Book Summary and Reviews of Jam on the Vine by LaShonda Barnett

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Velma M

Jam on the Vine
A very tasty, tasteful,moving story of love, perseverance and tenacity in the early days of the 20th century. Reminded me of my family's dependency on the negro press growing up in Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Kentucky, and Texas.The most consistent things though all the moves was my parents everlasting love for each other, the church, and the Negro press. Newspapers came through the mail, regardless of where we lived. I remember most the Pittsburgh Courier, Norfolk Journal and Guide, and the Kansas City Call. We read about Joe Louis and his wives: Rose Morgan and Marva. I loved reading George Schuyler's column. This novel reminded me of the joys of the newspaper. When my mother and grandmother realized I could read it was a newspaper, the Indianapolis Star. I was 3 and a half years old. So I share Ivoe's love of newspapers from my earliest recollections. I read about lynching in the newspapers, and learned early on not to comment on what I read, because I wouldn't be allowed to read unacceptable materials. So I just keep my ears open and listened to adults talking while I was supposed to be napping. I shared Ivoe's curiosity and secrecy about reading adult business. I was always around books, newspapers and the radio. We all read in bed, on the porch, in the bathroom, in the kitchen and dining room after dinner. I feel humbled knowing how blessed I was, not like Ivoe,who had to take advantage of discarded newspapers. Reading transported me to foreign places like the Pacific theater, where my father was stationed in the army. This novel articulated so many of my feelings about reading and writing and being an African American woman in racist, prejudiced, America, Land of the free. Thanks be to God for Dr. Barnett's tribute to the human spirit.

Betty Taylor

Portrait of Life in Jim Crow America
This is a very honest look at life for a black woman trying to be a journalist in the US in the early 20th century.

Even in her childhood Ivoe is fascinated with newspapers. She steals every one she can from her mother’s white employer. The written word is her escape from the poverty she lives in. She becomes determined to fulfill her obsession with journalism. Her excellent writing and grades gain her a scholarship. She excels in journalism at the school. But when she applies for jobs she finds herself “overqualified. Her potential employers cannot see beyond her skin color.

The writing in most of the book sets the scene so perfectly. Some of the sayings are delightful. When a woman asks Lemon, Ivoe’s mother, if she knows Annie Faye, Lemon replies with “We’ve howdyed but we ain’t never shook.” And then there is “Every time I stand up, my mind sits down.” And when Roena, Lemon’s daughter-in-law, says she regrets marrying Timbo, Lemon tells “Can’t put the rain back in the sky.” I love that!

The characters are down to earth and seem so real. Life is hard for them but they keep on battling the poverty and discrimination they encounter every day of their lives. They do whatever it takes to support their families. Lemon makes jam and prepares vegetables for the community; her husband, Ennis goes off with the plan to make money and have his join him later.

The author describes the minor transgressions that get mostly the black men (but some women too) thrown into jail. The conditions of those jails are deplorable. It nauseated me to even read about them.

When Ivoe continues to find herself unable to break into journalism, her lover and the community encourage her to start her own black newspaper. It was interesting to read how they went about doing it, and the resistance they encountered.

The last chapter was a real disappointment to me. It seemed as though Ms. Barnett had a vast amount of research she had not gotten into the book. So in the last chapter it is all thrown in there. The chapter is rushed, disconnected, and preachy. It was a truly disappointing end to an otherwise wonderfully written novel