Ivory Joe

Hugh Oliver is Editor-in-Chief, OISE Press.

You wouldn’t have the least clue from this novel that Burke originated
north of the 49th parallel: Ivory Joe is very American both in setting
and tone.

The time frame of the novel is predominantly the 1950s, and the locale
switches between New York and the southern states. Ivory Joe, a former
boxer living in Harlem, is the leader of a newly formed musical group.
Despite the novel’s title, equally important characters are Leo, the
owner of a New York dress factory and a fringe member of the Mafia, his
estranged wife Tina, who manages Ivory Joe’s group, and their two
teenybop daughters, who are trying to bring their parents back together.
Much of the story is written in the first person by the younger daughter
Christie and the rest by the “omniscient author,” providing some
interesting shifts in perspective. The plot hinges on the
husband-and-wife conflict between Leo and Tina, resentment of black
musicians in some of the small southern towns, and ultimately the
Mafia’s attempts to acquire the copyright of Ivory Joe’s hit song
“Ghost Lover.”

The rather tortuous story line requires a suspension of disbelief more
than I was willing to go along with—especially the resolution. But,
paradoxically, the characters themselves are extremely
believable—three dimensional, generally sympathetic, and realistic in
their interactions. The writing is powerful and articulate, and there is
a congenial blend of humor, sorrow, and drama. In short, a workmanlike
and well-constructed novel.