A review by schinko94
Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn by Karen McCarthy Brown

5.0

This book was absolutely wonderful, and deepened my understanding of Vodou tremendously. Mama Lola, since the time that the book was written, has become one of the most important Haitian-American spiritual leaders in the diaspora, and this book is a stunning account of her life. My only criticism is that, since this book is first and foremost an ethnography, the author is sometimes a bit too analytical. She has to be, because she is an academic, but too much analysis takes away from the orthopracitcal core of Vodou. It is a religion that depends more on what a person does rather than what he or she believes in, and this notion gets somewhat lost when the author expounds her thoughts on spiritual matters. However, on the whole, this book is very good, easy-to-read, and highly enjoyable.