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4.6 AVERAGE
4.6 AVERAGE
This is a really deep, intense, very very long book. There are different time lines going on. The main character is Ailey but we are also taken on a journey through her sister, Lydia's life and troubles as well the backstory of her family history. There is mix of true history going back to the times that Native American's owned the land and the fictional family history of Ailey.
To be honest, I almost stopped reading this a few different times due to the fact that it's so long and really really heavy. I kept going because I found Ailey's story and her Uncle Root compelling. There is some trauma that Ailey and her sisters endure and that is also very heavy. Over all, the audio book is 30 hours long and the book is 800 pages. The writing is really good and the stories are difficult with good reason. The story of slavery and the continued racism in this country is some serious shit and as a white woman, I think it's important to know these stories and not be ignorant of what our country people have gone through. The book has gotten some very good reviews and I agree with those reviews but if you are going to read this, you should know what you're getting into before you dig in.
To be honest, I almost stopped reading this a few different times due to the fact that it's so long and really really heavy. I kept going because I found Ailey's story and her Uncle Root compelling. There is some trauma that Ailey and her sisters endure and that is also very heavy. Over all, the audio book is 30 hours long and the book is 800 pages. The writing is really good and the stories are difficult with good reason. The story of slavery and the continued racism in this country is some serious shit and as a white woman, I think it's important to know these stories and not be ignorant of what our country people have gone through. The book has gotten some very good reviews and I agree with those reviews but if you are going to read this, you should know what you're getting into before you dig in.
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Colonisation
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Oh my this was long but it was GREAT. I couldn't get through it before it was recalled by the library and had to wait months to get it back again. I listened to the audio version - it is read beautifully.
Wow! Even at nearly eight hundred pages, this beautifully written novel was an engrossing read. It reminded me a bit of Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, with the exception that this tale is woven back and forth in time. Its fullness in exposing the roots and growth of a family is compelling. The genealogical charts at the beginning of the novel are extremely helpful for understanding the lineage of the individuals in the text.
Ailey Pearl Garfield, who grew up in the deep South, is the youngest of three daughters born to Maybelle Lee “Belle” Driskell and Geoffrey “Geoff” Louis Garfield. This novel integrates the telling of her early life story with the narratives of her maternal ancestors who are descended from the Creek Indians who lived in Florida, slaves brought from the Gold Coast colony of Africa, and a white man named Adam from Virginia who carried abhorrent tendencies in his genes that would cause ache and grief for generations to come. The good, the bad, and the ugly circumstances of the past and present are exposed. Ailey is quite young when we first meet her. She grows from a girl entering adolescence into adulthood facing memories of disturbing childhood experiences, family expectations, tragedy, prejudice and stereotyping. As she matures, she learns about herself and finds she is much stronger than she believed she ever could be. She emerges as a bright, courageous woman, a vessel of hope for her people, filled with deep love for her sisters, parents, and uncle.
Ailey Pearl Garfield, who grew up in the deep South, is the youngest of three daughters born to Maybelle Lee “Belle” Driskell and Geoffrey “Geoff” Louis Garfield. This novel integrates the telling of her early life story with the narratives of her maternal ancestors who are descended from the Creek Indians who lived in Florida, slaves brought from the Gold Coast colony of Africa, and a white man named Adam from Virginia who carried abhorrent tendencies in his genes that would cause ache and grief for generations to come. The good, the bad, and the ugly circumstances of the past and present are exposed. Ailey is quite young when we first meet her. She grows from a girl entering adolescence into adulthood facing memories of disturbing childhood experiences, family expectations, tragedy, prejudice and stereotyping. As she matures, she learns about herself and finds she is much stronger than she believed she ever could be. She emerges as a bright, courageous woman, a vessel of hope for her people, filled with deep love for her sisters, parents, and uncle.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery
Moderate: Addiction
This is an amazing book. It covers the sweep of American history, with a focus on Blacks and Indigenous peoples---Creeks, Cherokees, and enslaved Africans in Georgia and their descendants. At the outset I felt that I was reading a book of mythology, at other times during the long book the author steps in directly to say "hang on, we'll get to that." Sometimes I was confused; the story does not unfold in a strictly linear way, and I realized I was seeing this or that character from another point of view. Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet came to mind. Eventually the story settles on Ailsey, who decides to follow in the footsteps of several relatives and become an historian...which allows us to trace other aspects of the family's passage over time. It's a quite extraordinary feat. I'm sure I've left out much that could be said. The bottom line, read it; be patient and read it.
A family saga spanning many generations. An epic undertaking. Very hard to read in parts due to the graphic content but absolutely a necessary story to be told. I can’t give it five stars because there was just so much heaviness in my heart reading it, but I think it probably deserves 5.
My short review: woof.
My long, rambling review: I'm equally torn between rating this book like the mandatory read it is, while giving trigger warnings for a LOT of rape, child molestation, ugly family secrets, addiction, and plaguing generational trauma. There are MANY skip-this-paragraph-of-disgusting-detail worthy moments. Be warned: this book is 800+ pages filled with both lovely and ugly human behavior. It is largely based on real events through 200-300 years of early American history in Georgia, though the families portrayed are fictional. Though it's hard to see at first, you are following Ailey Pearl through her story even though the novel overall is a family saga of epic proportions that *requires* the genealogical map in the beginning of the book. Honoree Fanonne Jeffers says that she took 10 years researching and writing this novel; her first. I can see why. It was a spectacular undertaking to transform centuries of American history into an impressively thorough family bloodline story. But also....she needed an editor. (I said it.) She is also a published poet and professor of history. Like any good professor, she taught me a lot, and sometimes those lessons are painful, hard truths. I definitely recommend it, but pick the right time in your life for the read. It's NOT light. 3.5/5 stars.
My long, rambling review: I'm equally torn between rating this book like the mandatory read it is, while giving trigger warnings for a LOT of rape, child molestation, ugly family secrets, addiction, and plaguing generational trauma. There are MANY skip-this-paragraph-of-disgusting-detail worthy moments. Be warned: this book is 800+ pages filled with both lovely and ugly human behavior. It is largely based on real events through 200-300 years of early American history in Georgia, though the families portrayed are fictional. Though it's hard to see at first, you are following Ailey Pearl through her story even though the novel overall is a family saga of epic proportions that *requires* the genealogical map in the beginning of the book. Honoree Fanonne Jeffers says that she took 10 years researching and writing this novel; her first. I can see why. It was a spectacular undertaking to transform centuries of American history into an impressively thorough family bloodline story. But also....she needed an editor. (I said it.) She is also a published poet and professor of history. Like any good professor, she taught me a lot, and sometimes those lessons are painful, hard truths. I definitely recommend it, but pick the right time in your life for the read. It's NOT light. 3.5/5 stars.
I am blown away at what Ms. Jeffers accomplishes in this fantastic novel. It’s nearly 800 pages and I still didn’t want it to end! So many layers weave effortlessly through the narrative arc - an incredible piece of work.