This read was educational for me, on this heartbreaking conflict that is just about older than time. There are plenty of reviews arguing one side or tThis read was educational for me, on this heartbreaking conflict that is just about older than time. There are plenty of reviews arguing one side or the other, or both. It feels ironic to me that the aggressors in this telling are the Israelis. After all the displacement for thousands of years one would think a more thoughtful approach to a homeland being established would be considered. . .but then again territorial rage appears to honor no measure of time past, bones buried, generations raised up.
I'm seriously undereducated and ignorant on this world-changing issue, uncomfortable, and would love to turn away. But for now, I will continue to look toward Jerusalem and seek education and understanding as to the extent of my obligations - such as they may be - to assist and support fellow humans in such dire straits.
Kudos to Nathan Thrall for sounding the bell, for telling the other side of a story most of us have have grown up knowing, hearing, only one side of - and thinking that one side was the complete and whole truth. It clearly isn't.
When a book triggers new thoughts and new information that I keep going back to in my post-read days. . .it gets all the stars. This is a non-fiction When a book triggers new thoughts and new information that I keep going back to in my post-read days. . .it gets all the stars. This is a non-fiction yell for someone out there to Pay Attention! Something Over Here is Broken and Needs to Be Fixed! Well, I'm listening and pondering, and thinking differently about the topics Andrea Freeman discusses.
Straight from the author's Table of Contents, the chapter titles show how she will walk readers through how ". . .US law and politics have used food as a weapon of conquest and control": 1. Weapons of Health Destruction 2. Survival Pending Revolution 3. Americanization Through Homemaking 4. The Unbearable Whiteness of Milk 5. School Food Failure 6. Racist Food Marketing 7. What’s Law Got to Do with it?
Ruin Their Crops on the Ground traces the history of how food oppression in the United States has shaped cultural norms to make racial health disparities appear natural and impossible to fix through government intervention. The opposite is true. Legal and political acts, not cultural preferences, have baked these disparities into our society. This law and policy, which extends all the way back to Washington’s order to starve Indigenous nations and enslavers’ careful calibration of food portions to fuel labor but not revolt, is unconstitutional. It is not too late to change course.
Andrea Freeman. Ruin Their Crops on the Ground (Kindle Locations 157-161). Kindle Edition.
This book isn't one providing specific answers (although there are hints) - it is the pin poking, question posing conversation starter. It argues for more outrage if that's what it takes to grow understanding, which motivates curiosity, which leads to real change. No one should be ok with George Washington's order to Ruin Their Crops on the Ground.
No.one. A flag has been raised.
*A sincere thank you to Andrea Freeman, Henry Holt & Company, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*...more
Marcie R. Rendon's book Where They Last Saw Her is a call to action. Her protagonist, Quill, along with her husband and friends, calls for all - iMarcie R. Rendon's book Where They Last Saw Her is a call to action. Her protagonist, Quill, along with her husband and friends, calls for all - including readers - to make a noise about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and engage in raising awareness about the disparity of response and support experienced by the indigenous peoples when it comes to crimes committed upon them.
This call to action is woven into the challenges faced by the Red Pine Reservation community that had women and girls fading out of daily life and little to nothing being done to investigate why, how and where they'd gone. Some would turn up abused, some would be found dead, and some would never be seen again. Quill and her friends were careful to never be alone, an often fatal condition, but there are times in life when one must be, and having a sense of security while on daily tasks to feed or serve one's family is something these women couldn't take for granted. . . .and hadn't been able to for centuries.
There's a mystery wrapped in all of it, and it kept me leaning in, but honestly what caught my attention the most in this read was the earnest and urgent message to anyone who will receive it - help is needed, and now rather than later. Listen up and act, Sisters, and Brothers and all who hear this call. We all owe each other the right to feel safe in each other's company. Anything less is a trespass and breach against us all.
This was my first read by this author, but it won't be the last! Am looking forward to finding more of Marcie Rendon's work.
*A sincere thank you to Marcie R. Rendon, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #WhereTheyLastSawHer #NetGalley...more
Mornings in Jenin came to my attention as a buddy-read - in other words, a book I might have missed completely without the readers who bring new tMornings in Jenin came to my attention as a buddy-read - in other words, a book I might have missed completely without the readers who bring new topics into my view. Palestine, woeful and fierce by turns is one of these.
This historical fiction novel stretches over 1941 through 2003 and the story is told from the points of view of members of a Palestinian family who lived in Ein Hod for many generations. The story told was haunting - and haunts me yet, many months later - and I had to keep reminding myself that this was a fictional account. Yet this narrative is written around real happenings that started in the 1940's and continue to this day in the conflicts of Palestine and Israel. The author, Susan Abulhawa weaves in the life-shaking events that swept Palestinians out of their homes and lands, and newly created Israelis into those same homes and lands. With her words she captures the boiling-over-outrage and continued struggle that anyone paying attention feels rising out of that sore spot on Earth's battered skin.
The story of the Yehya's family is a compelling one, haunting and full of the devastating consequences at their cost resulting from the liberties and privileges gained by others. What to do with that realization is the making of each of us. To make matters even more fraught, the stories that turn into family histories, national histories, and History Itself is only the remnant of stories told, retold, and never told.
I can't imagine there is anyone who, reading this to its conclusion, won't be moved to rather deep thinking in uncomfortable realms. Still, I encourage bravery: read on. ...more
Featured in reads with grandma sessions via zoom. . .
Hunger: A Tale of Courage landed on our reading list this year because we have an ancestressFeatured in reads with grandma sessions via zoom. . .
Hunger: A Tale of Courage landed on our reading list this year because we have an ancestress who landed in America from an Irish Famine ship in 1848, for the very reasons considered in this book. She, like Lorraine, the protagonist big sister in this family of four, lived in Western Ireland. Their people had been moved off their historical homelands by English plantation creators and were subject to the crop growing, English feeding demands of their overseers. A one-way ticket to America purchased by a plantation owner to get rid of the pesky 'Irish problem' is the way our maternal line landed on these beautiful shores.
Donna Napoli's writing of the lives of these fictional children in this book and their response to the deep dark living circumstances captivated us from the very beginning. There are difficult instances in the story, dead bodies (from hunger) in the roads, dead animals, and community members who die from weather and illness. This is not a book I would have considered for younger readers - my granddaughter is eleven and we stop and discuss all aspects of our reads when there are questions or concerns. She enjoys a stop now and then to google for images, pronunciations, word definitions/context and family stories and pictures if applicable - as they were in this read.
At the end of this book there are very helpful tools: a timeline, glossary and author's postscript which we also reviewed. All in all, a privilege to read with my own girl. When questioned about the star rating for this read, she didn't hesitate: "All the stars. . .this is stuff I never would have thought about, and to think it is in my very own blood and bones. Lorraine will be in my heart forever, right next to our grandmother Catherine Bridget who didn't get to stay in the country she loved."
World War II novels are hard to get through, and this was no exception. Yet the writing of fictional characters and reimagined circumstances built upoWorld War II novels are hard to get through, and this was no exception. Yet the writing of fictional characters and reimagined circumstances built upon the stones of the true happenings in Mauthausen - as far as they are known - kept me coming back to find out where it all led.
Hannelore Falk's story, and those whose stories I'm not often brave enough to approach, these as told by Ellie Midwood reminded me: those victims had lives to live (and unnaturally leave). I at the very least must by reading acknowledge and try to grasp the weight of that terror. While the book is a very good one, with noble purpose at its core, all the stars in this venue are for the purpose of wholeheartedly recommending the reading of it, to consider as the narrative unfolds the survival, sacrifice, and imposition of horrific wrongs at the hands of unthinkable evils which need to be remembered, and from which we must ever be on guard.
She's written more, such as The Violinist of Auschwitz.
*A sincere thank you to Ellie Midwood, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*...more
A tale you must work at, but it is worth the labor involved. Allegorical, cross-cultural, forensic historical skills needed, or a willingness to join A tale you must work at, but it is worth the labor involved. Allegorical, cross-cultural, forensic historical skills needed, or a willingness to join free-floating ride on the lyrical beat of the stories intertwined. It has dark shadows, and terrorific happenings - this isn't a beach read. Unless, I would say, you are at or near those very beaches and could feel it all about you. . .basically this is a song that laments all the way through.
Hard truths, gather into a difficult read, and on top of it all, arrows of epiphanies heart-aimed - my favorite and the one I cannot stop thinking about:
You are never free if you have only one choice. That's what oppression is built on. That one single choice, no matter how persuasively the convincement is drawn, remember Celia says: It is a lie.
I listened to this book, and was leaning toward 5 stars afterward; until I pulled up a written copy, where I could more clearly see and properly assign the asides of Mink, of the Serpent, of the indigenous commentary on the [white] reality that was being unfolded. Until that was laid out for me in stark contrast, my mind was busy reinterpreting the author's work. (Alarming thought: how often is that happening???!?) I am now re-reading the book, slowly, and charting characters and events, and googling as questions arise.
All the stars. Go Lee Maracle! Keep dancing, keep singing, keep the spirits happy and show the hope there may come a day when all is back in balance (understood that difficult choices and happenings will require such a reconciliation of Turtle Island).
*A sincere thank you to Lee Maracle, ECW Press Audio, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #CeliasSong #NetGalley 52:46...more
Warning: All that follows is most likely just my problem. Lots of folks seem to dig this author, and I will still read his bestseller The Spy Who CameWarning: All that follows is most likely just my problem. Lots of folks seem to dig this author, and I will still read his bestseller The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.
The Constant Gardner was story layered so thickly - event upon event upon event - that I grew by turns distracted, weary and tense. Perhaps that was the author's intent. It seemed just when I got my claws in, I was untethered from landmarks by awkward segues in time or POV.
I listened to this, and then checked the ebook out so I could see if it was the format that had me . . . that still didn't help. About 70% into the listen I became more engaged, and was then thrown off the cliff at the end. Referred back to the book to ensure I had really heard what I heard. I had.
Well, hell.
(Of all the things I didn't appreciate in this read, I DID appreciate the author's note at the end of the ebook.) BookBuddies urged a watching of the movie for better comprehension. I started that but then rebelled: if that's what it takes to understand the book, well, hell. I'm not doing it. (now, but reserve the right to later attempt it.)
A memoir of a life calling I've always wondered about, and so was engrossed in the author's telling of her experience. I was surprised at some of her A memoir of a life calling I've always wondered about, and so was engrossed in the author's telling of her experience. I was surprised at some of her later choices, but am pleased that she has written about her mixed bag of joys, sorrows and challenges while enjoying a life in the world, free from allowed domination imposed by a few who clearly had their own issues.
Another example of the wonder of books, and the opportunity to see and understand a point of view that would otherwise not known by this reader.
*A sincere thank you to Catherine Coldstream, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.*...more
Books like this are why I read like I do! I want new information, to be delighted by surprise and to know that sometime, somewhere right triumphed. . Books like this are why I read like I do! I want new information, to be delighted by surprise and to know that sometime, somewhere right triumphed. . .for a moment or two, the heavens rolled open and poured out weighty approbation. . .it happened - really happened - for Louella Bobo Montgomery aka The American Queen.
I am so pleased that my time here didn't pass without me hearing and learning this story, based on true happenings that "history" forgot. Fortunately for us, there was a Ms. Patton who made sure her research survived in a corner of a library until the old historians shuffled off, and crews with a better-wiser view recovered it, the planets aligned and pointed to this Author, and Here We Are: I've read it, and recommend it to you, dear Reader, 5+ stars worth. Lucky me, I read (someone taught me!) and listened (technology affords possibility) to this one. Both are excellent formats. Again: Vanessa Miller - thank you for the education and efforts in getting this story out to us, out to me. I'll be thinking about it for a very long time.
You'll find yourself reading a hard story, a true tale for more than just these characters based on real people - examples of hard times and truths. More than a little guilt is felt for past crimes nationally tolerated. But then these persecuted wayfarers rise phoenix-like, above their challenges and circumstances and find a way, providing a message of hope that never grows old or unnecessary, in any age, era, or generation for every family or individual.
*A sincere thank you to Vanessa Miller, Thomas Nelson--Fiction, HarperCollins Christian Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #TheAmericanQueen #NetGalley 52:28...more
A perfect read for the Labor Day weekend!! Pages full of the sacrifices that got us standard work hours, safer working environments, weekends, holidayA perfect read for the Labor Day weekend!! Pages full of the sacrifices that got us standard work hours, safer working environments, weekends, holidays, Paid Holidays, whistleblower protections. . .the working life we have today is worlds away from what was. . .thanks to those who protested, fought, advocated, funded and raised their voices, and as is shared herein - gave their lives, blood and families to the cause.
Taylor Brown and his Rednecks reminds us of the cause - we the reapers of their labors need constant reminders - we are very quick to forget that what we have came from the hard work and sacrifice of entire generations. His book reminded me of Joe Hill, by Wallace Stegner, about a generation before and all the way across the country. Still the struggle was countrywide. . .as it is yet in some ways. There yet remains many workplace issues to resolve. We need all the Mother Joneses, Franks, Docs and willing workers to articulate, communicate and apply pressure to the wound. . .
*A sincere thank you to Taylor Brown, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*...more
Ukraine 1944. . .Montana 1951. A story of everything lost, but everything gained. With incalculable sacrifice, struggle and mind-bending exceptions toUkraine 1944. . .Montana 1951. A story of everything lost, but everything gained. With incalculable sacrifice, struggle and mind-bending exceptions to every rule Emil and Adeline Martel had been taught, accepted and applied in what was needed to live an honest and faithful life. It wasn't heaven that was sought. It was that last green valley, encircled by snow-capped mountains that would hold their family safely - that last destination: home. Finally. Then the calendar turns 1944 and Hitler brings them the years that would now test every truth they had ever held dear.
The Martels were ethnic Germans, from families who'd been German in German territories for centuries. As their homeland was invaded by Nazis who were carefully reshaping, pruning local and national politics by moving populations (isolating, re-establishing, disappearing), the Martels and their extended family and friends were caught in the crosshairs. Moved away from their homeland for a decade or so to "establish" a farming community, war moved in. Here the book opens with the first of many of the forced migrations of this family and its parts at the hands of cruel military leaders who were likewise living a threatened existence by Hitler's whims and inner circle.
I must admit it was a difficult read - there came a point when all seemed helpless, that I gave myself permission to check the end to ensure at least someone made it through. . .otherwise I didn't think I could continue. I was reassured and I'm glad I persevered. The end notes were well worth the read, too, explaining authorial purpose, motivations and process.
A tale about strength: one doesn't know it's there until it's needed. A tale about faith and how it is carried in the heart (believed or unbelieved), and the key that opens all. A tale about love and endurance and fear-facing resilience.
My first white girl experience with kachina dancers was being a toddler, watching Gumby (my hero) on our black and white TV. There were a number of epMy first white girl experience with kachina dancers was being a toddler, watching Gumby (my hero) on our black and white TV. There were a number of episodes featuring these beautiful images and figures and I've been intrigued all my life. To find a book such as Rebecca M. Valette has written and provided to further educate people on them, from a Navajo perspective and artist was irresistible for this reader.
Clitso Dedman, is not this artist's birth name. It is the name Americans used as his uniqueness and various successes as one who was willing to learn white ways created a conspicuousness that stayed with him throughout his life. He could explain and translate for whites talking to native peoples, and could go the other direction just as nimbly.
The author explores his origins in his clans, and the experiences he and his family had when Indian School attendance was imposed on his people. She provides her deeply researched information and obvious passion in Clitso's abilities and the ways he found to thrive in a system and environment where many did not. His exceptionalism is not portrayed at the expense of his fellows, but rather to show the unusualness of his spirit. Along with his personal experiences, the author provides context in both place, nation (Navajo / USA), and is very clear that the diversity of the first nations was thoroughly quashed by the imposition of America and other nations to constantly regard all first nations into one homogenous tribe. Although Ms. Valette's focus is on the Navajo culture and peoples generally, and on Mr. Dedman particularly, she shows in her endpapers the many different versions, tribes, clans and people who also engaged in making images of these dancing gods. . . the figures I called (and loved): kachina dolls.
It is a welcome addition to our world that this book was written, recognizing missteps, and casting a long glance at the histories we've been taught. In that process we are sure to find others who need recognition and proper attribution for their labors, art and sacrifice. A celebration of Clitso Dedman and his work has been a long time landing on our book shelves!
*A sincere thank you to Rebecca M. Valette, University of Nebraska Press, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #ClitsoDedmanNavajoCarver #NetGalley...more
Kent Nerburn received a phone call from a woman who said there was someone who wanted to talk to him - that he'd need to come to the requester, and itKent Nerburn received a phone call from a woman who said there was someone who wanted to talk to him - that he'd need to come to the requester, and it would be on a reservation. Some time passes until KN can get there, but when he does, he meets "Dan," an Indian Elder.
From there this book reports on the walks and talks between Kent (a white man) and Dan (an indigenous man) who, knowing that KN is an author, hopes that the Indigenous point of view can be put in front of readers so that the disparities, the errors and "histories" that have been in print, media and cultural landmarks can be shown for what they are: false, misleading and demeaning toward First Peoples as a whole.
What I loved best about this read was that I felt included on those walks and talks - the author invites reader in on even the awkward and uncomfortable ones, the emotional spiritual ones - where Dan is pleading for whites to please shusssssh! and listen for once! He shows how the silence itself is a presence and has place and value and is a party to these discussions. Of the people in the book - the main two, as well as the others brought into facilitate discussions and work through the logistics of the visits - all are authentic and genuine and filled with earnest endeavor related to their message....more
An act of open-hearted bravery - that is this book.
Using the symbol of Sankofa - to retrieve, seek and take back what is at risk of being left behind An act of open-hearted bravery - that is this book.
Using the symbol of Sankofa - to retrieve, seek and take back what is at risk of being left behind - this author shares with readers her quest. It proves to be an uneasy odyssey into what it means to descend from the troubled people and evolving government of the early United States which imposed a rigid dichotomy on the humans in their society: white skin / black skin, free / enslaved.
Woven in the writing was the quest to find her people in the cryptic records of their people who afforded those enslaved with few of the markers we associate with identity - names, family names, efforts to note uniqueness between members. As in many great efforts, when others in the same search join forces more ground is gained, and she found that as time progressed. Complicating her searches and efforts were the traumatic scars of family life that happens, and those who want to talk about it, and those who want to forget and fear the backward consideration as harmful to the group as a whole.
The author leads readers through her many winding paths, sharing family tree charts, photographs of the generations that are currently leaving footprints in the world, and those who've been long gone, and about who we wonder. Was it consensual? Was it a price paid for some favor or kindness? Was there love in the creation of these people upon whose shoulders we stand? and what if there are truly bad actors in the mix . . . how does one reconcile all of that?
A haunting, question-filled work of Sankofa by the author that is worthy of consideration for all of us - any of us who have ancestors who have been long in the land most likely have skin in this game. . .literally and should not turn aside perturbed. We need to be thinking about this and how we are still responding to it. Books, writings, and memoirs such as these keep us working toward change and resolution.
*A sincere thank you to Dionne Ford, PublicAffairs, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.*...more
Simon Parkin does a riveting job of showing how panic pushed up and through governmental channels comes out as inconsistent, mismanaged and political Simon Parkin does a riveting job of showing how panic pushed up and through governmental channels comes out as inconsistent, mismanaged and political bumbling - basically resulting in waste product of ill-used resources.
This was a topic I thought I was well-read on. . .but no. I soon saw that there were large, land-mass related gaps in my understanding about WWII. I thought: Interment camps? US. Death camps? Germany. No! It was happening in other countries as they one by one responded to the response to WWI as troubles that would become WWII were ripening. While this book is not a broad stroke vision of what was happening globally, it becomes apparent as a reader digests Mr. Parkin's well-researched book, that the US was not the only country responding to "refugees" (however they were defined) by quick, gather-them-up-and-sort-later methods that had no consideration for family units, individual liberties, or above-board fairness. Other countries were engaged in their own meticulous head-counting to see who was Dangerous and who wasn't.
Focusing on one of the many British Internment camps settled on the Isle of Man, Hutchison Camp, the book explores what the catch was. The author worked diligently, giving clear and accessible references to those who desire further information. This camp would eventually hold people who had escaped with the help of British citizens in the Kindertransport rescue efforts (get that? they were being rescued by the British to keep them from the terrors of war!!), bundled together with political prisoners of every stripe, including Nazis. Whether an accusation was true or not was not considered at the start and if it was later done, the process was very late in the game.
Yet, and it is a thoughtfully considered "Yet," Hutchison Camp would become a place of positive changes for many of its internees - and Mr. Parkin satisfies readers by considering the life stories of a number of persons. Centered in this collection of life stories is that of an artist, Peter Fleischmann, who used a number of aliases through his long, helpful life, ending with the name he is now known by, Peter Midgley.
This read is fascinating and thought-provoking. Highly recommended for those interested in WWII, or social situations wherein people are moved involuntarily from homelands of centuries prior. Or, for that matter, homelands all, regardless of time on the ground.
*A sincere thank you to Simon Parkin, Scribner, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.*...more
A Fever in the Heartland: the Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them is a book about a scary time (yes, we are stillA Fever in the Heartland: the Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them is a book about a scary time (yes, we are still in scary times) and felt rather dangerous to be reading, but those misgivings faded quickly a few pages into this read.
First, it was about someone I'd never heard of, and I like to think I'm up on Women's Issues. I'm not. Madge Oberholtzer starts this story, with her revolutionary issue of fighting to make sure Americans have opportunity to read and rise above illiteracy. Not exactly something one would think modern Americans would fight against. . .a well-educated, well-read citizen is a boost to the nation, right? Well, according to some, not so. My argument would be anyone who thinks that is dragging us down - and his name was David C. Stephenson, a person we are better off without. I will leave you, dear reader, to discover the terrible results of the crossed paths walked by Madge O. and DC Stephenson (may she rest in peace and he in hell).
Timothy Egan's book is well-researched, and for someone who was coming out of cold ignorance on this matter, it was accessible and horrifying to realize its truthfulness. But facing truth is our first step toward change and resistance to that kind of evil, and for that I'm grateful for the furtherance of that cause brought by this book.
Appalling, yet compelling by at least 5 stars. Probably more....more
A retelling/reimagining of Phaedra's story in Greek myths. It comes down in many versions to begin with, based in the still-with-us problem of family A retelling/reimagining of Phaedra's story in Greek myths. It comes down in many versions to begin with, based in the still-with-us problem of family dynamics. What do you do when blended family members' attractions to each other cross lines? Still a problem. But Phaedra's original family adds its layer of complexity, too. What to do with the Minotaur as a sib? and a sister who aids and abets that sib's murder?
This retelling puts a different twist on it, telling the story from a feminist perspective - focusing on where women were in the mix of community power and roles of responsibility. Medea is included in the character cast, and I did enjoy Phaedra's nurse/companion Kandake - providing a full range of immortal-royalty to rags rainbow of class.
Particularly interesting to me was the Night Chorus, quite like the Greek chorus in a play. . .I both read and listened to this book, and in the audio version the Night Chorus was surprising and compelling - I began to anticipate their turn. In fact, I was mildly disappointed that they didn't end the tale, but it was just a wild hope.
A good read, very Greek Mythy. I would recommend a good grounding in Greek mythology - to gather how different this retelling is from the common versions of Phaedra's story as passed down through history.
*A sincere thank you to Laura Shepperson, Alcove Press and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #Phaedra #NetGalley...more
A stunningly sad read. . .reminding us of how easy uncomfortable people are to disappear in the right societies, for the right price.
Kitty and Esme's A stunningly sad read. . .reminding us of how easy uncomfortable people are to disappear in the right societies, for the right price.
Kitty and Esme's story, wrapped up with Iris' is haunting, and I'll be thinking about this one forever. I have elder aunts and great-aunts that suffered or almost suffered being "put away" by families who were too tired to deal with them. Too much trauma to carry does things to a person.
A well-told story by Maggie O'Farrell who takes the facts of the human condition and weaves it into fiction that you know isn't fiction behind some of the doors by which we pass so casually, without a thought beyond our own next want.
Thought-provoking. The problematic woman, the inconvenient, awkward, difficult female. Ah, yes. Hysterical. There's a place for her, you know. . ....more
A kaleidoscope of 3 generations, 5 points of view, 8 decades and 3 states, all told in a poetic prose that swayed with a sing-song manner that hypnotiA kaleidoscope of 3 generations, 5 points of view, 8 decades and 3 states, all told in a poetic prose that swayed with a sing-song manner that hypnotized me, I learned about life in a Black family, voice by voice, by voice.
Class clashes in the marriage of the middle generation, when a well-to-do girl meets a sexy poor boy - and before any of the usual clues revealing from which side of the rails either comes - a child presents herself. Tragedy sits and squashes the oldest generation, chasing them from hearth and home, burying life's deepest terrors into the heart of the grandma as she and her family suffer through the Tulsa Massacre in their lovely Oklahoma. The youngest voice is Melody's, the baby around who they all gather. She isn't happy, but she does find joy once in a while; all is not well, but there are moments when family, even a less than perfect one, answers the question of what matters.
This is one of those reads that leaves you in a mood to ponder and push, adjust settled angles of thought.
Loading...
