Norvel Lee spent his childhood in a rustic, segregated Black community nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. His father was a day laborer for the railroad while his mother expected her children to get an education and become involved in community affairs. In spite of obstacles such as Virginia's Jim Crow laws, limited schooling opportunities, and a speech impediment, Norvel's life journey led to exceptional accomplishments in the larger world.
After high school he was selected for flight training at Tuskegee Army Airfield. He served in a segregated unit in the South Pacific during World War II. Afterward, he enrolled at Howard University to pursue engineering and took up intramural boxing. As a pugilist he excelled, becoming the a member of the 1948 Olympic team and national AAU heavyweight champion. In 1952 he once again was on the U.S. Olympic team, making history at the Helsinki Games.
Norvel married Leslie Jackson of Leesburg, Virginia, graduated from Howard University, and started a family. Later he received several advanced degrees and devoted himself to a career in education. He and Leslie became prominent mentors and sponsors of young people in the greater Washington, D.C., area. He also served as a senior officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.
Based on true events, NORVEL is a meticulously researched story about a remarkable man.
Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 8 out of 10
Prose: 7 out of 10
Character/Execution: 7 out of 10
Overall: 7.50 out of 10
Assessment:
Plot: Conklin bases his well-realized historical novel on Black AAU heavyweight champion Norvel Lee. The author's depth of research is apparent in the detailed chronicle of Lee's life, while fictionalized elements are authentically conveyed.
Prose: The prose is solid and clear, if at times dry in execution, leaning more toward a journalistic, biographical tone than one of vivid dramatization.
Originality: Conklin's fictionalization of Novel Lee is original in concept. In execution, the work is straightforward and stylistically conventional.
Character/Execution: The author displays a deep understanding of his lead character's biography, and provides a convincing exploration of his life circumstances, from his segregated childhood to his WWII service; his development as an athlete; and his civil disobedience in the face of Jim Crow laws. While the events of Lee's life are rendered with precision and grace, Lee's emotional and psychological states aren't always explored with convincing depth or potency.
Date Submitted: August 10, 2020
