Regina Porter

This quietly spectacular debut novel revolves in concentric circles around two white families, two Black families, and the narrows where they intersect. Each chapter builds on the events and the meetings in both earlier and later times. The Vietnam war has its impact, as does infidelity, rape, domestic violence, and parental neglect, but the overwhelming atmosphere is simultaneously solemn and joyous. Settings are as varied as the Bronx, Portsmouth, NH, Berlin, and Buckner Co, Georgia. Characters range from James Joyce scholars to crabmeat pickers to a Black woman pilot. Each coincidence and unlikely meeting comes as a delightful surprise, and each chapter could stand alone magnificently as a short story on its own. A must read.

Quotes:" I remember how still the room was when he died. How the air just left him and there was no difference between his corpse and the metal bed that held it."

"It's like once he says he's leaving he's got to follow through and they are both stuck on stubborn."… (mer)