Memphis

Adult fiction 

     I gave myself an early Christmas present.  I borrowed Tara M. Stringfellow's Memphis from the library and discovered an amazing debut novel by an extremely talented author.  It's this kind of experience that keeps me reviewing at times when logic and a hectic schedule have me debating quitting blogging.

     Joan (10), her little sister, Mya (7), and their mother, Miriam, makeup covering the evidence of a beating, have just driven from North Carolina to Memphis, Tennessee to join Miriam's little sister, August, and her son, Derek, in the family home.  

"The house looked living.  Mama squeezed my hand as the three of us gazed up at it, our bleary exhaustion no match for the animated brightest before us.

     'Papa Myron selected and placed each stone of the house's foundation himself,' she whispered to me and Mya.  'With the patience and diligence of a man deep in love.'"

     As they step on the house's vibrant front porch, Joan pulls out her ever present pocket sketchbook and rummages for a piece of charcoal.  Miriam tells her, "Not now."  Art is a bone of contention between them.  Joan loves drawing and sees art as her vocation.  Miriam writes it off as a pipe dream for a Black girl.  Jaded from the dissolution of her own marriage, she believes that her daughters must have careers that will enable them to earn a good living...

     ...for when the men they marry show their true colors.  I grew up hearing that refrain from my white mother, especially during my acting phase.  I guess some experiences run deep enough to transcend color, place, era...

     ...But Joan is only one of the narrators of this three generational narrative.  Readers become familiar with:

     *Miriam who must balance parenting with a grueling schedule of nursing school, practice experience, and a job to help cover some of the girls' and her expenses;

     *August, who had just gotten by as a two person household on her earnings from her in home beauty salon and suddenly has three more people and a very large dog to provide for.  Plus she has divided loyalties.  On an earlier visit Derek had raped then three-year-old Joan.

     *Matriarch Hazel, the woman for whom the house was built who lost her beloved Myron before the death of her first child.  Myron had just become the police's first Black detective.  His death was no in-the-line-of-work accident;

     and *some of the long term neighbors who play vital roles in their lives.

     Memphis engages the reader by being humble and unassuming and profound and thought provoking at the same time.  It develops universal themes within the context of a very specific place and time.  

     I can't wait to see what Stringfellow comes up with next.

On a purrrsonal note, I spent several days last week running errands in Orono.  I went to the Black Bear Exchange where, in addition to good food, I got a Hannaford gift card.  The same day in the mail I got another in a Christmas card.  I made a library run.  No surprise there, right?  I stopped at the Orono Thrift Shop when they were giving all Christmas stuff away.  Such a lovely tradition!  My church had a Santa closet which is a cupboard and bins where people can take donated gifts for free.  With the bus not running on Saturdays it was a struggle to get one real gift to give each family member in addition to money.  I still didn't have anything for Eugene.  Much to my delight I saw a set of four good quality coffee mugs with camping related sayings still unwrapped.  I'd seen similar sets at a sporting goods store last summer and wanted to buy one for his anniversary gift.  Way out of my league price wise.

When I have my degree and a salaried job I am going to be able to Christmas splurge on my loved ones for the first time ever.  And I know that's not the meaning of the season.  Gonna do it anyway.  (Jules)

I love Christmas.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to our beloved family.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

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