What is the author's style in Cane River by Lalita Tademy?

The story is written in a straight-forward manner with a positive though sometimes forbidding and dark tone. The lives of the characters are difficult with Suzette, Philomene and Elisabeth all telling the stories of having families torn apart when they, as slaves, are sold. While these women go about their daily lives, they live with this fear in the backs of their minds. Elisabeth is particularly aware of it as she has already been sold away from two sons who were very young when they were parted from their mother. The women are also susceptible to the abuse and misuse by the white men in their lives.