Novels Now

The Little Known is the story of a nine-year-old African American boy named Knot in 1960’s segregated Georgia. While out riding his cousin’s bicycle, he comes across a bag of money, dropped by a bank robber who was fleeing from the police. Knot could have easily spent some of the money on that bicycle he’s been wanting, but he knows he’d have to explain himself. Instead, he decides to give the money away, hoping to make life better for those around him. Only, it does not quite work out that way.

Knot is a sweetheart of a boy who is coming into his own. He seems so innocent at times and yet like an older soul at others. He has been poor all his life and believes that money can make things better. He quickly learns, however, that having money does not correlate with people doing the right thing. Knot is also struggling with his identity, trying to figure out his place in the world–and in his family.

The author captures the essence of a poverty stricken, close-knit community, full of internal strife and yet coming together in times of need. Knot lives with Marge, a woman whose weakness is alcohol. I didn’t much like her at first, but the more I got to know her, the sorrier I felt for her and the more I hoped she would pull herself together for Knot’s sake. She really wasn’t a bad person, just a damaged one. Many of the characters in the novel are damaged in some way, white and black alike. Among them are the family next door with the drunk abusive husband; the daughter whose mother is mentally ill and often runs naked in the neighborhood; and a girl who is handicapped but whose family can’t afford a wheelchair. I wouldn’t have minded if some of these other characters had been more fleshed out, however. Then again, this is Knot’s story more than anyone else’s.

And although the author did not go into it as much as I would have liked, I was especially drawn to Knot’s relationship with Becky Bruce, the white girl and the daughter of Sammy Bruce, a man who terrorizes not only those in the black community but his own family as well. Becky is a sad child, withdrawn and easy to tears. While Knot tries to dismiss her at first, he can’t help but feel the need to help her, somehow rescue her from her father. He is fearful though; the colors of their skin make friendship dangerous.

While Knot is my favorite character in the novel, coming in at a close second is the pastor. Knot admits that he likes to go to church every Sunday for the food. Sometimes it’s the only good meal he’ll get that week. The pastor plays the role of the father figure and is perhaps the one stable person in Knot’s life.

Race does play a part in the novel. There is always an undercurrent of tension in that regard. Knot is one of a handful of black students in a school that has recently been integrated. And in the society at large, there is a clear demarcation of who holds the power: the white man. As the story unfolds, however, there is definite hope that change is coming.

Overall, this was a touching novel of forgiveness and hope. On the surface, it is a simple story, but it has several layers, some of which I’m still discovering after having finished it. This is a novel I think both adults and children would enjoy.