Book Review: The Conductors

The following was written for an assignment for a unique class which was essentially just a 10-week internship for the Drexel Publishing Group in Summer 2023.

Please note there were certain formats and content criteria for this assignment.

In this particular assignment, I read and reviewed a book for their website.

With her debut novel, The Conductors, Nicole Glover has created an intricate story set in a world where Black slaves have the gift of magic. It’s May 1871 in Philadelphia and newly freed slaves, Benjamin and Henrietta Rhodes– or Hetty and Benjy– have found themselves in the position of detectives, solving the cases that police wouldn’t dare touch using both their wits and magic. Formerly working as conductors for the Underground Railroad, Hetty is now working as a talented seamstress and Benjy is utilizing his skills as a blacksmith. When one of their friends is found dead in an alley, the couple quickly understands this will be their most difficult case yet.

Nicole Glover’s ability to both create such an intricate story with so many moving parts, but also make it digestible, is incredible. Glover weaves in various subplots in a coherent fashion that adds to both the main plot line but also the characters and their stories, too. The magic structure in this universe is based on astrology and the star system but is written in a way that isn’t confusing– making it easily digestible for fellow readers unfamiliar with astrological star signs.

The Conductors is a conscious yet hopeful version of our hideous past with one key change: the addition of magic that adds both an element of enthusiasm and animosity to both the characters and the story. Glover creates two extremely likable characters who selflessly fight for others and with a sequel already out, it’s all that much more enticing to pick the next one up and keep reading.