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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
The writing itself was beautiful, but the story was depressing and frustrating. It's really a series of vignettes spanning many decades, each one about one of Hattie's children. Each one has only minimal, if any, connection to any other story (despite each chapter being about a sibling!) and almost none has any sort of resolution. I felt very removed from any emotional connection and I couldn't find myself invested in any of the characters.
Would make an excellent book club choice. The reader's guide asks provocative questions.
I began loving it. Then the next few chapters just felt detached. Near the end it gained speed for me and I got a little more invested. Overall, just fair - nothing that I'll remember in a few months.
The stories were well crafted, but they didn't mesh together well enough for me to be enamoured with the tale. I enjoyed the read. Each chapter made me thirsty to find out more about the family. The shifts in person and leaps in time scattered the timeline while progressing it from Hattie's first mothering act to her twins to her decision to shield her granddaughter from a lie in church. Good read. Nicely crafted narrative of the Great Migration and redemptive struggle.
Typical Oprah book club selection; well written but nothing pleasant ever happens to any of the characters. In real life, even families living in generational poverty have some good days.
Is there a limit on the amount of love a parent can have for their child? If you have more than one child, is it possible to have loved your other children so much that you have nothing left for the others? Or is it just possible for life to beat you down so much so that you have nothing left to give your children except a place to stay, food to eat and a determination to survive?
I can't find fault with Hattie Shepherd. Giving birth to your first children at the age of 19 in a new city can be overwhelming. To find yourself giving birth years later at the age of 46 is surprising. Then to turn around at 74 and find yourself mothering your grandchildren, is not an easy road. But how do you explain that to your children who only see you as cold and uncaring?
"Somebody always wants something from me," she said in a near whisper. "They're eating me alive."
As you read, you'll be caught up in the lives of Lloyd, the musician; Six, the wonder boy preacher; the high strung and insecure Alice, who pretends her brother Billups needs her when, in reality, she's the one that desperately needs him; Bell, who seeks revenge against Hattie when all she really wants is to know the secret joy her mother found once upon a time; and countless others. Mathis dedicates chapters to the various offspring, but their interactions as children aren't explored as much as they are as adults. She wants you to see who they've become as a result of living in the house.
I love the set up of the book. It feels like a compilation of short stories that are loosely tied together, with the only common thread being that Hattie and August have given birth to them. With the exception of Alice and Billups, we see very little interaction among the siblings once they leave home. It's as if Hattie's lack of love spread to them and there's nothing that bonds any of them together.
Part of the great migration to the north, I wonder how much of Hattie's coldness is a reflection of her surroundings. While her husband, August, longs for the Georgia he remembers, minus Jim Crow, Hattie refuses to even speak its name. Still, you have to wonder if August lamenting over leaving the south is valid. Would Hattie have been different, would the children have had different lives, had they been surrounded by paper shell pecans, sweet gum trees, gigantic peaches and neighbors whose names they could recite years later?
I can't find fault with Hattie Shepherd. Giving birth to your first children at the age of 19 in a new city can be overwhelming. To find yourself giving birth years later at the age of 46 is surprising. Then to turn around at 74 and find yourself mothering your grandchildren, is not an easy road. But how do you explain that to your children who only see you as cold and uncaring?
"Somebody always wants something from me," she said in a near whisper. "They're eating me alive."
As you read, you'll be caught up in the lives of Lloyd, the musician; Six, the wonder boy preacher; the high strung and insecure Alice, who pretends her brother Billups needs her when, in reality, she's the one that desperately needs him; Bell, who seeks revenge against Hattie when all she really wants is to know the secret joy her mother found once upon a time; and countless others. Mathis dedicates chapters to the various offspring, but their interactions as children aren't explored as much as they are as adults. She wants you to see who they've become as a result of living in the house.
I love the set up of the book. It feels like a compilation of short stories that are loosely tied together, with the only common thread being that Hattie and August have given birth to them. With the exception of Alice and Billups, we see very little interaction among the siblings once they leave home. It's as if Hattie's lack of love spread to them and there's nothing that bonds any of them together.
Part of the great migration to the north, I wonder how much of Hattie's coldness is a reflection of her surroundings. While her husband, August, longs for the Georgia he remembers, minus Jim Crow, Hattie refuses to even speak its name. Still, you have to wonder if August lamenting over leaving the south is valid. Would Hattie have been different, would the children have had different lives, had they been surrounded by paper shell pecans, sweet gum trees, gigantic peaches and neighbors whose names they could recite years later?
3.5 stars
Each of the stories are wonderfully told, but I would have liked to see a bit more cohesion between them.
Each of the stories are wonderfully told, but I would have liked to see a bit more cohesion between them.
I can't believe I stuck with this one all of the way through! What a waste of time.