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kplab81 's review for:
Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward
Obviously, I'm late to the party when it comes to Jesmyn Ward's much celebrated 3rd novel. It is astounding how much life, love, grief, and pain she packed into a such a small book. Her story follows the thread of three different generations of the Stone family - Pop/River, Leonie, and JoJo - as they navigate the relationships in the deep bayou of Bois Sauvage (which translates to wild/savage woods), Mississippi. Pop (known as River in his younger days) is consistently described as "upright" in terms of his physical stature, but also how he carries himself through the world. He and Mam are the most reliable and loving caregivers in the lives of JoJo and his baby sister, Kayla (so much so that JoJo refers to his parents by their first names). JoJo looks up to his grandfather and faithfully models himself after Pop - from his stoic demeanor and intentional mannerisms to his deep-rooted values. He also desperately wants to know more about Pop's history and asks Pop to share stories about his younger life. Pop tells JoJo stories about Parchman - a prison where Pop spent time in his youth, which also happens to be the same place where JoJo's (white) father, Michael, is incarcerated.
From Leonie's story, we are given the missing piece of the generational trauma that filters from Pop to JoJo. Leonie is Pop and Mam's only surviving child. Her brother, Given, was killed in his youth in what the courts deemed a "hunting accident." In reality, he was killed while hunting with a group of white boys for "showing off;" his murderer was Michael's "hot-headed" cousin. Pop's trauma from life in Parchman intertwines with Leonie's loss of her brother in ways that JoJo can, at first, only sense. Through the course of the story, JoJo uncovers more about his family history that brings him viscerally in contact with these intertwined stories of violence and loss.
The other thread running between Leonie and JoJo is the electric current of mysticism, passed onto them by Mam and her Cajun ancestors. Mam taught Leonie about native plants and remedies when she was younger, but their connection to the earth-and each other-slipped away after Given's death. Once Leonie fell into Michael's arms (and the drug culture that followed him), she would start to see vivid images of her dead brother following her around whenever she got high. While Leonie always attributed Given's presence to her brain chemistry going berserk, the same "gift" is recognized in JoJo and Kayla, who both see the specter of one of Pop's old bunkmates from Parchman - a young boy named Richie who filled the stories Pop would tell JoJo - when they go to meet their newly-released father there. Richie becomes his own character in the story, describing what he sees as he follows Jojo, Kayla, and Leonie home from Parchman.
The last act of Ward's novel is a fantastic spectacle of these lived experiences colliding and combusting. After picking Michael up from Parchman (and making a brief, painful detour to visit Michael's deeply racist parents), Leonie, JoJo, and Kayla return home to find Mam losing her last battle with cancer. Given and Richie are there, too - both seeking closure to their stories so they can move onto the next world. Mam's passing brings all of these characters into one room together and, as the present world and spiritual world collide, their lives are broken open, dissembled, and left to be put back together again.
There is so much beauty packed into Ward's novel - the bond between JoJo and his grandparents, who taught him about love and caretaking; the bond between JoJo and Kayla, which is truly his grandparents' legacy come to life. In parallel, there is so much grief and sadness - the distance between Leonie and her parents; the loss of Given; Leonie's inability to bond with her children. And there is everything in between - the guilt Pop carries from his time at Parchman, the anger and disappointment JoJo feels towards his parents for making life so much harder for them through their addictions. I love reading, but I often find myself forgetting the details of most books no long after finishing them. This book will stay with me - the characters, the imagery. I will not forget it any time soon.
From Leonie's story, we are given the missing piece of the generational trauma that filters from Pop to JoJo. Leonie is Pop and Mam's only surviving child. Her brother, Given, was killed in his youth in what the courts deemed a "hunting accident." In reality, he was killed while hunting with a group of white boys for "showing off;" his murderer was Michael's "hot-headed" cousin. Pop's trauma from life in Parchman intertwines with Leonie's loss of her brother in ways that JoJo can, at first, only sense. Through the course of the story, JoJo uncovers more about his family history that brings him viscerally in contact with these intertwined stories of violence and loss.
The other thread running between Leonie and JoJo is the electric current of mysticism, passed onto them by Mam and her Cajun ancestors. Mam taught Leonie about native plants and remedies when she was younger, but their connection to the earth-and each other-slipped away after Given's death. Once Leonie fell into Michael's arms (and the drug culture that followed him), she would start to see vivid images of her dead brother following her around whenever she got high. While Leonie always attributed Given's presence to her brain chemistry going berserk, the same "gift" is recognized in JoJo and Kayla, who both see the specter of one of Pop's old bunkmates from Parchman - a young boy named Richie who filled the stories Pop would tell JoJo - when they go to meet their newly-released father there. Richie becomes his own character in the story, describing what he sees as he follows Jojo, Kayla, and Leonie home from Parchman.
The last act of Ward's novel is a fantastic spectacle of these lived experiences colliding and combusting. After picking Michael up from Parchman (and making a brief, painful detour to visit Michael's deeply racist parents), Leonie, JoJo, and Kayla return home to find Mam losing her last battle with cancer. Given and Richie are there, too - both seeking closure to their stories so they can move onto the next world. Mam's passing brings all of these characters into one room together and, as the present world and spiritual world collide, their lives are broken open, dissembled, and left to be put back together again.
There is so much beauty packed into Ward's novel - the bond between JoJo and his grandparents, who taught him about love and caretaking; the bond between JoJo and Kayla, which is truly his grandparents' legacy come to life. In parallel, there is so much grief and sadness - the distance between Leonie and her parents; the loss of Given; Leonie's inability to bond with her children. And there is everything in between - the guilt Pop carries from his time at Parchman, the anger and disappointment JoJo feels towards his parents for making life so much harder for them through their addictions. I love reading, but I often find myself forgetting the details of most books no long after finishing them. This book will stay with me - the characters, the imagery. I will not forget it any time soon.