I've been anticipating Nancy Johnson's debut for a long time, and it did not disappoint.
The book opens in Chicago, where Ruth and her husband are celebrating election night 2008. In the days that follow, discussions about starting a family resurrect a secret Ruth has withheld from her husband their whole relationship. When she shares it, it doesn't go well, and she ends up returning—without her husband—to her small-town Indiana home to try to seek out the child she gave up for adoption as a teenager.
For me, it was when she reached her home town that Ruth’s story really began to sing. Throughout the Chicago sequence, I had the sense that Ruth felt she didn’t quite belong, despite having achieved everything she and her family ever wanted for her. When she goes home, she’s facing conflict on every side—but you can sense that she’s doing the hard work of digging down to the essence and finding—and more importantly, reconciling with—her past self.
As a white woman, it’s hard for me to offer any commentary on the interracial themes Johnson addresses. Much of the story is universal. The parts that are not are so far outside my experience; I am simply grateful for the engaging story that lets me see things I wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to see. She does a masterful job breaking stereotypes and showing the push and pull between characters white and Black, uneducated and highly educated and aspiring to be educated, and showing that when stuff hits the fan, nobody walks away unscathed. We are all in this together. You couldn’t find a better lesson for our time.
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Popular Highlights in this book
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t forgive her. To him death was just another way people broke their promises. A way for them to leave and have the last word.Highlighted by 143 Kindle readers- Ruth wondered if every woman harbored a secret tucked away in her heart, a cross she carried all alone.Highlighted by 139 Kindle readers
- For her, love had always been about holding on too tight. She could never get the grip just right.Highlighted by 120 Kindle readers
- Ownership. Not ownership of each other as partners but of themselves, their identities, their place in the world.Highlighted by 108 Kindle readers
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Top reviews from other countries
KB
Engrossing
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2021Verified Purchase
Caprecia
a nice taste of different
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2024Verified Purchase
Amberly Robertson
Great book
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2024Verified Purchase
Pat
regrets and forgiveness
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2023Verified Purchase
Amazon Customer
Coming home can change everything
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2023Verified Purchase
