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Reviews tagging 'Child death'
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
46 reviews
kelly_e's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Author: Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Genre:
Rating: 5.00
Pub Date:
T H R E E • W O R D S
Sweeping • Tender • Rewarding
📖 S Y N O P S I S
The great scholar, W. E. B. Du Bois, once wrote about the Problem of race in America, and what he called "Double Consciousness," a sensitivity that every African American possesses in order to survive. Since childhood, Ailey Pearl Garfield has understood Du Bois’s words all too well. Bearing the names of two formidable Black Americans—the revered choreographer Alvin Ailey and her great grandmother Pearl, the descendant of enslaved Georgians and tenant farmers—Ailey carries Du Bois’s Problem on her shoulders.
Ailey is reared in the north in the City but spends summers in the small Georgia town of Chicasetta, where her mother’s family has lived since their ancestors arrived from Africa in bondage. From an early age, Ailey fights a battle for belonging that’s made all the more difficult by a hovering trauma, as well as the whispers of women—her mother, Belle, her sister, Lydia, and a maternal line reaching back two centuries—that urge Ailey to succeed in their stead.
To come to terms with her own identity, Ailey embarks on a journey through her family’s past, uncovering the shocking tales of generations of ancestors—Indigenous, Black, and white—in the deep South. In doing so Ailey must learn to embrace her full heritage, a legacy of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience that is the story—and the song—of America itself.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois has sat untouched on my shelf for far too long simply because of its sheer size. A yearly reading challenge prompt ('read a 600+ page book') forced my hand and I couldn't be more grateful! This is proof that I shouldn't leave big books sitting on my shelf.
This novel is a long journey, but it was worth every single minute. Following the sweeping history of one American family over centuries of the colonial slave trade, through the Civil War, to our own tumultuous era. It's a work of fiction, yet these characters felt so real. So alive. I was rooting for their victories and sympathized with their pain. Ailey (the main story teller) is researching her families history and I was along for the ride. My heart felt for Lydia as well. These two sister's weaved their way into my brain even when I wasn't reading.
The writing is absolutely beautiful and layered. It was easy to read 100 pages in one sitting without noticing the passage of time. The family history is interwoven seamlessly with the modern timeline. The narrative certainly tackles a lot - race, history, identity, privilege, intersectionality, identity, culture, womanhood and shared trauma - and yet it all comes together so flawlessly.
This book is one for the ages - equal parts compelling and moving. Although lengthy it easily could have been longer. The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is an experience all of its own. It's demanding, challenging, and incredibly well-researched. I will be finding a special place for this one on my favourites bookshelf. Definitely check out content warnings beforehand as this is no easy journey and being in the right headspace is necessary.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• lovers of the family saga
• readers who love beautiful writing
• bookclubs
🔖F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Even in a place of sorrow, time passes. Even in a place of joy. Do not assume that either keeps life from continuing."
"But first you got to get out of the library sometimes and meet somebody, 'cause it ain't legal to marry books."
"These are the incongruities of memory. It is hard to hold on to the entirety of something, but pieces may be held up to light."
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
colourism, overdoseari76's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
That being said, I had qualms. It was a humungous undertaking to write about this family from its relative beginning to the 21st century, and especially big when you consider the time skips and revelations. I commend Jeffers for bringing in the details at every stage and I enjoyed some of the writing that reflected every period. I /learned/ a lot through the book. However, those choices also resulted in me getting lost in the broader narrative, especially after having Ailey as the primary narrator (and using "I") for a while then switching back to the omniscient perspective. I found myself playing catch-up, and at times feeling a little frustrated without a family tree and with a focus on broader events. I appreciated that Jeffers made family was implicated in broader Black US history, but I feel like we didn't get to see the arc pay off within the family itself at the cost of these connections and perhaps a true timeline of a life. The eras alone were cool to see but also....I could've left more space for the familial processing of the gravity of what happened. That frustration boiled over a bit at the end when Ailey's
As you can tell by the review, this book brings up so many thoughts for me, and for that, I'm grateful. There was so much that I wanted and I have to remind myself, so much that Jeffers wanted to give.
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Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
bugzecat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism
permanme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Genocide, Abortion, and Alcohol
cuddlygryphon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Blood, Abortion, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Police brutality and Religious bigotry
wonderwoman11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Child death
ruffian23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism
mshusky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The historical sections were interesting (although too much sexual violence reported almost in passing with little effort to show the impact on the survivors or the community). The more contemporary main storyline of the very immature, precocious, Ailey and her romances was lengthly and not engaging. As a coming of age story I found I was largely uninterested in her growth or her ridiculous reasonings for her prickly and almost combative realations with her school/undergraduate peers.
That is until about the 550 page mark when the book started to tie together all the threads, Ailey finally gained some maturity and the emotional resonance that was missing from the first chunk of the novel was delivered (especially in the historical scenes). At that point I found I could not put the book down.
The character of Root was fasciating, and I did want to know what happened to Nick, but for such a sprawling choppy work the author did a great job in tying up so many threads at the conclusion of the novel.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Colonisation
sidekicksam's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This book deserves all the praise it gets, because it is magnificent.
As a child of mixed-heritage, as well as experiencing the effects of multi-generational trauma still, this book really hit different. The book portrays the 200-year story of this family, affected by the various events and consequences of history, so eloquently. With themes of multi-generational trauma, racism, colonialism, and more, this book is a must-read.
The large cast of characters and the non-chronological order of the book makes it a bit more difficult to follow (especially because I couldn't read it in one go), but I am looking forward to reading this again in the future and discovering new things to love.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Slavery
leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury