Reviews

Tomorrow's Bread by Anna Jean Mayhew

randis724's review against another edition

4.0

This was a quick read that offered some insight into a local story that I have heard of for years. The characters were likable and it gives the reader lots to think about.

tiffany_o's review against another edition

3.0

It took me a while to figure out that there were 3 perspectives in this book. I enjoyed that the setting was Charlotte, and that it depicted a fictional history about the Brooklyn neighborhood and urban renewal. It was a solid book, but slow at times.

moriahtsharpe's review against another edition

5.0

As a native Charlottean, I enjoyed reading about an aspect of local history that I did not learn about in school. Tomorrow's Bread explores the impact of urban renewal on the residents of Brooklyn, a Black neighborhood located in what is now Second Ward. I was fascinated by the descriptions of places like Memorial Stadium, McDowell Street, and Trade and Tryon, places with which I am familiar but that looked very different during the 1960s than they do today. Mayhew uses three characters to trace the unrelenting march of urban renewal through Brooklyn: Loraylee (a young Black mother living with her family in Brooklyn), Eben (the pastor of a Brooklyn church marked for demolition), and Persy (the wife of the white urban planner leading the urban renewal project). I found the story compelling and enjoyed getting to know the wide cast of characters, especially getting to see how the narrators' lives overlapped in various ways (there are explicit ways all three narrators enter each others' lives, and there are more subtle ways, like

Spoiler

Loraylee's family using Alexander as a name handed down by their ancestors and Persy also having Alexander ancestry, suggesting a link between the Black and white Alexanders

). I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Black history and the history of Charlotte.

nikkilynn13903's review against another edition

4.0

4.5

svwvs's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

tam08081983's review against another edition

4.0

A pretty good story set in the 1960s when racism was very apparent and appalling. The only issue I had was keeping all the characters straight and timelines however, it was a good read.

mysterymom40's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy and Classism

gentrification, colorism, sexuality, an interracial relationship

southern_librarian's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

CML 2022 Community Read adult selection. Theme: Finding Home (gentrification). An engaging, enjoyable, moving slice-of-life book. Good audio narration.

kj45165's review against another edition

Too many different timelines and characters with no clear distinction in changing perspective, person, or time. 

heledela's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25