A review of “The Darkest Child” by Delores Phillips, a novel about a preteen coming of age in a dysfunctional home and community with dreams of escaping both by obtaining an education.
Tag: <span>family saga</span>
“The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives” by Lola Shoneyin is a novel about a polygamous Nigerian man, Baba Segi who has four wives and seven children. The household was stable and had a steady rhythm until the arrival of the fourth wife, Bolanle. When she joins the household her being younger and more educated than the other women incites their jealousy which leads to them plotting and scheming to get her out. Her position is made even more precarious as her and the baby-obsessed Baba Segi struggle to conceive a child which leads to some big family revelations.
“Soul Food” is a 1997 George Tillman Jr. drama about the Joseph family’s descent into dysfunction after the matriarch goes into a coma. The story is told through the eyes of the eldest grandchild, Ahmad, who serves as the film’s narrator. Josephine “Big Mama” Joseph and her three daughters gather with their families on Sundays and holidays to share a good meal. The tradition serves to keep them close while their sibling rivalries, meddling, and their raggedy Cousin Faith threaten to push them apart.
“The Vanishing Half” is a novel by Brit Bennett about twin sisters who leave their small all-Black Louisiana town in search of new lives. Events occur which separate the sisters and lead them on individual journeys. One sister eventually returns home seeking safety from the danger she has found in the world. The other remains lost to the town as she seeks refuge from traumatizing events from her childhood which motivates her to pass as a White woman and obtain the safety of upper-class society.