be discovered and much history to be revisited with sadness. It is a story more often told and some progress has been made, but discrimination still remains in many communities today. I give this book a 4.5 rating and thank LibraryThing for giving me a copy of this book to review.
    • 2/5
      I had high hopes for this book but it let me down in so many ways. Regina, who works for Thurgood Marshall at the NAACP, is summoned to Mississippi by a M.P. Calhoun to investigate an old crime that had never been solved. A black man was pulled off of a bus and never seen again. The concept for the story was intriguing, but the way it is written is just not interesting enough to hold my attention. I was excited to start, but equally as excited for it to end. This is not the spellbinding novel it is touted to be. To bad, had high hopes for this one.
    • 5/5
      In the Secret of Magic, the history, facts and background of the tragic murder of a young man as it blends seamlessly, with the fiction with a woman’s determination to bring to light those responsible and justice for this wrongful death.

      In 1946 a young African American serviceman, Joe Howard Wilson, was returning from fighting in the war to his home in Mississippi. He was beaten to death; however, the incident was ruled an accident.

      Afterwards the NAACP was contacted and a lawyer, Regina to investigate the death and cover-up. Of course, she discovers small Deep South corruption, racism, hypocrisy, bigotry and secrets, and lies. Regina works for Thurgood Marshall, who received a letter asking the NAACP to investigate the murder of a returning black war hero. It is signed by M. P. Calhoun, the most reclusive author in the country.

      As a child, Regina was captivated by Calhoun's “The Secret of Magic”, a novel in which white and black children played together in a magical forest.

      Once down in Mississippi, Regina finds that nothing in the South is as it seems. She must navigate the muddy waters of racism, relationships, and her own tragic past. Hardly nothing was done to investigate the crime and so many people are keeping silent and as she keeps digging she discovers more than a murder.

      I loved the character of Regina (as I am a fan of those who speak out to represent those who cannot and not afraid to risk everything, even with intimidation and threats). She was tenacious and courageous. Mary Pickett, a white woman was torn between doing the right thing, or looking the other way.

      This is a bittersweet novel, thought provoking and sometimes heard to read. I enjoyed the story; however it was a little long and drawn out at times, as I listened to the audio version and wanted to fast forward to get to the good parts. However, the narrator (Peter Francsis James) had a soothing southern voice which related well with the characters and the writing was exceptional by Johnson.

      Johnson offers a completely engaging southern gothic with unforgettable characters in this fictionalized account of a pivotal NAACP case from the 1940s. It is quite sad humans would actually go to such lengths to get their own way and she gives a true picture of the south during this era and desegregation. Looking forward to reading more from this author!


    • 2/5
      I really and truly wanted to love this book. I picked it up so excited to read it. I had such high hopes for this book. The beginning started out just fine. I was outraged by the murder of Lt. Joe Howard Wilson. Even though I had not gotten to know him that well yet. So I was glad someone had taken an interest in his murder and wanted justice. Regina was sweet but she came off naïve some. For someone who just graduated Law school, I figured she would come off as a strong force to watch out for. I did not get this from her. The other story within this story of the book written by M.P. Calhoun of "The Secret of Magic" did not thrill me or draw me in. In fact after a while I did not read these parts. Having done so did not deter from my reading of this book. Which found me skimming it after a while. There was a lot of talking. Overall an alright book but could have been better.
    • 4/5
      A year-old murder, a book paralleling events and characters, and the South in the 1940's after WWII.The charm of the South as well as its deep-seated prejudices comes forth in THE SECRET OF MAGIC as Regina Robichard travels from New York City to Revere, Mississippi, to investigate the murder of a young black man just returning from the war.Regina hits brick walls right from the start even though she was invited by M. P. Calhoun, a powerful woman and author of a book also titled The Secret of Magic, to investigate the murder.THE SECRET OF MAGIC has characters that are authentic and very likeable...well most of them are likeable. Some of them are down right mean and hateful. You will LOVE Willie, Willie because of his strength and determination. THE SECRET OF MAGIC was a bit slow at first, but once Regina got to Mississippi and started her investigation, the interest picked up as we follow her through her investigation. You will become part of her activities and part of the laws of Post-WWII South.You will become part of finding out the ways of and the secrets of the South, the secrets of how the town of Revere, Mississippi, is run, and the secrets of powerful Southern families. They will be secrets that aren’t pleasant.You will melt into the pages and the comfort of Southern living, but you will also need to be prepared to shed some tears and feel fear for some of the characters.THE SECRET OF MAGIC has beautiful, descriptive writing that pulls you in and keeps you turning the pages. Ms. Johnson is a master with words.If you like Southern fiction, you won’t want to miss THE SECRET OF MAGIC. It is a marvelous read. 4/5
    • 5/5
      THE SECRET OF MAGIC by Deborah JohnsonThis is a wonderful book! The book jacket does not do it justice. I almost didn’t buy it. Then I started reading and couldn’t put it down. The writing reminds me of THE HELP or TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD or IN COLD BLOOD or even MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL – all great books.A black war hero is returning home to Mississippi after WWII when he is beaten to death and dumped in the river. The story concerns the hero’s father and the two women – one white, one black – who want to see justice served in a segregated Jim Crow South. The characters in this book are real people (fictional) who are shown in both their goodness and their fear, their needs and their disappointments, their triumphs and their failures. The town of Revere, Mississippi, is as much a character as the people who populate the town - the District Attorney, the sheriff, the white lawyer and the black lawyer, the erstwhile lover and his wife and son, the maybe murderess and the ever present sense of fear and “place.”The story is riveting. You will not be disappointed. Book groups will find a wealth of topics to discuss.5 of 5 stars
    • 4/5
      The Deep South: October 1945: A man is returning home to visit his father in Mississippi when he is dragged off the back of the bus and later found dead. In a time of our history when segregated schools and water fountains, Jim Crow Laws and lynching were part of everyday life in the South---would those responsible ever be punished for the crime?Joe Howard Wilson had just returned from fighting in WWII, laying his life on the line for his country by fighting the Nazis in Europe yet it was the enemy at home that ended up taking his life. Months later a letter arrives at the NAACP headquarters in New York City addressed to Thurgood Marshall asking for his help in investigating the ‘unfortunate incident’. Who sent the letter only adds to the mystery! Regina “Reggie” Robichard convinces her boss to send her to Mississippi, her first trip to the still deeply segregated South. Will she be able to crack this case or will her ‘sex’ and ‘race’ impede her investigation?Overall an interesting read! A riveting meld of fact and fiction! It started out somewhat predictable but had a bit of a twist near the end. I did find it a bit slow at first but it picked up and I am glad I stuck with it. The Author’s Note explaining her inspiration is worth reading at the end-- so don’t skip it.
    • 4/5
      In the Secret of Magic, the authenticity of historical fact blends seamlessly with fiction to explore the tragic murder of a young man and a woman’s determination to bring those responsible to justice.In 1946 a young African American serviceman, Joe Howard Wilson, recently returned from the fighting in Italy, is beaten to death on his way home to Revere, Mississippi. A year later, his death having been ruled an accident, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in New York receives a letter asking them to investigate and lawyer Regina Mary Robichard travels to Revere to assess the case. What she discovers is a small town steeped in secrets, corruption and racism, and finding justice for Joe Howard may be asking the impossible.As Johnson notes in the afterword, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund was founded by Thurgood Marshall and was America’s first civil and human rights law firm. The plot is in part based on the cases the Fund investigated, particularly the case of Issac Woodward, a returned African American serviceman who was on his way home to see his mother after his honourable discharge when he was dragged off an interstate bus by white police officers and beaten, blinded and jailed.Johnsons character, Joe Howard, is beaten to death, and his murder is met with little more than a token investigation. Regina quickly discovers that every one in Revere knows who is responsible, but the few willing to speak up were ignored. As she gathers evidence, hampered by disinterest and intimidation, she uncovers more than just the secret of Joe’s murder.The character of Regina Mary Robichard was inspired by Constance Baker Montley, the first woman lawyer hired by Thurgood at the legal Defense Fund. Johnsons’ Regina is a young African American lawyer, the daughter of a man lynched before her birth and a woman who subsequently became a rights activist. She can’t help but connect personally to Joe Howard Wilson’s case, and puts herself at risk in her quest for justice. I liked Regina a lot, admiring her courage and her sense of justice, though there were moments where the author couldn’t let Regina put certain things together for the purpose of the plot, which meant her skills were sometimes questionable.I actually found the threads involving M.P.Calhoun’s novel ‘The Secret of Magic’ largely distracting though it is included in a way that makes it necessary to the plot. I did however appreciate Johnson’s complex characterisation of Mary Pickett, a white woman who is torn between doing the expected thing, doing the right thing and doing nothing.Bigotry is the core theme of this novel, exposing the reprehensible attitudes of the times, that unfortunately still linger more than half a century later. And though the bittersweet ending edges closer to vengeance, rather than justice, it is also a story that demonstrates the possibility of change.Thoughtful and moving, The Secret of Magic is a reminder of both how far we have come, and how far we still have to go.
    • 5/5
      “She had a beautiful voice, slow, rich, and deep, a voice that thoroughly frosted its phrases and laid them out like so many caramel cakes. A little too sweet for Regina's taste. It was probably something, she decided, best imbibed by small, sparing dose.”The writing in this book, the stringing together of everyday words into something special is beautiful. The story, a black female NY lawyer trying to find justice for a black WWII soldier who disappeared from a bus in the deep south, was well-told, and inspired by actual events, and oh, so tragic. The magic was light and, well, magical.I loved that there were historical movers-and-shakers included in the book, especially Thurgood Marshall.With such an engrossing story, such beautiful writing, and characters that were neither all good nor all evil, this book was a joy to read.Because I was given an advance reader's copy of the book for review, the quote may have changed in the published edition.4 ½ stars out of 5.
    • 5/5
      Deborah Johnson’s “The Secret of Magic” is that rare book that truly makes you glad civilization has made the advances they have. The racial strife and tensions of that time period, for blacks and whites, was truly horrifying. Just as people were appalled at the atrocities of World War II once details started to emerge, so should we continually be appalled at the way people behaved during that time period.Without books like “The Help” and “The Secret of Magic,” I probably would not have been as cognizant of how bad things really were. I’ve never had to walk down the street and be expected to move out of the way for someone else (other than common courtesy) or face their wrath. I’ve never had to wonder whether I could open the door of a restaurant or shop and freely walk in. I’ve never had to move to the back of a bus to make room for those who were considered superior. And I’ve never had to use a drinking fountain or other amenity that was designated for my race only. For a land that offered freedom and opportunity to all men, these things were, and always will be, unacceptable.“The Secret of Magic” magically took me to that place. I felt suffocated, trapped and helpless against the way things were. And it wasn’t only the injustices to the black community that offended me. I would not have wanted to live in the white world at that time either. With their secrets, their hidden truths and half-truths and overall hypocrisy, the South at that time was as cloying and stifling as the humid air and the kudzu that wrapped itself around the South and choked the life out of it.The author couldn’t have done a better job with Regina Robichard, the main heroine. She was empathic and kind, but also determined to get justice. Acting on her feelings, and caring for the feelings of others, she slowly tries to work out the truth against tremendous odds. I know the resolution of each individual case that came out of those times and situations was different, but in the end, we all lost out. The blight of racial inequality is something that no one can win or erase.