The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley- Book Review

There are certain books that just sneak up on you and grab hold for dear life. The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley was one of those books. To say I devoured this book would be an understatement, but I simply devoured this book. I started it on a whim in the afternoon and I resisted putting it down to go to sleep, that is how engrossing this book is.

The premise is intriguing in itself. Charles is a black man who lives in his house, which has been in his family for generations. Fired from his banking job for embezzlement, he is starting to run out of funds. He has some African masks that are worth a lot of money, but it would take years for those to sell and he needs funds now.

Anniston Bennet, a rich white man, shows up on Charles' doorstep with a proposition- boatloads of cash if Charles would allow him to live in his basement for a few months.

Charles will eventually take the deal (spoiler, but it is in the title) and as the man moves in, he realizes Anniston's furniture is a cage in which Anniston will live and Charles is to be his jailer/warden. The big question is why. That is the joy of the book.

I am going to resist spoilers since the conversations between the two men are what build this book, but the book isn't just their conversations, in fact, they have only a few conversations. The book is about who Charles is and how did he get to the place he is in, what his relationships are like, and why does he just sort of coast through life.

When I was discussing this book with my father, his initial question was- is it about race? My answer was, race has something to do with it, but it isn't front and center. This is a book about relationships and how one lives a life with elements of race thrown in. Race cannot be ignored, Charles is poor and black, while Anniston is rich and white, but to boil it to a race book would be cheating the fuller thrust of the book.

I had not read a Mosley book before and after reading this one, I am ready for more of his. This is simply a great book, but I will warn you, Charles is a womanizer and there is lots of sex in this book. I was actually a bit surprised by how much, but it has to do with Charles' character.

I gave this one 4 stars, leaning on 4.5 stars. I have not stopped thinking about this book since reading it.

Here is your Amazon link- The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley