A young black lawyer in 1946 named Regina Robichard is working for the NAACP under the tutelage of Thurgood Marshall. One day she receives a letter from author MP Calhoun. Calhoun wrote a book beloved by Robichard, The Secret of Magic, a tale of a blissful forest where black and white children live in harmony.
A fan of this book, Robichard is intrigued by Calhoun’s request. Calhoun (real name Mary Pickett Calhoun) needs someone to investigate the murder of a black serviceman and war hero Joe Howard Wilson.
Encouraged by her boss, Marshall, Robichard travels to the town of Revere in Mississippi to investigate Wilson’s ghastly murder and bring his killer to justice.
While in Revere, Robichard strikes up an odd friendship with Calhoun who gives her greater insight on her book, The Secret of Magic, and the people who inspired it. (Excerpts of Calhoun’s book are interspersed throughout this novel.)
Not surprisingly, Robichard deals with a great deal of racism and sexism in Revere. She, as young, black, and female attorney in the Jim Crow South is seen as an oddity…and a threat.
Robichard faces various roadblocks, barely hidden condescension, and menacing violence. Yet, she remains steadfast in her pursuit of justice and closure for Wilson’s loved ones, especially his father, Willie Willie.
Robichard also comes to terms with her past, including the lynching death of her father.
The premise of The Secret of Magic was so promising. I really wanted to like this book. Sadly, I ended up feeling just meh. Robichard is an admirable character. I appreciated her accomplishments, her quest to do the right thing, and her ability to stand strong in the face of adversity. I also liked how descriptive Johnson is in how she writes characters..
However, the story dragged at a snail’s pace and it took me longer than my usual time to read it. I liked the idea of The Secret of Magic but the execution didn’t please me.
In Johnson’s author note she mentions that the character of Regina Robichard was based on a real life black female attorney named Constance Baker Motley. A biography on Constance Baker Motley? Now that’s the book I want to read!
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