The Reformatory is a masterful work of literature that weaves together family history, victim testimony, Black literary history, and recent archeological work to tell the story of the Dozier School in Mariana, Florida, through a scathing fictional lens. The book is about the entirely fictional school, the Gracetown Reformatory for Boys, and the equally fictional Gracetown, Florida. Due is clear in her author's note that this is the case. This differentiation allows for Due to construct a story that touches on so many elements of the systematic violence and oppression that allow institutions like the Reformatory/Dozier School to exist and for the people who run them to perpetuate such violence behind their walls.  

We are focused on a pair of siblings: Gloria and Robert Stephens. Their mother recently died, and their father fled town to avoid being lynched after being falsely accused of assaulting a white woman. He left his children behind in Gracetown, Florida, hoping to eventually send for them after establishing himself in Chicago. Before that can happen, Robert is sent to the Reformatory on trumped-up charges and false accusations before the family can be reunited. From that point on, the siblings are separated: Glorida tries to get Robert out of the Reformatory, and Robert tries to survive the cruelty of this place, which is orchestrated by Haddock, the warden/headmaster/pastor of this "school."  

My main critique of the book concerns Gloria's character. I felt that her character arc was just not as strong as Robert's, and her plotline was episodic compared with Robert's more linear progression toward his escape attempt. I was missing the connective tissue to make her storyline seem more cohesive. I also wish there had been more thematically to link the siblings' stories together.

This novel was expertly made and will stick with me for a long time to come.