A review by woodslesbian
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals by Saidiya Hartman

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

This is an absolutely beautifully written, emotionally moving, thoroughly researched history book examining the lives of young black people migrating to the cities in the early 1900s. This text both sheds light on a group of people often forgotten by history and weaves a deeply compelling, intimate narrative about their lives and experiences. The text pays special attention to the way that desire and methods of intimacy that were often condemned at the time--common law marriages, young women's sexual needs, same-sex relationships, etc. were not just beautiful and captivating, but were a necessary tool for pushing back against a racist and classist society that placed rigid expectations on these young people. While told in a largely narrative style and inventing dialogue without direct records to achieve this goal, Wayward Lives indicated direct quotes with italics and has an extensive sources section as well. This was an incredibly valuable read that I very much recommend!