REVIEW: The Family Roe by Joshua Pager

 

I was skulking around Gibson's Bookstore on a Monday, as I usually do, and I saw this one on the shelf. I remember consciously thinking to myself that right now was a good time to actually read this and remember that there were actual people, including a plaintiff, behind one of, if not *the* most controversial Supreme Court decisions in this country. Joshua Prager was also nominated for the Pulitzer as a result of this book as well. 

Joshua Prager delves into the lives of all of the protagonists surrounding this case from Norma McCorvey to the lawyers and the doctors who were providing abortions as well as those members of the public who were absolutely fighting against it. In rigorously reporting and meticulously researching the people involved, he animated them and then to look at them in a different light.  I was fascinated by the lives of the people involved and in particular I was curious about the lives of the children that Norma had given birth to, including the child that was the catalyst for the lawsuit that was such a lightening rod in our society. Norma McCorvey had two other children as well and Prager introduces us to them as well. 

I was very impressed by how deep his research was as well as how sensitively he portrays everyone involved. I was worried that the book would be heavy handed, but it was anything but that.  I loved that he seemingly urgently asked his readers to consider the lives of the protagonists before making judgments about the lives of the people involved. McCorvey came froma poor family with a history of unintended pregnancies.  Dr. Jefferson, a lightening rod Black female from the segregated south who was extremely anti-choice grew up in the segregated South and then was further constrained by the white misogynistic medical society in Boston when she became a doctor in the northeast.  She could be severe in her positions on abortion but was also suffering in her private life: she was a hoarder and sadly died without anyone by her side. She remained childless for her entire life and felt the need to lie about the reasons why. I found myself really feeling for her and wondering about the circumstances that led her on the path that she was on.  

In the end, we are given neither heroes nor villains: just people that are flawed but people nonetheless and the book reminds that we should treat them as they are: humans who we should be kind to. He does this brilliantly and easily, which in and of itself is a challenge. I highly recommend this book. It's an important one in this day and age. 

REVIEW: Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones

 

I've read other books by Tayari Jones - notably An AMerican Marriage (which I loved) and when I saw this I jumped because I like her as an author and this book is about the Atlanta Child Murders. It combined one of my favorite authors and a favorite topic - true crime - in a way that wasn't overwhelming in a way that some True Crime Podcasts are.  

When the book starts, it's the summer of 1979. It's been raining all summer and all of the children are upset because literally their whole summer break from school has been ruined by the weather. The weather is on the front of everyone's mind - not the young black boys that have gone missing at around the same time. Four boys are missing and found dead before anyone even thinks to connect them. There ends up being a total of 29 murders. An arrest is eventually made and the murders stop but Wayne Williams, the guy that seems to be blamed for these murders, never admitted to them or is convicted of them - he's convicted of killing two adults - so many believe the Atlanta Child Murderer is still at large, albeit dormant. This is the setting of this novel.

We meet three children at one school, all in the same grade. Tasha Baxter is sweet natured and tries to be smart, and she wants to fit in at school - and not be excluded by her peers. SHe spends the summer, for instance, practicing rope skipping only to find out that the popular girls think it's too childish. She eventually shows interest in an older boy named Jashante, from the projects, who is in her grade because he's been held back. Because she is worried about becoming a social pariah if she shows interest, she tells Jashanate she hopes he gets asphyxiated. Jashante then disappears and Tasha is left wondering about her words and their power. 

Rodney Green is a really intelligent and painfully shy boy who tries to keep himself as invisible as possible at school and at home (having an abusive parent will do that). Rodney's father even comes to school one day and whips him in front of the whole class as a form of discipline. Shamed, Rodney walks away from home and is asked into a car by a man with a (fake) police badge.  

Octavia Harrison is another social misfit  at the school - she's called "Watusi" because of how dark her skin is - but she's remarkably resilient and self confident.  Octavia is close with Rodney - they sit near each other in class becuase of their names - and she lives across the street from the projects with her mother, Yvoinne. Her father lives in South Carolina. WHen the murders start hitting really close to home, her father calls and asks that she be sent to him to live in South Carolina.  

I loved this book. THe narratives are told from the first person perspectives of the children, who are watching the news, and their parents' reactions, to the murders and learning about people that they know being taken.  This was amazing simple and yet so effective.  I learned that Tayari Jones was a fifth grader in Atlanta during this time period, so she actually lived through the incidents in question and was able to put this experience to a very good and effective use. It is a quiet, real time and devastating contemplation of serial killers, terror and the setting of such brutal acts.  I truly loved this short book so much and I'm glad that I purchased it for my library.  

REVIEW: South to America by Imani Perry

 

This is also a part of the Southern Reading Challenge. I think that I wanted to learn more about the South after actually visiting there for the first time a number of years ago - I went to Atlanta and then again last year when I was in Birmingham, so this collection of stories about the region intrigued me. It's part travelogue - she travels to the places that she writes about - but also a philosophical exploration of the region that results from her travels. She even goes to Florida and Cuba!  (I honestly never thought of Florida as the "real South" but what do I know). 

The most interesting parts of the book for me were when she was describing her own interactions in the South - with the history, the people and her own history there.  I felt like I was right there with her in those moments experiencing what she was experiencing and seeing things through her own eyes.  I could hear her talking and watch things through her eyes.  But those moments were seemingly few and far between.  They were overwhelmed by her sometimes heavy handed stream of consciousness delivery, which made it difficult for me to get through the book.  I sometimes had to take breaks at the ends of chapters to read something else and then come back because it wasn't easy or fun to get through those parts. I often felt that I was watching a closing argument in a trial that wasn't very organized. 

Having said that, I'm glad that I read the book.  I feel like I learned a bit more about a place in my country that I'm not from and haven't really immersed myself in or visited as much.  Perhaps a go from the library instead of a purchase!

REVIEW: Memphis by Tara Stringfellow and some news

 

I picked up this book as part of the Southern Reading Challenge - it's the second book that I've read for the challenge - the third will be reviewed shortly!  Strangefellow, is was trained as a lawyer, tells the story of a family - the Norths - through three generations of the women in the family. We are told the stories through the matriarch, Hazel, August and Miriam - sisters, and Miriams daughter, Joan. The book starts in 1995 when Miriam, Joan and Joan's sister, Mya arrive at August's home in Memphis, which August is sharing with her son Derek.  We meet them at the middle of the family's story, as Miriam is fleeing a violent marriage. As the book progresses, not only do we learn more about the complex characters, but we see approximately 7 decades of Memphis history and life as the backdrop to their stories. 

We definitely encounter things like Jim Crow and abuse - both sexual and physical - but also many moments that are absolutely beautiful, such as Joan's maturation into a successful artist.  We also experience MLK's death and the sanitation strike's impact on this family that seemingly idolized him.  There are many moments of joy too found in everyday life - the conversations that happen between women in August's hairdressing shop, conversations between black female radicals, the time spent on the porches just laughing. 

I loved this book.  So much.  I felt like I was immersed in the city of Memphis - that I could see the people that lived there and what the city was like. It was just as much a character as the actual people. For the most part, I felt that Ms. Stringfellow did a wonderful job immersing us in the life of this family with one exception that stays with me to this day:  Miriam knew that Derek had severely physically abused Joan and she decided to return to the home where he was living, knowing that he was still there. This implies to me that she had considered other options, or tried to (if there were no other options), but nothing else was there for her to go to - we never see her considering the places that she could go. Of course, that could be the point - there was nothing to consider because of course she would go back to the family home that August was in - but even if that was so, I would still have liked to see that contemplation.  Having said that, I loved this book. I loved how Stringfellow wrote and built this novel.  I look forward to her next one.

***

Now to my news.  When I was in NYC two weeks ago, I got engaged!  We were eating dinner in this little bistro near the UN and he asked me!  Of course I said yes.  No date set yet but yay!  I am excited to marry my best friend.