Red at the Bone: A Novel Hardcover – September 17, 2019

“Iris pressed the cold envelopes and magazine against her lips.I was fifteen, she whispered into them. Fifteen. I wasn’t even anybody yet.”There’s so much love that flows through the pages of Woodson’s latest story, weaving back and forth through time to tell the story of a family through the ages. From Sabe’s story we know the time and place where she grew up, the things she’s seen, the history she’s lived through. All these provide insight into her daughter Iris’s coming future. A future that will include a daughter, a daughter that she will choose to leave behind as she heads off to college, leaving Melody with the father, Aubrey.”Maybe this was the moment when I knew I was part of a long line of almost erased stories. A child of denial. Of magical thinking. Of a time when Iris and my father wanted each other in . . . that way. The something they were so hungry for in each other becoming me.”This story is shared through the views of three generations, including Melody’s parents, and grandparents, sharing each generation’s regrets, fears, and the events that shaped their lives.”You sing the songs you remember from your own childhood. Mama may have. Papa may have . . .You remember your parents living, wrap the ancient photos of Lucille’s Hair Heaven and Papa Joe’s Supper Club pulled from the flames . . . and you rise. You rise. You rise.””So I rose.”Woodson excels in her ability to pull you into the story, between her spare prose, and the unfolding details of the lives of this family, there are many issues she also brings to light. The mother-daughter relationship, identity – as a black woman, as well as in terms of sexuality and orientation, and ambition as well as how economics creates a division of people into categories. Labels that are often difficult to break free from.

The members of "Turning Pages Book Club", felt that this short story had a poetic feel about it with the back and forth from the past to the present telling of events.The highlighting of race, class, generational traditions and educational attainment that families try to keep intact for their children and grandchildren, while also bringing historical events that were in the past such as "The 1921 Tulsa Oklahoma Massacure and 911", which were historical tramatic events.The legacies that each generation leaves for the next generation is important to hold on to, for example,when Melody turns 16 her grandmother(Sabe) and grandfather (Po'Boy) give her a coming out ceremony that is part of their middle class cultural tradition, where you wear all white, dance to an ochestra, dance the "cakewalk,lindy and waltz". Where the honoree recites poetry from a famous poet, such as "Paul Laurence Dunbar". This had cultural middle class values for the grandparents generation, but not the next generation that followed.Melody who is the 16 year old honoree, states her shoes hurt, then her friends all take off their shoes and do their own dance style and her parents (Iris and Aubrey) state," that Melody, will want to recite a rap song" instead of a poem by "Paul Laurence Dunbar". The traditions if not continued soon die out.This was a well written short story about family, traditions, navigating love ,and,education.

this was a tender, vulnerable, beautiful, sweet, wholesome, gutting read

This is my intro to this author’s work and overall, I enjoyed this slice of family saga, multiperson storytelling, novel. This things this novel does beautifully all have to do with the emotion of it. There is complexity of feeling between all the different characters and emotion and relationships and interconnectedness being my favourite things about reading fiction, I liked that. In addition, I think overall, this book did a good job with race especially for multicultural societies where there is an endemic discrimination against black people. Race is a major theme and it’s all black confidence, black excellence, “hey society, the inferiority complex you’re were trying to give me didn’t take.” I also feel like colour and race play a huge role in how people see themselves in this book and their belonging and worthiness, is actually, based on their degree of blackness, as opposed to popular culture where the inverse is true. That said, as much as I enjoyed the discussion of race in this book, I felt that towards the end, the “be true to yourself”-type conclusion that was reached was calling for people to be true to a very specific experience of what is black- in terms of speech or food or loudness or experience or pain that some have felt they need to suppress in order to be successful in society.This is a novel in which “nothing really happens.” It’s not especially action-packed or telling a full on story with a build and a climax and loads of events. It’s a slice of life with a lot of various scenes and flashes that kind of tell a piece of a family’s story. There is a considerable amount flashbacks explaining how the characters got to the point where we meet them, some perspectives on a coming of age celebration, and an aftermath. But this is not one that has a developed story starting at point A and going to point B. The whole thing just hangs around level C. The premise is basically that Melody was born right on the eve of her mother’s (Iris’) coming of age ball (think cotillion) when Iris was 15. Her birth tore apart the dreams and expectations of two families and they look back and reflect on their relationships and love and loss as she (Melody) now celebrates her coming of age ball.There are a couple of interesting style things the author does that I’m not sure of- first, speech is italicized rather than quoted so that you’re left wondering if things are actually said or left unsaid, and whether these scenes are actually happening, or if it’s a sort of collective ancestral memory of this family’s current history. Second, there are 5 narrators and they all pick up and drop the story at different points but the author never tells you who’s who. I mean, reading on, you can kind of eventually figure out whose perspective you’re getting but I didn’t see any reason not to just tell the reader. Also, with the 5 narrators in this length of book, I felt like we only got flashes of their full characters, and I felt very led to put them into certain trope boxes based on the nuggets we were fed- Iris is the fall girl, Aubrey is the angel, the grandparents are pretty much The Cosbys, and we’re barely given anything of Melody enough to form an opinion other than the fact that she’s the hope of success and vindication of a painful family line?If lyrical, poetic storytelling is your jam, this book has loads of that. This in many parts requires reading the sentences over and over to understand the meaning. My preference personally is simplicity and accessibility in art but I could appreciate the lyricism and the flow of this. I feel like however, sometimes there was a disconnect with the lyricism and revelations the characters had versus what they revealed about themselves in their stories. And that if we wanted to be strictly true to the character as opposed to the narrative the author wanted to further for the overall purpose of the book, there was sometimes a divergence. For example, Iris spends most of her own narrative scornful of the “dreams of her ancestors” and mainly wants to leave for school to escape the situation she’s unwittingly gotten herself in, but when the author describes Iris right before she leaves, she makes it look as though Iris is going because she wants to fulfill some ancestral destiny when that is not the case. I feel like sometimes the characters were saying and showing one thing, but the author was telling another lyrically for effect.Okay ultimately did I like this, yes. The style isn’t my favourite, the character development to me wasn’t all it could be, there isn’t much of a story per se. But given all those things, the emotional punch this book packs is EVERYTHING. This author made me feel the emotions of characters I barely knew or even liked. The themes of pain, resilience, survival, succession, love, loss, rebuilding, victory and just pure black magic that survives hurt came through and ultimately this was a really strong, healing, emotional read that I highly recommend.

Wrap yourself with this book. Hold the words tight as Woodson threads life and the painful beauty of blackness in this love story.

Loved reading this book. So well written.

Although short, this book is filled with emotion. It's so well written and leaves you invested in every single character. Jacqueline keeps the narrative tight but expressive so you fully understand and empathize with the situation.Put this on your reading list.

edición hermosa de pasta dura, increible

Jacqueline Woodson and her magnificent ability to convey so much heart in just 196 pages is a read I’ll never forget.Red at the Bone dives into this family’s mosaic history, from 1921 to 2001. The book begins at Melody's coming of age ceremony. She’s 16 years old, surrounded by friends and family, and making her way into the world. The ceremony is a treasured part of her family’s history, taking place in the home of her middle-class grandparents. But Melody's mother, never reached her imperative celebration. And the reason why has affected three generations of family members.Jacqueline Woodson’s writing is remarkably powerful. In my opinion, there’s no other way to interpret it. Her words carry weight and emotion but are formatted in short and smooth sentences. Despite its length, the novel doesn’t feel like a quick read. It has a balanced depth as the reader comes to understand the history, mindset, and make-up of Melody’s family. We get to see her grandparents’ journey, her parents’ journey, and the beginning of hers through a variety of African-American perspectives.Red at the Bone highlights the outlooks of race, class, love, parenthood, desire, and freedom. It’s impossible not to be swept up by the poetic plot. The chapters read like an emotional song, with its compelling highs and crushing lows. It has both joy and mourning, success and misery. Each verse has its own level of passion and intensity, which changes and reshapes as the family does. Every character has their own battle, whether it appears as they grow into adulthood or later in life. And as the story moves back and forth in time, the reader discovers what events shaped its narrators.The novel teaches us how impactful our decisions can be. It may be short in length but is rich in wisdom. And it comes through experiences of the characters, as well as their relationships with others. For example, Sabe’s memory of the Tulsa race massacre, Aubrey’s fierce love for Iris, and Iris’ longing for education and liberty. Every ordeals trickle down to Melody’s perspective in 2001. It’s a vibrant tapestry that can be explored over, and over, and over.Everything about Red at the Bone is impeccable. The spotless prose, the authentic characters, and the diversified presentation of each of its themes. It never feels overcrowded, sluggish, or insignificant.Anika | chaptersofmay.com

El libro me pareció interesante. La historia da mucho de si, pero es tan corto que no da tiempo a profundizar ni en el antes, durante y el después de los personajes. Todo queda muy en el aire. A mi me pareció todo como una pincelada.