#BookReview: The Twelve Tribes of Hattie - Ayana Mathis

Is there a limit on the amount of love a parent can have for their child?  If you have more than one child, is it possible to have loved your other children so much that you have nothing left for the others?  Or is it just possible for life to beat you down so much so that you have nothing left to give your children except a place to stay, food to eat and a determination to survive?

I can't find fault with Hattie Shepherd.  Giving birth to your first children at the age of 19 in a new city can be overwhelming.  To find yourself giving birth years later at the age of 46 is surprising.  Then to turn around at 74 and find yourself mothering your grandchildren, is not an easy road.  But how do you explain that to your children who only see you as cold and uncaring?

"Somebody always wants something from me," she said in a near whisper.  "They're eating me alive."

As you read, you'll be caught up in the lives of Lloyd, the musician; Six, the wonder boy preacher; the high strung and insecure Alice, who pretends her brother Billups needs her when, in reality, she's the one that desperately needs him; Bell, who seeks revenge against Hattie when all she really wants is to know the secret joy her mother found once upon a time; and countless others.  Mathis dedicates chapters to the various offspring, but their interactions as children aren't explored as much as they are as adults.  She wants you to see who they've become as a result of living in the house.

I love the set up of the book.  It feels like a compilation of short stories that are loosely tied together, with the only common thread being that Hattie and August have given birth to them.  With the exception of Alice and Billups, we see very little interaction among the siblings once they leave home.  It's as if Hattie's lack of love spread to them and there's nothing that bonds any of them together.

Part of the great migration to the north, I wonder how much of Hattie's coldness is a reflection of her surroundings.  While her husband, August, longs for the Georgia he remembers, minus Jim Crow, Hattie refuses to even speak its name.  Still, you have to wonder if August lamenting over leaving the south is valid.  Would Hattie have been different, would the children have had different lives, had they been surrounded by paper shell pecans, sweet gum trees, gigantic peaches and neighbors whose names they could recite years later? 

256pp
Published: December 2012
Disclaimer: Copy of book received from publisher, opinions are my own.

 

Theme: A Song for Mama by Boyz II Men

#BookReview: Please Look After Mom - Kyung-Sook Shin

Would it take your mother's disappearance for you to realize how little you knew of her?

"Do you remember asking me a while ago to tell you something that only I knew about Mom? I told you I didn't know Mom.  All I knew was that Mom was missing.  It's the same now.  I especially don't know where her strength came from."

It's not until your wife goes missing that you even see her as your counterpart.

"Before you lost sight of your wife on the Seoul Station subway platform, she was merely your children's mother to you."

"Before she went missing, you spent your days without thinking about her.  When you did think about her, it was to ask her to do something, or to blame her or ignore her.  Habit can be a frightening thing.  You spoke politely with others, but your words turned sullen toward your wife.  Sometimes you even cursed at her.  You acted as if it had been decreed that you couldn't speak politely to your wife. That's what you did."

When 69 year old Park So-nyo goes missing, her husband and her children come to understand how little they knew of her and how much they took her for granted for so long.  Born into poverty, she married a man that she didn't know, or initially love, yet raised five children to become productive members of society.  Yet, like many adult children, she became an afterthought as they became successful, seen as an annoyance by some.

Still, their successes were all built firmly on the foundation that she set for them.  The eldest son for whom she saved and sacrificed to send to school; a younger daughter that was sent off to live with that same son to receive an even better education; the daughter who tries to manage being both a pharmacist and a mother to three, while wondering how Mom managed to raise five children and make it seem so easy and natural.

"Since she went missing, I often think: Was I a good daughter? Could I do the kind of things for my kids she did for me?  I know one thing.  I can't do it like she did.  Even if I wanted to.  When I'm feeding my kids, I often feel annoyed, burdened, as if they're holding on to my ankles.  I love my kids, and I am moved - wondering, did I really give birth to them?  But I can't give them my entire life like Mom did.  Depending on the situation, I act as if I would give them my eyes if they need them, but I'm not Mom."

Over the course of this short read, each member of the family reflects on the role Mom played in his/her life, realizing that not once did they see as anything other than their mother.  And as mothers sometimes do, she downplayed any problems she had the few times that anyone asked.  Ultimately, it's the inability to express her pain (and her family's willingness to overlook it) that leads to the disappearance of Park.

"So why did we think of Mom as a mom from the very beginning?  She didn't have the opportunity to pursue her dreams and, all by herself, faced everything the era dealt her, poverty and sadness, and she couldn't do anything about her very bad lot in life other than suffer through it and get beyond it and live her life to the very best of her ability, giving her body and her heart to it completely.

256pp
Published: April 2011

Theme: Acknowledgement by John Coltrane

#BookReview: Snitch - Booker T. Mattison

One of the codes of the streets is "no snitching."  So when bus driver Andre Bolden sees a man get shot while he's driving his route, he knows that his best bet is to keep his mouth shut.  The problem is, the killer, Clops, saw him and now, whether he snitches or not, he's become a moving target.

A former college football stand out, a run in with the law left Andre expelled from school.  Lying about his criminal conviction on a job application gets him fired.  And his displaced anger and an unwillingness to show emotion have left him without the love of his life and his son.

Snitch is really about a man who is slowly descending to rock bottom.  I wouldn't call it urban lit or Christian lit, though it seemed to have a tinge of both.  I'm not a big fan of either genre, but Mattison keeps it light enough that it doesn't interfere with the overall story telling.

One problem that I did have with the book was the nice and neat way that people were connected and the frequent near misses.  Andre and Clops traveled in different circles, but somebody's grandmother went to church with somebody's girlfriend who was friends with someone's brother, yada yada yada.  Coincidences are fine, but it was just a little too unrealistic.

I was also confused by the ending.  Even now, I'm not quite sure what happened at the end. I went back and re-read it several times and it's still unclear.  Maybe the author's goal was to create a cliffhanger, leaving the door open to a potential sequel.  Um...no.  I was confused enough this go round. I won't be jumping back on that ride any time soon.

290pp
Published: May 2011

 

Theme: Forget I Was a G by The Whitehead Brothers

#BookReview: Pavilion of Women - Pearl S. Buck

Imagine awakening on your fortieth birthday and deciding that you were through performing for others. Their concerns were no longer yours and from that point on you were going to live the life you always envisioned. That's exactly what Madame Wu, the lead character of Pavilion of Women does. How exciting!

I can't count the number of times I've said, "As soon as the kid leaves home, I'm starting life over." Like Madame Wu, I'll be 40 when that happens. Somehow I don't think my decision will have the same consequences.

As a mother of four, Madame Wu has been responsible for tending to her elderly mother-in-law, her simple husband, arranging quality marriages for her eldest sons and overseeing the House of Wu, one of the oldest and most respected families in China. Realizing that she has never really loved her husband and has given to those around without realizing any of her dreams, she makes the decision to step aside.

Moving from the court she shares with her husband to her deceased father-in-law's court sets about finding a suitable concubine for her husband. There's also the matter of her second son's unhappy marriage to be dealt with, along with finding a proper wife for her third son before he falls for her husband's new wife.

When a handsome, foreign priest enters Madame Wu's world, she's pleasantly surprised to find that he may be the perfect person to show her what she's been missing for the first forty years.

I'm a big fan of This Good Earth by Pearl Buck, but hadn't ventured any further into her catalog. I'm mad at myself for waiting so long to do so. I loved this story. Madame Wu is a walking contradiction, but her intentions are good. If you're looking for something out of the norm, this is the book for you.

Originally posted November 13, 2009

#BookReview: PATCHES OF GREY by Roy L. Pickering, Jr.

In a story that at times reminded me of Matty Rich's Straight Out of Brooklyn, Roy L. Pickering, Jr. deftly weaves a coming of age tale of Tony Johnson in Patches of Grey.  And while Pickering could have taken the easy way out and strictly focused on one main character, he takes the time to tell not only Tony's story, but that of his siblings and parents as well, each as fascinating as Tony's.

Tony  is every inner city youth that dreams of making it out, except he doesn't plan to do it by being a rapper or athlete.  He dreams of going to college.  Normally you would expect one's parents to be supportive of that kind of dream, but his father's defeatist attitude weighs heavily upon Tony's shoulders.

Even as Tony walks the straight and narrow, his younger brother CJ is on the path to destruction.  Completely unimpressed with school and what it offers, CJ belongs to a gang.  Somewhere in the middle is their sister Tanya.  At the age of 16, she's obsessed with losing her virginity.

I was intrigued with the fact that the younger brother was the wayward one.  In most books, the older sibling's bad habits lead to the younger sibling's desire to do better.  So it was interesting to see the roles reversed.  On the other hand, it could have been that the parents had more time and were less stressed when raising Tony (and his sister Tanya) and by the time CJ came along, he was left to raise himself.

It's also interesting to note the differences between the relationships that their father shared with Tanya and the boys.  While Tony's relationship with his father is antagonistic at best, Tanya's relationship with him had me wondering if I was reading about a completely different man. No, really. It took me a minute to realize that this belligerent man who berated his oldest child was the same man that coddled his daughter and offered her words of encouragement.

Through Lionel's back story, the reader finds out why he's so hard on his son and how he came to be in the situation he's in.  Undoubtedly, his perceived failures shape the way that he treats Tony.  And while he believes that he's preparing him for the real world and teaching him life lessons, he's slowly losing his son's respect and love.

Aptly named Patches of Grey, Pickering proves that, indeed, life is rarely black or white.

What did you like about this book?
As I mentioned before, I love that everyone in the family has a story to tell and is actually allowed to tell it.

What didn't you like about this book?
Not a thing.  My biggest regret is that it took me so long to move it up on my "to be read" list.

What could the author do to improve this book?
Can't think of a thing.

Published: October 2010

#BookReview: Because of Love - Kyus Philnesta

Police Sergeant Kyle Mackey was dealt a harsh blow when the only woman he had ever loved turned down his marriage proposal. In the three years since Simone Banister walked out of his life, he has spent his time building up his career and saving enough money to buy his dream house. His recent promotion to sergeant and the purchase of his very own mini mansion serve as proof that he’s on the right track and nothing can derail him.

Kyle’s best friend and partner in crime, Tony, is raising his daughter alone following the death of his wife. When this son of a police officer finds himself under investigation for stealing money from criminals, he can’t seem to find a way to break it to Kyle that he’s been implicated in the crime as well.

With the recent purchase of his house and a blooming romance with an office administrator named Lena, Kyle is well on his way to having the perfect life. And then hurricane Simone blows back into town. Kyle’s not sure how she got his number, or what it is she wants, but he’s pretty sure that his Aunt Mary is somehow behind it. Finally agreeing to see Simone, Kyle is shocked to learn what it is she so desperately needs to tell him.

When Simone left town three years ago, she told no one where she was going, not even that she was leaving. She’s only returned because she has a secret to tell and needs help. Fully aware that she crushed his hopes and dreams three years ago, Simone can only hope that Kyle will forgive her enough to help her out now that no one else can.

Helping Simone is the last thing Kyle wants to do. Taking a chance on her could mean losing everything, but especially Lena.

In her first novel, author Kyus Philnesta takes care to present characters to whom the reader can relate. The relationship between both Kyle and Tony and their fathers is one that’s not explored often enough in literature and it was refreshing to read. Readers will also enjoy the interactions of the meddlesome, but lovable Aunt Mary. Overall, I’d say Ms. Philnesta has done pretty well for a fairly new writer.

Though I was unable to find the book for purchase on Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble, it is available on the author’s website: http://www.dauthorkyus.net.

What did you like about the book?
I loved the men’s interactions with their fathers.

What did you dislike about the book?
I didn’t necessarily dislike it, but I felt that the character of Chayill, Tony’s daughter, was underutilized. Mention is made of her, but she really brings nothing to the story line, so as a character she’s unnecessary.

What could the author do to improve this book?
I would suggest better cover art. I wouldn’t take off too many points, because it’s self-published, but perhaps another artist would be helpful in the future.