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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
The writing is the only thing that saved this book. I would be curious to know what the author would put out in the future. You could tell this was a debut novel. Every chapter was about one of Hattie's children; and I expected all of them to somehow weave together nicely. That didn't happen. One family member was touched on and then never mentioned again. There was no real plot here. Plus, I disliked many of the characters. You don't necessarily want to agree with every single character in every single book, but it would have been nice to identify with at least one.
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is an interesting book and not really what I expected. The chapters work as a series of vignettes for the children of Hattie only connected tenuously through her. Each story features Hattie to different extents with either simply her shadow as a mother or being very present and the focus of the story.
The first story shows Hattie losing her first two children to illness and this trauma naturally bleeds into the other stories. The other children feeling the ghosts of their dead siblings in their own mother's unhappiness and distance from them. I think Mathis here was speaking of inherited trauma, that something before you were even born can lead to your own creation of trauma in an a cycle that is very hard to break and has little hope of getting better.
I also wonder if (after reading several stories about this recently) that Mathis is bringing up some of the issues that come from larger families. A character openly wonders if Hattie may be simply 'out of love to give' after so many children and that her then youngest daughter is just not as special anymore in comparison. All the children note the neglect and distance they feel from both their parents. In several of the stories, older siblings feel guilty for things that happen to younger ones. When in families so large, older kids are often thrust into positions of caregiver and parent even while being a child themselves. This is no offense to larger families as I am sure it is manageable but it didn't seem to be for Hattie and her husband and it drove them to unhappiness reflected back towards their children.
The writing is very good and I think if you are prepared for the disconnected stories and view it as vignettes (similar to Olive Kitteridge) the story moves along and is at times heartbreaking and in the end, hopeful.
I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was nice, with several narrators for the different characters.
This book was on NPR's book concierge for 2013 which I am slowly making my way through!
The first story shows Hattie losing her first two children to illness and this trauma naturally bleeds into the other stories. The other children feeling the ghosts of their dead siblings in their own mother's unhappiness and distance from them. I think Mathis here was speaking of inherited trauma, that something before you were even born can lead to your own creation of trauma in an a cycle that is very hard to break and has little hope of getting better.
I also wonder if (after reading several stories about this recently) that Mathis is bringing up some of the issues that come from larger families. A character openly wonders if Hattie may be simply 'out of love to give' after so many children and that her then youngest daughter is just not as special anymore in comparison. All the children note the neglect and distance they feel from both their parents. In several of the stories, older siblings feel guilty for things that happen to younger ones. When in families so large, older kids are often thrust into positions of caregiver and parent even while being a child themselves. This is no offense to larger families as I am sure it is manageable but it didn't seem to be for Hattie and her husband and it drove them to unhappiness reflected back towards their children.
The writing is very good and I think if you are prepared for the disconnected stories and view it as vignettes (similar to Olive Kitteridge) the story moves along and is at times heartbreaking and in the end, hopeful.
I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was nice, with several narrators for the different characters.
This book was on NPR's book concierge for 2013 which I am slowly making my way through!
Very enjoyable book. Hattie is a young black woman from the South, migrated to the North. She has 12 children, and this is their story. The only caution about this book is that each chapter is told from a different child's perspective. I sometimes have difficulty with these types of books, because it is jarring to shift views every chapter. The book is good enough to make up for it, but it's not my favorite style.
Throughout the book, I kept thinking to myself how it felt like Mathis started 12 - 13 very well-written, developed books but didnt finish one of them. While I got that Hattie was the thread weaving together each narrative, I kept waiting for something else. I'm not sure what that something else was - but, I waited for it. I'm anxious to see what else she does with her immense talent.
While I enjoyed this book, I'm not sure it qualifies as a novel. It reads more like a collection of disjointed short stories. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do wish we saw more of this family as a unit instead of numerous separate vignettes. As it stands, Hattie's children barely seem related at all. I also found some of the characters to be cliche - trifling men & long-suffering women fill these pages. I wish Mathis had challenged these tropes more, but overall, this is an interesting read.
Both touching and troubling, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie provides a glimpse of life during segregated America not typically portrayed; the North.
I loved this book. Loved in a way I haven't loved a book in a long, long time. Each chapter focuses on a different child of Hattie, while still telling bits and pieces of the main story. Each chapter takes place at different times along Hattie's life with each of her children. Basically, each chapter is like a short story with small details linking them all together. I thought the story telling was superb and the writing spectacular. I want Mathis to write a hundred more books because she has captured my heart with her debut novel and has left me wanting more.
Every so often you read a book that amazes you with the writing, astonishes you with the depth of the description of and voices of the characters, and finally annihilates you with the turn of events. This is that book.
This is not a light read, y'all. This is true literature. I always know that a book is good when I can't wait to pick it back up again at the end of the day, but my stomach is in knots about the things that I will read.
Ayana Mathis is our generation's Alice Walker. Definitely add this one to your list.
This is not a light read, y'all. This is true literature. I always know that a book is good when I can't wait to pick it back up again at the end of the day, but my stomach is in knots about the things that I will read.
Ayana Mathis is our generation's Alice Walker. Definitely add this one to your list.
This is a good one. Hattie, her children, and her tragic life. Each chapter tells the story of a different child and his/her life struggle while keeping Hattie's role prominent. Ending felt right.
Although there was QUITE a bit of dysfunction in this book, the concept of devoting a chapter to each child was awesome. Then again, whose family is without dysfunction? Engaging read.