Truevine (Macy)

Book Reviews
[An] expert work of nonfiction…. Ms. Macy gives herself several objectives for the strange story told in Truevine. First and foremost, she wants to examine the story that members of the Muse family believed for 100 years, even though Ms. Macy could quickly tell that it couldn't withstand scrutiny. Second, at a time when Roanoke remains a city that "demographers still consider among the most segregated in the South" and racial tensions have been aroused throughout the nation, she means to provide an eerily resonant vision of the past. And last, though hardly least, she wants to try to understand what happened to the Muses…. Ms. Macy's…reportorial methods are inspiringly persistent.
Janet Maslin - New York Times


Macy’s conscientious reporting (affirming the story's accuracy) and her vigorous storytelling make the saga of George and Willie Muse even more enthralling than fiction. It is also by turns infuriating, heartbreaking and, ultimately, inspiring in recounting a mother’s struggle, through daunting odds, to not only find her lost children, but to secure their proper treatment by the people exploiting them.
USA Today


There’s a page-turner buried in Macy’s meandering account, but multiple backstories—circus history, Roanoke history, Jim Crow life for blacks and whites, Macy’s personal memoir..., and snippets from scholarly writing—disrupt the reader’s focus.
Publishers Weekly


Macy's exploration of the long-hidden fate of two young African Americans and how that fate illuminates the atrocities of the Jim Crow South is as compelling as Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks...both are absolutely stunning examples of narrative nonfiction at its best...Certain to be among the most memorable books of the year. ―Connie Fletcher
Booklist


[S]ituates so-called circus "curiosities" firmly in U.S. history.... A rambling, colorful, and thought-provoking medley of human stories intersecting with one another...has much to offer. —Michael Rodriguez, Univ. of Connecticut
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Macy absorbed...individual (and often conflicting) interpretations of the Muse kidnappings...into a sturdy, passionate, and penetrating narrative. This first-rate journey into human trafficking, slavery, and familial bonding is an engrossing example of spirited, determined reportage.
Kirkus Reviews