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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
I liked this book. Typical Oprah fashion. Honestly, though, I would have preferred more Hattie and less of her kids. I understand the point was to get to know Hattie through her children and their lives and her interaction with them. However, I felt I would have enjoyed the book more if I had spent more time with Hattie herself.
I enjoyed reading this book, and am not really bothered by the structure as other reviewers have written, because the story is about Hattie, in the end, and not about her children, even though each chapter tells the story of one or two of her children. Hattie's character and story are well developed through the stories of her children, and it's pretty bleak. Even the ending, which seems like an attempt at redemption for Hattie, doesn't fully redeem her or give her a completely peaceful ending. It's not the structure or the bleakness that keeps me for giving it a higher rating, though. It's the sense that I had read this before. Same themes, same nuggets of pain, same unresolved problems that have bled down through our troubled history to plague Black people and in this case especially Black women. Not much depth or originality within the canon of literary fiction that was birthed by Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and their forebears.
One of the saddest books I've ever read but still powerful. I think every woman can see a little of themselves in Hattie.
It should be no surprise "The Twelve Tribes of Hattie" is an Oprah Winfrey Book Club selection. Oprah tends to favor books where African-American's are struggling to make it, "The Twelve tribes of Hattie" is no different.
The book starts off with Hattie, a young African-American woman living in Philadelphia with twin babies. What happens in that chapter lays the groundwork for the rest of the book.
Hattie goes onto have nine more children. Each chapter is then based on the life of one of Hattie's children. Basically short stories with the tie being Hattie. Knowing why Hattie is as she is explains why her children become what they are.
A good read, wouldn't necessarily rave about it. Would give this 3 1/2 stars.
The book starts off with Hattie, a young African-American woman living in Philadelphia with twin babies. What happens in that chapter lays the groundwork for the rest of the book.
Hattie goes onto have nine more children. Each chapter is then based on the life of one of Hattie's children. Basically short stories with the tie being Hattie. Knowing why Hattie is as she is explains why her children become what they are.
A good read, wouldn't necessarily rave about it. Would give this 3 1/2 stars.
Each chapter focuses on one of Hattie's children or grandchildren. Some are definitely more intriguing than others. It was a slow read but an interesting writing style.
This is a tough book to rate. I wanted longer chapters about each character and more insight. Why did all of the children turn out so terrible? Was it because of Hattie's coldness? Is it really Hattie's fault that she had no love to give because she was a mule from 17-44?what was the author's point? I needed some perseverance and overcoming of hardships. The characters had hard times and LOTS of mental illnesses.
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is powerful and sad. I wanted at least one more chapter for every single character.