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A review by daumari
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
5.0
The February-March pick for Biere Library Storytime Book Club, at ~8.5 hours this was a relatively quick audio listen (due to being on babytime, I find that I have less time for holding a book so audio worked while doing baby things).
An intimate Southern gothic portrait of a family with roots that dig into the Mississippi mud, and ghosts needing to be addressed. A bit of coming of age for Jojo's chapters, as he uncovers truths in the second half of the novel. It would be so easy to make Leonie a villain of sorts, but she's a complicated character with conflicting desires.
Parchman is a real place, and I was reminded of a similar Louisiana prison mentioned in [b:How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America|55643287|How the Word Is Passed A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America|Clint Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1603917194l/55643287._SY75_.jpg|86766325] when inmate labor was described. I'm also reminded of the third episode of [b:Lovecraft Country|25109947|Lovecraft Country (Lovecraft Country, #1)|Matt Ruff|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426040983l/25109947._SY75_.jpg|44803674]Lovecraft Country (which pulls from the second story, "Dreams of the Which House from the book) re: literal ghosts of racist violence.
A surprising amount of vomit, viscerally described- part of what happens when you have a 3 year old on a road trip and also drug addicts, but you could almost feel that sour stickiness from the descriptions.
I really enjoyed the audio version of this- I think I would've disliked Leonie more were I reading her POV, but Rutina Wesley's narration is so cool and soothing, even while Leonie rages or ignores her children.
An intimate Southern gothic portrait of a family with roots that dig into the Mississippi mud, and ghosts needing to be addressed. A bit of coming of age for Jojo's chapters, as he uncovers truths in the second half of the novel. It would be so easy to make Leonie a villain of sorts, but she's a complicated character with conflicting desires.
Parchman is a real place, and I was reminded of a similar Louisiana prison mentioned in [b:How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America|55643287|How the Word Is Passed A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America|Clint Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1603917194l/55643287._SY75_.jpg|86766325] when inmate labor was described. I'm also reminded of the third episode of [b:Lovecraft Country|25109947|Lovecraft Country (Lovecraft Country, #1)|Matt Ruff|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426040983l/25109947._SY75_.jpg|44803674]Lovecraft Country (which pulls from the second story, "Dreams of the Which House from the book) re: literal ghosts of racist violence.
A surprising amount of vomit, viscerally described- part of what happens when you have a 3 year old on a road trip and also drug addicts, but you could almost feel that sour stickiness from the descriptions.
I really enjoyed the audio version of this- I think I would've disliked Leonie more were I reading her POV, but Rutina Wesley's narration is so cool and soothing, even while Leonie rages or ignores her children.