About A Savage Wisdom
by Norman German
I couldn’t be more pleased with the reception readers have given A Savage Wisdom—and that’s a good thing, because I spent four years researching and writing the “imaginative reconstruction” of the life of Toni Jo Henry, the only woman executed in Louisiana’s electric chair.
Many have called Savage the best novel they’ve ever read—and that includes some tough-minded colleagues who’ve spent their professional lives evaluating fiction.
What has interested me are the various “favorite” aspects that readers focus on. Many like the re-creation of New Orleans in the 1930s and 1940s. Others like the vivid characterization of Lake Charles in the 1960s. Toni Jo is typically looked upon as a sympathetic character, though a few have boldly stated that she got what she deserved. Harold Nevers is universally hated, but one reviewer correctly labeled him as the most interesting character in the novel.
The novel explores the theme of deception and dramatizes the creation and re-creation of one’s self. This latter theme is set up in Chapter 4, where Nevers attends an outdoor revival and discovers that he can be reborn . . . again and again and again. That chapter was published as a story called “A Faith Crippling” in The Connecticut Review.
One of the most insightful critiques of Savage came from one of publisher Katherine Tracy’s students, who correctly observed that my controlling “scheme” in the novel is to reverse all of the major events in the life of Toni Jo Henry. For example, for my “imaginative reconstruction,” I make Toni Jo an ingénue. In real life, though, she was a prostitute and drug addict by age 14. Fictionally, she picks up a hitchhiker and kills him, though historically she was a hitchhiker who murdered the man who kindly gave her a lift. For basics about her real life, click http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/tonijo.html
I'm a bit surprised and disappointed that no one has noticed the roach motif that aligns Harold Nevers with Satan as a "shape-shifter." Also unnoticed is the "reverse communion" that occurs at Toni Jo's execution when the priest takes a piece of gum out of her mouth.
Finally, I should say something about capital punishment. A Savage Wisdom is neither pro– nor anti–capital punishment. My personal opinion regarding the death penalty has changed several times during my life. My current stance is that, for two reasons, we should not execute criminals. First, we could be wrong about their guilt. However, even if the evidence amounts to a certainty, killing criminals also kills data. Given the chance to reflect on their life and crimes, they might reveal information about other crimes they’ve committed or reveal information about crimes others have committed, thus leading to the solving of “cold cases” or the apprehension of other criminals. This is not an argument based on moral grounds. It is purely practical or expedient.