Synopsis: Moving forward and backward in time, Jacqueline Woodson's taut and powerful new novel uncovers the role that history and community have played in the experiences, decisions, and relationships of these families, and in the life of the new child.
As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer: Melody's mother, for her own ceremony-- a celebration that ultimately never took place.
Unfurling the history of Melody's parents and grandparents to show how they all arrived at this moment, Woodson considers not just their ambitions and successes but also the costs, the tolls they've paid for striving to overcome expectations and escape the pull of history. As it explores sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, Red at the Bone most strikingly looks at the ways in which young people must so often make long-lasting decisions about their lives--even before they have begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be.
Review: Red at the Bone was really interesting. The story doesn't focus on a single character. Instead, every chapter focuses on a different character at a different stage of their life. In that way, I can't really talk about specific character. Instead, it felt like this entire family was the character, and the different family members were just layers to the character. I loved seeing how all of the family members were and the things they loved. I was particularly interested in Melody and Iris, mostly because I wanted to see how similar their paths in life ended up. I was pleasantly surprised that Jacqueline Woodson didn't make Red at the Bone into a, "Melody doesn't listen to her mother so she falls into the same traps" scenario. Seeing Melody's relationship with Malc was beautiful, and I just wished we got a little bit more from that. Honestly, I was a little bummed that I was having a hard time distinguishing between characters in each chapter, but thinking of all the family members being a single character helped a lot.
There isn't really a plot that moves this story forward. The entire book is about sex and relationships as it is seen in African-American communities. If you don't like reading about sex, then skip this book. There aren't very many scenes that I would consider graphic, but we do get to see characters experience what sex is like with someone you love versus someone you don't love. I really appreciated that dynamic. Jacqueline Woodson did a great job of making a clear distinction between love and sexual desire. I will say that there are references to September 11, 2001 but it didn't hit home the way it was probably supposed to. That could just be a me problem though.
Beautiful story where a family struggles with love and sex.
4 howls
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