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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Really interesting stories and characters. But they were all over too soon, and put together oddly. I would have loved to see these people with a chance to breathe.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel follows a Black family during the time of the Great Migration, starting in 1923 with Hattie who is just 15 years old. Hattie becomes a mother to 11 children, but her firstborn twins die from an illness, leaving her to become a mother trying to prepare her remaining children for the world that will not love them. Each devastating chapter after that picks up years later, following Hattie’s nine living children as they navigate a cruel, unforgiving world.
Like many reviewers, I was very torn how to rate this...it's beautifully written and I mostly enjoyed reading it, but there's just no overarching story and it leaves you with nothing.
Pretty much exactly what I expected. With a bit more mental illness.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finally finished this book. It took me a while but I think I liked it. At least it gave me some things to think about and for me, this is what a good book does. It's always interesting for me to read novels about families, and particularly how relationships with parents have lingering effects on lives.
I initially picked up The Twelve Tribes of Hattie because I am generally interested in the Great Migration, and people quite literally picking up their lives in the South and settling up North. The fact that generations of Black Americans did this over the course of decades is fascinating. But that is not at all what I got reading this novel. Yes, Hattie moved to Philadelphia when she was a young girl, but that was about all.
You would think that this book would at least be like Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, weaving together a family history through generations. But that wasn’t the case, either. For one, the narrative is mostly of the second generation and the effects of cold motherhood upon them. To me, it was more a story of soaring birth rates and how those affected this particular family. Most women that seek abortions nowadays are already mothers, wanting to provide for their already living children. Another child would sink them into poverty, as was seen here. I don’t mean to be ahistorical here, for I know that not everyone had access to birth control during this time – and that some of the movement’s leaders were tied up with eugenics. But had Hattie been able to utilize any method of contraception, her living children would not have suffered such dire mental health crises and grown up with an empty stomach.
I can’t say I was a fan of the structure of the book either, as I began every chapter trying to place myself in the grand historical narrative and in this specific familiar story. The absence of crossover between these stories made them less impactful.
You would think that this book would at least be like Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, weaving together a family history through generations. But that wasn’t the case, either. For one, the narrative is mostly of the second generation and the effects of cold motherhood upon them. To me, it was more a story of soaring birth rates and how those affected this particular family. Most women that seek abortions nowadays are already mothers, wanting to provide for their already living children. Another child would sink them into poverty, as was seen here. I don’t mean to be ahistorical here, for I know that not everyone had access to birth control during this time – and that some of the movement’s leaders were tied up with eugenics. But had Hattie been able to utilize any method of contraception, her living children would not have suffered such dire mental health crises and grown up with an empty stomach.
I can’t say I was a fan of the structure of the book either, as I began every chapter trying to place myself in the grand historical narrative and in this specific familiar story. The absence of crossover between these stories made them less impactful.
Well written, I just felt myself not really caring for any of the characters at all. Not that I didn't have compassion for their situation but their reactions to those situations was what I didn't care for. Of all her children, grandchildren, extended family, it seemed like not a one had found some peace or happiness
Hattie did what needed to be done! The theme that ran so deeply throughout this book. I really enjoyed this book and the description did it no justice. I felt every emotion along with every heartbreak. A mother's love, the way a mother shows her love and the perception of those around her....truly powerful.