A review by megmccreery
Don't Cry for Me by Daniel Black

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I did cry at the Author's Note at the beginning which made me think this was going to be a teary one, but it ended up not being that. Jacob is a Black man, currently on his death bed writing letters to his son, Isaac to make amends with the trauma that he gave his son as a child into adulthood. From a young age, Jacob can tell that Isaac is different, which eventually leads to the learning that Isaac is gay. As his final act, Jacob writes the letters to tell Isaac why he resented his son so much growing up, citing the history of the Black community and masculinity as reasons to why he emotionally, verbally, and at one time, physically abused his son. It was crazy to read the mindset of a man back then, and as another layer, adding in the struggles of Black men in the Southern US in the 60s. They were truly focused on survival and fitting into societal norms, which led to a huge lack of love in families. There was also such a lack of knowledge and other view points that communities simply accepted things because that's just the way it was. It's not easy to understand how a man literally fights against loving his child, but there is definitely reasoning behind it, even though it's hard to wrap my head around.

Overall, this did give insight about this type of relationship and overall generational trauma. I do think there was something missing, though. I wish that there was Isaac's POV, or something besides just Jacob's voice because I did get tired of him basically telling Isaac he hated him for his whole life and then giving reasons why. 
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