Wolf Whistle: A Novel Book

Lewis Nordan shows us a 1955 rural Mississippi Delta town, and how its inhabitants have been impacted by the lynching of Bobo, a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago. The real murder of Emmett Till, who allegedly wolf whistled or flirted with a white woman, was the inspiration for this book.

The book weaves a story about the people living in Arrow Catcher, mostly poor whites and even poorer blacks. There is a culture of racism, violence, and alcoholism. A bit of the Southern Gothic comes through with mentions of the grotesque. Satirical humor is present in the interactions between people, and a talking parrot adds some comic elements. (The murder itself was treated as the tragic event that it was.)

Black men singing the blues set a sad musical tone in the first half of the book. A group of ancient black buzzards, who had feasted on the corpses during the Civil War, adds to the ominous feeling. Alice, a young schoolteacher, has a vision of a dead child in a raindrop.

After Bobo is murdered, with a bullet knocking an eye from its socket, he watches the coverup through the dislodged eye. "Through the demon eye he saw Solon, tense behind the steering wheel, holding the truck on its true course until he reached the safety of the other side, rain still falling like pennies from heaven, dirty copper, the headlights, demon eyes themselves, laying beams like gangplanks on a pirate ship."

Alice takes her fourth grade students on a field trip to the courthouse to watch the trial of the two men arrested for the murder. What will the next generation learn about justice? Will the idealistic teacher be a vehicle for change?

Lewis Nordan tells this story with a combination of history, ethics, magical realism, humor, and just good storytelling. It's a creative combination that works!

Information about Emmett Till:


The was a March group read for the "On the Southern Literary Trail" group.