Los Angeles Herald-Examiner writer Sam Frank described the novel as "[a] shattering work of art with much to say about love, hate, slavery, and racial dilemmas, then and now." Reviewer Sherley Anne Williams from Ms. defined the novel as "a startling and engrossing commentary on the complex actuality and continuing heritage of American slavery.
Sam Frank, a writer for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, called the novel "[a] shattering work of art with much to say about love, hate, slavery, and racial dilemmas, then and now." Sherley Anne Williams from Ms. described it as "a startling and engrossing commentary on the complex actuality and continuing heritage of American slavery."