The Nickel Boys

The Nickel Boys was one of those novels I read a review about and then immediately wanted to buy, so when I saw it at the local bookshop I did just that. However, the blurb on the back mentions stuff like "the Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back"." That doesn't sound like a very pleasant read. It sounds like a horrible read, actually.
So I put the novel aside for a while. Do I admit I was a bit scared to read it? Yes, like with A Little Life, the looming thread of violence put me off. But then I read a double interview with Colson Whitehead, the author, and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, the author of Friday Black. And the interview mentioned that such stories, of the suffering of black people in the US, have not been told in this way for a long time. And also that both books are based on facts. Which made me realise that the horrors told in The Nickel Boys may be a horrible read, they must have been far worse for the boys that actually endured them.
So I started on the novel, which was every way as 'understated' as the article mentioned. We follow Elwood Curtis as he makes his way up in the world; doing good in school, working in a store, and finally landing a place at a local college on a scholarship. But then he is put in Nickel Academy for hitching a ride with a car thief. Putting someone away for several years for something he hasn't done sounds outrageous, but the things that happen next are far worse. In his first couple of days Elwood steps out of line, again without intentionally doing something wrong, and is taken to The White House for his punishment. The actual abuse and mistreatment are described in short, distant paragraphs, the main focus is the connection Elwood makes with fellow Nickel students Desmond, Turner and Jaimie. How he finds joy in life, even though he is basically scared all the time.
The story taking place at Nickel is interspersed with events happening later in time, when the illegal graveyard with all the boys that have presumably 'escaped' is discovered. The afterword mentions that this really happened; remains were discovered near a school in Florida. The actual White House boys that lived through their ordeals there are now heard for the first time.
So was I right to fear this read? Absolutely not. It is a haunting picture, of course, but the story is beautifully written, the characters are deep and honest, the language is intelligent and full of meaning. The final chapter, to top things off, is one of the best I've ever read. The final paragraph brings such a flood of realisation, tying the whole novel together and completing the story so that you can only marvel that Whitehead can write about such horrors in such a beautiful way.
I realised today that these past months have been one of a lot of American authors, and a lot of minority groups. Interesting. I know The Nickel Boys is pretty big in the media, especially in the US, but I don't feel like I've been pushed by the media towards these novels. I've found most of them through reviews in Dutch papers. So maybe it is true that these are voices that are just now beginning to be heard properly, or by a broader audience. Or maybe I just started paying attention.
Whichever way, I wouldn't have wanted to miss this novel; it is one that will probably stay on my mind for quite some time.