Wench and Balm - Reviews

I am sorry to say that a couple of weeks ago, I didn't know who Dolen Perkins-Valdez was, and it was entirely by accident that I stumbled upon her. I'd long since finished all 3 of the books on my Spring Reading List, and was trying to decide on a bonus book or two to tide me over until summer, when I came across this list 12 Books by Black Women that Will Keep You Turning Pages All Summer Long on For Harriet. Perkins-Valdez's sophomore novel, Balm, was number 12 on that list, and after reading the premise for both Balm and Wench, I knew I had to read them. I completed both books in barely over a week.

Wench explores the relationships between four slave women and each other , as well as their masters. In particular it looks at the relationship between Lizzie and her master Drayle. For the better portion of the book, Lizzie is in love with Drayle and believes Drayle reciprocates that love, and that love colors the way she looks at her circumstances and the circumstances of those around her. Lizzie's mindset allows for a whole new level of understanding of the horrifying predicament of the slave. The atrocities suffered by all of the women: Mawu, Reenie, Sweet and Lizzie seem too awful to bear, and caused me to wonder more than once at the resilience of not only their spirits, but the spirit of my own ancestors. Perkins-Valdez writes about these women as though she walked among them, and the result is a story that is truly captivating.

When I began reading Balm, part of me was yearning for a sequel to the stories of the women left behind in Wench and while I was initially sad to realize that was not the case, that disappointment lasted but a second before I was swept up by a whole new host of characters: Sadie, Madge and Hemp. I don't think I've ever read a book set immediately post slavery before. I have often wondered how America made that transition, and what that transition looked like for people, particularly former slaves in their daily lives. Perkins-Valdez imagines that time, and does so with a meticulous attention to detail. She weaves in supernatural elements so seamlessly, that you barely raise an eyebrow. Sadie communing with the dead and Madge's magical hands feel natural within the world Perkins-Valdez has created. The world created in Balm is one where hope leaves alongside loss, and love co-mingles with despair.

If you are new to Dolen Perkins-Valdez as I was, remedy yourself of that immediately and pick up both of her books. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky - A Review

I think I knew I would love this book from the very first page. From that very first page I didn't want to put it down. Its characters and plot lines occupied my mind even when I was away from them, and I did something with my reading of this book that I haven't done in a while. I dragged it out on purpose. I could easily have finished this book in a couple of days, possible in mere hours if I had been able to dedicate the uninterrupted time, but I didn't want to. I felt that if I were to take longer reading the book, the story would feel longer, and give me more time with it.

There were moments when I wanted to abandon my resolve to read the book this way, but I'm glad I stuck with it. The chunks I read each day became like a meditation. I had time to think on them, and pull back their layers.

The question "What are you?" that Rachel (the girl who fell from the sky) hears over and over is one that resonated with me, as it was a question I heard often while growing up as well. Rachel has a Danish mother and a Black father, so something about her appearance shouts "other" to people around her. But that question is also one that Rachel must sort through on her own post-fall, both inclusive of and separate from the way she looks. Who she is before the fall and after the fall are related, but distinctly different, and part of this amazing book explores that.

The story of how this little girl fell from the sky, the lives her falling touched, and her own life post fall are incredibly intricate and interwoven. Even with my deliberately drawn out reading of the story, I know that this book is one I will read again and again, finding new complexities each time.

God Help the Child- A Review

While still well ahead of schedule, this review is coming in a bit late, because I actually finished the book weeks ago. I devoured it while on vacation, but in trying to get back into the swing of things post-vacation, I neglected to collect my thoughts on this masterful work by Toni Morrison in words until now.

Toni Morrison inspires me because she lives outside of any one particular genre in a space all her own that she has created, and she does it beautifully. She crafts concise tales that offer deep, rich views into the lives of the characters she creates. Whenever I read something she's written, I feel so sure that what she is writing about surely must have happened, word for word, just as she's written it. God Help the Child is no different.

Each narrator has such a distinct voice, and each of them help us to piece together the patchwork quilt that is Bride's (our main character's) life. It is interesting though, because each narrator is telling their own story, but somehow knowing their story, offers us further insight into who Bride is, so that she becomes this omnipresence throughout the novel.

One of the characters says "What you do to children matters," and it is amazing how that statement is carried throughout the entire book. You are able to trace the mannerisms, thoughts and ways of being of both Bride and Booker, back to specific instances in their childhood. You see how these events evolve into their perceptions and belief systems creating the adults they are in the present. Who we are as adults, stems from who we were as children. The way we process our childhoods determines the people we become, and Morrison illustrates this exceptionally well. 

Finally, I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, but I have not been as intrigued by Morrison's use of magical realism as I was while reading God Help the Child, since I read Beloved. I won't go into any more detail than that, but suffice to say it is incredible.

Boy Snow Bird - A Review

I decided to try something new this reading list and post reviews as I finish the books instead of posting them all at once at the end of the season. I just finished reading Boy, Snow, Bird earlier this week, and finished writing up my review last night. Oh! and please note I tweaked my Spring Reading List. Check it out here :)

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Boy, Snow, Bird - A Review

*Spoiler alert! It will be impossible for me to talk about this book without giving several things away. You have been warned.

This book is weird. I didn't like it, but I didn't not like it either. I wanted to know what happened next, but it was a kind of morbid fascination, rather than a deep investment in the story (like why people still watch Law and Order: SVU even though Stabler's gone). I wasn't rooting for any of the characters, but I wasn't waiting for them to fail either. I keep thinking back on all the books I've read, trying to liken this experience to another, but I can't think of a single one.

The story centers around Boy Novak, who runs away from her abusive father dubbed "the rat catcher" in New York City, to a tiny little town where everybody knows your name up in Massachusetts. Once there she meets a widower, with a child, marries said widower, has a child with him, and then casts his original child out of their home to live with her aunt. She and her stepdaughter eventually reconcile in the end. That is the story in a nutshell told on the most basic of basic levels.

During all of that, Oyeyemi weaves a tale that is just enough Snow White for you to notice (with Boy being the wicked stepmother), but not so much that it is overdone or irritating. The story takes its most interesting turn when the concept of passing is introduced. Unknowingly Boy marries into a family of Black people that has been passing for years bordering on generations, and the the only reason she finds out is because she gives birth to a daughter with unmistakably ethnic features. Beauty as it relates to Blackness becomes a very interesting focal point for a large chunk of the book, and while I believe Oyeyemi could have gone further with it, it was still fascinating all the same.

There is also a preoccupation with mirrors that is highly disturbing but also very intriguing. Boy sees different versions of herself in mirrors, and Bird, her daughter, occasionally doesn't see herself in mirrors at all. I was puzzled every time the issue came up, and kept hoping it would be explained or further explored later on in the book. As it so happened, there was an explanation, but I found it highly problematic.

In the last 20 pages of the book, literally, we find out that "the rat-catcher," Boy's father, was actually born a woman, was raped when she conceived Boy, after which when she looked in the mirror she saw a man, and from then on assumed that identity. It was hard to tell if Oyeyemi was saying that Boy's father was trans, or was suffering from an identity disorder, but it seemed to lean toward him being trans. Aside from this part of the book being extremely rushed, it felt to me like Oyeyemi was saying that Boy's father being transgender was some kind of mental illness that was passed down to Boy and then Bird, which is pretty messed up. I could be totally wrong about where Oyeyemi was going with that spin-off of the stories, but that's how it felt to me.

If after reading this you still decide to read Boy, Snow, Bird, and I'm not saying you shouldn't, but if you do, don't read it alone. This is a book you need to talk about with someone, and debrief once it's done. Trust me.

Spring Reading List

Every season I create a reading list for myself. So far there have been Summer Reading List 2014, Fall Reading List 2014, Winter Reading List 2015, and now we have arrived at the Spring Reading List for 2015. 2015 is proving to be an excellent year for books, and choosing what to read was a challenge.

But! I've made my list, am excited to start reading, and have plenty of titles ready to step in as bonus books in the event that I speed through this list as quickly as I did the Winter Reading List.

Spring Reading List 2015*

(I always feel like I'm reading nominations for the Oscars when I write these, "And the nominations for the Spring Reading List of 2015 go to..." hehehe. Don't mind me).

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

I'm excited! If you've reading any of these books before, or would like to join me in my spring reading, comment below, and stay tuned for reviews!

* I amended this list on 4.18.15. I decided The Vault of Dreamers fit in better with all the other fantastical books I have planned for my Summer Reading List, so I swapped it out for The Girl Who Fell From the Sky.