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A review by inked_in_pages
Redwood Court by DéLana R.A. Dameron
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Genre: Fiction, Family Saga
[TW: Death of a loved one, incarceration, systemic racism]
“You know, you sit at our feet all these hours and days, hearing us tell our tales. You have all these stories inside you— that’s what we have to pass on— all the stories everyone in our family knows and all the stories everyone in our family tells. You have the stories you’ve heard and the ones you’ve yet to hear. The ones you’ll live to tell someone else. That’s a gift that gives and gives and gives. You get to make it into something for tomorrow. You write ’em in your books and show everyone who we are.”
Redwood Court is an incredible debut with a unique and beautiful writing style. Redwood Court follows a Black family living in the Southern United States in the 1960s as they create their family, expand their community, and actualize the “American Dream”. The story is primarily told from the point of view of the youngest member of the family, Mika, however there are several points of view through the story including the matriarch of the family Weesie, Teeta the patriarch of the family, and Mika’s mother, Rhina. Dameron’s writing style is both beautiful and unique and each chapter reads as it’s own short story that amplifies the Black experience in a world of systemic and systematic racism, microaggressions, and The American Dream.
Dameron’s writing captivated me from the beginning and continued to draw me back for more - it is clear that while this is her debut novel, she’s made a name for herself as a poet. I fell in love with the tenacity, emotion and love of each character in this novel and I suspect every reader will feel the same way. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention all of the 90s nostalgia thrown into the book - Jagged Little Pill, Y2K, AIM - that threw me right back into my own youth in the 90s.
Overall, a unique and well done story about the tribulations of being a young girl in the 90s as well as the additional struggles of being told about the American Dream while living in a world that keeps that just out of reach.
[TW: Death of a loved one, incarceration, systemic racism]
“You know, you sit at our feet all these hours and days, hearing us tell our tales. You have all these stories inside you— that’s what we have to pass on— all the stories everyone in our family knows and all the stories everyone in our family tells. You have the stories you’ve heard and the ones you’ve yet to hear. The ones you’ll live to tell someone else. That’s a gift that gives and gives and gives. You get to make it into something for tomorrow. You write ’em in your books and show everyone who we are.”
Redwood Court is an incredible debut with a unique and beautiful writing style. Redwood Court follows a Black family living in the Southern United States in the 1960s as they create their family, expand their community, and actualize the “American Dream”. The story is primarily told from the point of view of the youngest member of the family, Mika, however there are several points of view through the story including the matriarch of the family Weesie, Teeta the patriarch of the family, and Mika’s mother, Rhina. Dameron’s writing style is both beautiful and unique and each chapter reads as it’s own short story that amplifies the Black experience in a world of systemic and systematic racism, microaggressions, and The American Dream.
Dameron’s writing captivated me from the beginning and continued to draw me back for more - it is clear that while this is her debut novel, she’s made a name for herself as a poet. I fell in love with the tenacity, emotion and love of each character in this novel and I suspect every reader will feel the same way. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention all of the 90s nostalgia thrown into the book - Jagged Little Pill, Y2K, AIM - that threw me right back into my own youth in the 90s.
Overall, a unique and well done story about the tribulations of being a young girl in the 90s as well as the additional struggles of being told about the American Dream while living in a world that keeps that just out of reach.