Search This Blog
April Reviews Link-Up
May Reviews Link-Up
June Reviews Link-Up
July Reviews Link-Up
August Reviews Link-Up
September Reviews Link-Up
October Reviews Link-Up
November Reviews Link-Up
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (1)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia (1)
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (5)
- France (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Scotland (1)
- The Netherlands (1)
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Thursday, October 03, 2019
Historical Gentrification Novel Intimate and Poignant
7:11 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
To outsiders, it may look like a grungy, aging slum. To others, Brooklyn—a mostly Black community in Charlotte, North Carolina—is a vibrant, colorful neighborhood full of good folks, long-time residents whose families have lived, loved and died in the close-knit area. When the city decides to raze Brooklyn, the community erupts. Despite promises of new housing and the relocation of businesses, local families know nothing will ever be the same for them. It may have its problems, but Brooklyn is their home. Losing it will change their lives irrevocably.
Tomorrow's Bread by Anna Jean Mayhew is told from three viewpoints—that of Loraylee Hawkins, a single mom who must keep her relationship with her child's white father a secret; Ebenezer Polk, the aging reverend of Brooklyn's St. Timothy's Second Presbyterian Church; and Persy Marshall, the sympathetic wife of one of the white men in charge of "redeveloping" the community. Through their eyes, the reader comes to know Brooklyn in all its variety and its people in all their complexity. With this intimate knowledge, the reader really feels the tragedy of the neighborhood's demise. Based on real events, the story brings the conflicts and controversy surrounding gentrification to life. That's the beauty of Tomorrow's Bread. The novel doesn't have much of a plot and the storyline it does have is at times disjointed, confusing, and slow, making the read a bit of a slog. In the end, then, I liked this one but didn't love it.
(Readalikes: Hm, I can't think of anything. Can you?)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence, mild sexual content, and depictions of illegal drug use
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
4 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Reading
Listening
Followin' with Bloglovin'
-
Time Travel Thursday5 hours ago
-
THE ROMANOV BRIDES Blog Tour7 hours ago
-
American Zion7 hours ago
-
-
Digging Up Trouble by Kitt Crowe9 hours ago
-
-
Love on Camera12 hours ago
-
-
-
-
The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro16 hours ago
-
Mistimed Meal: A Review of Vampire Fly16 hours ago
-
The Silver Swan: Benjamin Black22 hours ago
-
A Death in Denmark - Amulya Malladi23 hours ago
-
-
-
Thank you1 day ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
One in the Chamber by Robin Peguero2 days ago
-
Top 5 Tuesday ~ Female Authors2 days ago
-
What's up?2 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
Review: Beartown1 week ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?5 months ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra9 months ago
-
-
-
Sundays with Sam – The Sunday Post11 months ago
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ▼ 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ► 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)
Sounds good. I've seen some of this going on in Houston and I often wonder what happens to all the people being displaced in the name of progress. I have some friends who have been here all their lives, and what they describe about Houston in the "old days" is totally unrecognizable these days. I can tell they miss the old neighborhoods a lot.
ReplyDeleteIf you had raved about this one I would have given it a try, but life is too short for a book that's a bit of a slog.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like it has a lot of premise and maybe at a different time it'd be one I'd pick up but a slog really isn't appealing to me right now so I think I'll pass.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like such an interesting premise, too bad the execution didn't live up that. Interesting that it's based on a true story.
ReplyDelete