A black teenager is murdered by the police in Bliss City, New Jersey fomenting an uprising. The Prince siblings lead a revolution and reclaim an abandoned housing project, creating a place devoid of white supremacy. Many flock there to shore up its defenses and protect the community from the growing racist backlash spearheaded by one of the murderous cops. But when the mayor who is secretly friendly to the denizens of Hush Harbor is replaced by the more hardline chief of police, the Prince’s differing beliefs on how to survive cause internal strife. Will the citizens of Hush Harbor be able to mount a defense against the might of the city?
Vance’s debut is an unglorified look at the inner workings of a small revolution. He pulls no punches when it comes to characterizing the people who would gravitate to Hush Harbor. They are human, both idealistic and flawed. They are shaped by the baggage they carry, whether it is handled with spite or love. Everyone has their own blind spots, the things they are unwilling to compromise on, and the future they wish to see. Vance does an excellent job of weaving their history’s into the narrative, giving each character a life of their own.
I was impressed that each perspective also had a different way of engaging with their past. Malik, a young man who drives up from Atlanta because his mentor is involved, is guided by his powerlessness. He exists in the now, and therefore the little bits of his past that filter through are small glimpses of when he felt he should be doing more. These little acts are portrayed as short flashes of memory that reground him in the moment, pushing him to his final act. Malik is juxtaposed against Jeremiah Prince, one of the leaders of the revolution, who sees his life in a more linear fashion. A long chain of events that brought him to where he is now, written from the moment he meets the boy, who’s death is the flashpoint of the revolution. Jeremiah, when he recollects his past in the present, views his life as a series of moves and countermoves like a chessboard. Vance doesn’t just make this explicit in how he describes the characters though, he writes it into the narrative. Malik’s perspective exists in the now, peppered with memories. Jeremiah however, has a full flashback of his life leading to the revolution. This perspective heavy writing doesn’t exist with these two either, every character is given a similar treatment.
Despite the low page count, Vance follows several characters and his writing carries it through. Each perspective feels distinct in how they look at things, what is important to them, and the problems they highlight within Hush Harbor’s short history. It’s a lush dive into a specific time and place and the conditions that it can exist in. Vance grounds the world vividly, opening a path for such a place to exist. The federal and state governments are stretched thin as California has finally had the big earthquake, and is physically separated from the rest of the continental United States. The state is not as overbearing as it could be, but the threat of force remains if they step out of line. But the new mayor sees the whole stunt as a provocation and aims to crack down. These issues are all attended to in varying degrees of interest through the different characters. You don’t even learn certain aspects about the world until certain characters bring it up because the others are focused on various things.
The final bit I want to highlight about Hush Harbor is its depiction of the victories and the frustrations of trying to birth a new world. Vance looks sincerely at the situation and tries to highlight the anxieties that come with being set upon by all sides. There are incredibly tender moments that exist within the story, as well and incredibly uncomfortable and frank discussions of strategy. Vance lets everything play out though, refusing to balk at implications and the roads that characters have been led to. Nova Prince is the perfect foil to her brother Jeremiah, even if she has her own flaws. This world does not have a single paragon, despite the people who populate it trying to create one. It’s a stressful environment even if it’s more free. You never really know the direction Vance is going to go, but that is part of the beauty and truthfullness of Vance’s story. The ending is one for the books in how scary the future can truly be.
I fucked up by not reading Hush Harbor when I first got my hands on it. If you want to read a story with incredible writing, memorable characters, and the realities of revolution, this is the book. It’s concise and delivers its punches exactly where they need to land. I hope Vance continues to write more because his voice is intoxicating.
Rating: Hush Harbor – Rush To It’s Defense
-Alex
An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.