Summary Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson is a book about family and identity. Eleanor Bennett was married with two children who despite being several years apart were very close as…
Category: <span>Book Reviews</span>
“The Grim Sleeper: The Lost Women of South Central” by Christine Pelisek details the investigation that led to the arrest of Lonnie Franklin, a serial killer dubbed the Grim Sleeper. At the time, South Central was a neighborhood that grappled with low incomes, employment instability, drug addiction, and the crime that often accompanies those social issues. Deaths did not receive the same level of attention or scrutiny as they might have in other communities. For decades Franklin took advantage of that neglect as he prowled South Central Los Angeles attacking and murdering Black women with seeming impunity.
“The Revisioners” by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton tells the story of two Black women dealing with racial tension during different time periods. Josephine’s story jumps back and forth between her enslavement as a child and being a free woman with grown children in the post Civil War years. As an adult, Jospehine married a man with whom she was able to acquire some property and achieve financial independence though it later sparks jealousy in White neighbors who are less fortunate. Ava is a biracial woman raising her son as a single mother in present-day New Orleans. She’s experienced some setbacks and in hopes of improving her financial situation to offer her son a better life, Ava agrees to move in with her White grandmother. While loving at times, her grandmother is a study in microaggressions and has episodes that hint at the prejudiced views she held and could more openly express in her younger years.
“Island on Fire: The Revolt That Ended Slavery in the British Empire” by Tom Zoellner recounts Samuel Sharpe’s rebellion in Jamaica and how it led to the abolishment of slavery. The book delves into the structure of Jamaica’s system of slavery and the experiences of the enslaved. There’s an in-depth explanation of Jamaican society with regard to culture but there’s also the island’s economics.
“Queenie” by Candice Carty-Williams is a novel about a young Black woman in her mid-20s who was born and raised in London. The story follows her through the ups and downs of a year of her life, much of it spurred on by her relationship drama and personal issues.