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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
I can't say that I didn't like this book and it's characters, but I also can't say I enjoyed the read. The twelve tribes refer to the children (11 plus 1 grandchild) of the main character, Hattie Shepherd. She left Georgia with her mother and sister )during the Great Migration of African-Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North), married at age 16, gave birth to her first children at age 17, buried them within the year, and continued to raise children under the most brutal and discouraging circumstances. Hattie and her children suffer trials and tribulations (molestation, conflicts of sexual identity, mental illness, philandering father/husband, and Hattie's own affair), while Hattie herself is powerless to support (financially and emotionally), encourage, and ground her children. Each story (they range over a period of nearly 60 years) is unrelentingly desperate and sorrowful. Hattie herself is a bitter, heart-hardened woman.
As a story of the Great Migration, the author makes some critical points. Although the wages of the factories of the North are much higher than poverty of the South, many African-Americans who moved North weren't able to make a better life for themselves and their families. They still faced poverty, discrimination, and the difficulties of life in a cold climate.
As a story of the Great Migration, the author makes some critical points. Although the wages of the factories of the North are much higher than poverty of the South, many African-Americans who moved North weren't able to make a better life for themselves and their families. They still faced poverty, discrimination, and the difficulties of life in a cold climate.
So I was going to say The Bluest Eye is better, which it is, but this was good too, in a different way. The last chapter changed my sense of the book's quality a lot. I do think there are parts in the middle that are needlessly obscure (each chapter feels a little top much like the opening scene of Memento, and for no really good reason. Still, very affecting and passionate.
I wanted to but I just didn't like it. I didn't like the format nor half the characters.
I really enjoyed the book, it just left me with so many unanswered questions. I would really give it 3.5
I have picked up and put down this novel many times. I had a hard time focusing on it. Now that I have finished it: good book about a very hard life. Not a mood-booster, but well written.
Usually I steer clear of an "Oprah's book club" book....I have read several recommendations...and only 2 were worth the effort to me. "The Twelve Tribes of Hattie" was well worth the effort. I LOVED this book and the beautiful almost lyrical writing by Ayana Mathis....I will recommend it to everyone who loves to read.
I liked the premise of the book, where each chapter was one of the children but I feel insufficient time was spent on each to provide any real depth.
Sadness pervades this novel, but there is lots to love. I liked the way it unfolded as a series of vignettes, and I found its portrayal of motherhood provoking and interesting.
Each part of this book made it feel like you were starting a new book which made it really hard to get into. Additionally, it was so inconsistent. Some of the stories were so interesting and others were boring. There were parts of this book that deserved 5 stars but some parts only deserved one.