343 pages
English language
Published Sept. 24, 2020
Reminded me of 'The Wedding'by Dorothy West (1920). Although, this spans three generations. A humane exploration of the 'passing as white' ; racism and survival as consequences are negotiated by the characters affected.
The book was engaging and the characters (mostly) well-developed. I felt that Part 5 dragged, though, which is one reason I couldn't give it five stars. I think the book should have ended sooner.
The narration was brilliant.
Start with two very light skinned African American twin girls from a small town in Louisiana, a father killed in a lynching, a very dark skinned African American man who works for the FBI in the time of J. Edgar Hoover, a bounty hunter, the Yale educated son of a wealthy banker, an aspiring actress trying to find herself, a young African American woman from a poor family going to medical school, a transgender African American male, transvestites seeing their friends die during the early days of AIDS.
Add masterful writing and mix well. You end up with a compelling novel that will challenge how you think about the people you encounter. What are the stories of the people around you? How can you learn from being part of a more complicated diverse world.
Read this book.
I know this is wildly popular. It just didn't do it for me. The book is too long to have insufficiently developed characters and very little story movement.
This was a lovely story about family, love, and the consequences we face when we choose to reject our born identities. Would recommend.
