Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory is a harrowing and haunting reimagining of her uncle’s childhood, set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South and the brutal realities of reform school life. Blending historical horror with supernatural elements, Due crafts a deeply affecting novel that exposes the inescapable violence of white supremacy and the resilience of Black children caught in its grip.

After their mother’s death and their father’s forced flight from Florida, siblings Robbie and Gloria find themselves navigating the dangers of their racially segregated world. When Robbie is sent to Gracetown School for Boys—the Reformatory—after an altercation with a white boy, he is thrust into a nightmare of forced labor, abuse, and the eerie presence of haints: the ghosts of boys who never made it out of the school alive. Meanwhile, Gloria fights against systemic indifference, seeking allies where she can, even as white “benevolence” proves to have its limits. As Robbie struggles to survive within the Reformatory’s walls, Gloria’s determination to free him underscores the novel’s central theme: the power of love and community in the face of relentless oppression.

Due’s writing is both poetic and visceral, weaving stark realism with haunting imagery. The supernatural elements never overshadow the historical horrors; rather, they amplify them, reinforcing how the past refuses to rest, especially when injustice remains unacknowledged. Robbie’s ability to see haints serves as both a curse and a source of knowledge, connecting him to the boys who came before him and revealing the sinister history of the Reformatory, including the warden’s complicity in a deadly fire decades earlier.

The novel does not shy away from depicting the brutal realities of white supremacy—how Black children are criminalized, how white women’s complicity in racial violence is often overlooked, and how systemic racism is upheld through both active cruelty and passive indifference. Gloria’s encounters with the white women Miss Anne and Channing highlight this dynamic; they are willing to help—to a point—but ultimately prioritize their own safety over true justice. Conversely, Miz Lottie and the NAACP lawyer exemplify the power of Black resistance, even when the odds are stacked against them.

Despite its powerful themes and masterful storytelling, The Reformatory was a difficult read, not just because of its heavy subject matter but because its narrative voice occasionally felt geared toward a white audience. The framing of racism as something to be explained and understood, rather than simply confronted, made certain moments feel more didactic than immersive. Additionally, Robbie and Gloria’s young perspectives sometimes lent the novel a YA feel, which isn’t my personal preference. That said, Due has crafted an undeniably compelling and important story, one that demands remembrance and recognition of historical injustices. The Reformatory is a chilling, necessary read—one that I won’t soon forget.

📖 Recommended For: Fans of historical speculative fiction, gothic horror with social justice themes, and narratives that confront systemic racism; readers interested in the haunting legacies of racial violence and resistance; fans of Victor LaValle.

🔑 Key Themes: Racial Terror and Resistance, Historical Memory and Haunting, Family and Survival, The Injustice of the Carceral System.