Jack’s efforts to drive the demon spirit out of the child prove only partially successful, however. Part of the spirit jumps into Typhus, though the child kept the darker half himself. And, taken up by the Holy Spirit, the guard stabbed Morningstar, killing him. The rest of the book follows Morningstar’s offspring, as well as the others at the botched exorcism, over the following decades, as they struggle to make their way in the city.
The semi-possessed child rechristens himself as Jim Jam Jump, the Astounding Ratboy of Orleans Parish and Surrounding Territories, and teams with another Morningstar child, Dropsy, to run scams on tavern patrons. When Diphtheria turns 15, she turns to the lucrative but dangerous employ of prostitution, while brother Typhus, on behalf of Doctor Jack, carries aborted fetuses down to the river and sets them into the water in a mysterious act he calls “rebirthing.” Bolden plays the local bars, aligning his discordant musical blowing to the secret knock that was used to get into that gin joint, the coupling of which gives birth to jazz.

See the full article from “Baltimore City Paper”

Leave a Reply