NOLA'S BLACK DOVE

A rebellious New Orleans lawyer in the 1950s works on behalf of a Black couple who want to adopt a biracial child in Martinez’s novel.

Against the sultry, jazzy backdrop of New Orleans, attorney Noel Corbin, also known as Crow, has struggled with sobriety and dedicated his career to helping those who get a raw deal in the city’s corrupt legal system. Crow has been a lawyer for the Cajun mafia, and local opinions of him are mixed. (A Tulane professor tells him, “I’ve heard you’re a free spirit representing various entertainers, gamblers, nonconformists, and the occasional civil rights case using dubious methods.”) A colleague approaches Crow with a perplexing case: An evidently biracial child named Dove is caught in an absurd legal limbo due to the south’s racist laws. Her mother was white, but died soon after childbirth, and Dove’s birth certificate lists the baby as white. A Black couple wishes to adopt Dove but cannot, as the law disallows interracial adoption. The state refuses to change the birth certificate until the presumably Black father comes forward. Crow is troubled by the story and, upon meeting the prospective parents, assures them he has the contacts within (and outside of) government to give them a fighting chance. So far, the state has refused to budge, but Crow pulls from every resource he can think of to find a way for this family to have the happiness they deserve. Martinez’s legal drama, based on a real case in Louisiana, has an imperfect but likable protagonist in Crow, whose Cajun roots and legal career make the story a lively love letter to the local culture and a damning indictment of the era’s racial policies. The author’s wry sensibility regarding the legal system’s corruption is amusing and illuminating, while the absurdity of Dove’s specific case is described in a matter-of-fact, common-sense way. The novel drags somewhat in the middle as the characters await the trial, but the unexpected conclusion feels authentic.

A gutsy, fearless protagonist leads a novel that challenges the absurdity of segregationist laws.