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4.6 AVERAGE
4.6 AVERAGE
Brilliant historical fiction! I'm so happy the length didn't deter me because this is now one of my favorite books.
4.5 stars
A triumph.
Just a tad too long/uneven for a full 5 stars.
But you should totally read it.
A triumph.
Just a tad too long/uneven for a full 5 stars.
But you should totally read it.
4.5/5
Phew...816 pages and almost a month and a half later, and I made it! This behemoth of a book was definitely a bit intimidating, but I'm so glad I took the plunge. It was totally worth the time invested in it.
This family saga (writ-very-large) was very often a difficult read, as it doesn't pull punches, whether it is delving into the very real horrors of slavery and the reckoning that its descendants must grapple with, to the traumas of abuse and the havoc it can wreak on on a family. But through it all, the constant is Jeffers's deft hand and beautiful language, which never seeks to gloss over or distract from the difficulties of the story, but rather kept me totally immersed and engaged with all the threads. Ailey's journey from a child trying to understand the dynamics of her family to a grown woman actively seeking out the history that made it so, interwoven with the "songs" to the past, made for an incredibly compelling read. Even when I put it down for a day or two, I never felt lost or adrift when I picked it back up. It was like joining back up with old friends or extended family.
There is very little to quibble about with this book given what a stunning achievement it is in both fiction and as a conduit for some fascinating history. While I loved Ailey's journey and think that having a single character be the anchor of the story and all its offshoots was very necessary, I also think that there could have been a greater spread of stories from her generation — I would have loved to see more from her mother, and while Lydia's chapters were such a great insight into her narrative (and how it was presented versus how it truly was for her, living it), I craved a bit more of it. (Part of me might have been expecting a format more like Min Jin Lee's Pachinko, where the individual chapters were more reminiscent of vignettes focusing on individual characters but always tying back to the larger story, and of course, that's on me...not the book!) I also would have liked a bit of a longer tail end after the revelations of Ailey's research, and the impact that this new knowledge had on the family at-large. For such an expansive book, the later sections felt somewhat rushed, with larger time jumps and less context given for the time that elapsed.
This is an auspicious debut into prose, and I truly hope that she has more novels in her. Knowing that Jeffers cut her teeth in poetry, I'm very interested in reading her earlier work and seeing how its influences made their way into her fiction, and I hope that there is more to come after this!
Phew...816 pages and almost a month and a half later, and I made it! This behemoth of a book was definitely a bit intimidating, but I'm so glad I took the plunge. It was totally worth the time invested in it.
This family saga (writ-very-large) was very often a difficult read, as it doesn't pull punches, whether it is delving into the very real horrors of slavery and the reckoning that its descendants must grapple with, to the traumas of abuse and the havoc it can wreak on on a family. But through it all, the constant is Jeffers's deft hand and beautiful language, which never seeks to gloss over or distract from the difficulties of the story, but rather kept me totally immersed and engaged with all the threads. Ailey's journey from a child trying to understand the dynamics of her family to a grown woman actively seeking out the history that made it so, interwoven with the "songs" to the past, made for an incredibly compelling read. Even when I put it down for a day or two, I never felt lost or adrift when I picked it back up. It was like joining back up with old friends or extended family.
There is very little to quibble about with this book given what a stunning achievement it is in both fiction and as a conduit for some fascinating history. While I loved Ailey's journey and think that having a single character be the anchor of the story and all its offshoots was very necessary, I also think that there could have been a greater spread of stories from her generation — I would have loved to see more from her mother, and while Lydia's chapters were such a great insight into her narrative (and how it was presented versus how it truly was for her, living it), I craved a bit more of it. (Part of me might have been expecting a format more like Min Jin Lee's Pachinko, where the individual chapters were more reminiscent of vignettes focusing on individual characters but always tying back to the larger story, and of course, that's on me...not the book!) I also would have liked a bit of a longer tail end after the revelations of Ailey's research, and the impact that this new knowledge had on the family at-large. For such an expansive book, the later sections felt somewhat rushed, with larger time jumps and less context given for the time that elapsed.
This is an auspicious debut into prose, and I truly hope that she has more novels in her. Knowing that Jeffers cut her teeth in poetry, I'm very interested in reading her earlier work and seeing how its influences made their way into her fiction, and I hope that there is more to come after this!
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A book spanning a giant swath of time and cramming a lot on there. And yet, I was interested all the way through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Unabashedly a black feminist historical novel. It’s a beautiful tribute to WEB Dubois, and a lot about slavery and the horrors. I thought it was a great novel, though there were so many characters that I did get confused periodically.
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated