A Visitation of Spirits is a novel by Randall Kenan. This chilling psychological fiction features strong Southern Gothic influences. The story alternates third-person narratives of 16-year-old Horace Cross and his cousin Reverend James Greene. In the post-Civil Rights era of the 1980s, Horace is deeply ashamed of his homosexuality and performs a demonic ritual in the dead of night, leading a malevolent spirit to occupy his mind and trigger a frightening psychosis. James, torn between supporting a family member and his Christian values, fails to prevent Horace's suicide and witnesses the violent and graphic ending of his cousin's life. The experiences of Horace and James in their small North Carolina town convey themes of homosexuality, repression, race, family, and history.
Randall Kenan is emerging as one of the foremost young African American writers. Using a mixture of realistic detail and often surrealistic narrative, he creates the world of Tims Creek, North Carolin...
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Randall (G.) Kenan