When I read the title, I immediately thought of Alvin Ailey..
..but having now read this marvelous first novel by an up and coming star..I have a totally different prospective..
A captivating and vivid portrait of our turbulent past, present, and characters that will stay
…more with you. Opening in the summer of 1982, deep in Mississippi, you meet 11 year old Ella, aware but still naive to the world outside her fairly insular black community. Jump back to 1955,
Philadelphia, Mississippi and meet Kate, a privileged white girl living a totally different lifestyle. We watch as the years progress through the turbulent 60s and Kate's prejudices grow as she ages and is influenced by her bigoted father and community. We are reminded of the horrific news that greeted us too many times on the news depending on where in this country you lived.
By the 80s these two will cross paths. Ella, no stranger to prejudice within her own family and community combined with her community elders' mutual distrust of the opposite race comes face to face with a thoroughly reinvented Kate. Now known as Katherine, perhaps trying to atone for the sins of the past, she has the temerity to enter Ella's world. Posing as a researcher, PhD candidate, then as teacher and mentor, she must also confront her well hidden demons. This is also a coming of age story in many ways as Ella's tries to navigate her family and her own community as her awareness grows as to her role in life.
Vivid characters and voices abound. Our past is not always so distant.
The truth will always surface and how we handle it helps us to grow,
The author knows these voices. Her characters leap off the page, her descriptions are straight out of newsreel, newspapers,and are very cinematic. I could not put this down once I started. As ugly as our past was, it's important to be reminded. (less)
