In five words: secrets, Caribbean, sprawling, water, heritage
This was a library book club pic that I had heard of (due to the Hulu adaptation) and found it to be intriguing and unique, if also a bit uneven. It’s a story of the gnarled knots and hidden corners of a family tree, and the lengths people will go to protect those they love.
After a Thanksgiving Day family blowout, the Bennett family was on rocky ground. Benny, upset at her parents reception to a big proclamation, walked out that day to tend to her emotional wounds, always entending to make amends, hoping that they would make the first move. When her father dies and she doesn’t attend the funeral, her brothers heart is hardened and Byron decides he can’t reach out, even as their mother Eleanore’s health declines. Time passes. He doesn’t call Benny until it’s too late, and now at the start of the novel Benny is home for her mother’s funeral and together they hear their mother’s last request: that the two of them listening to a recording she made, together, and learn of their family legacy. They learn that all is not what it seems, in fact, nothing is as it seems, their mother having hidden secrets of her identity and past until it was too late. She has sacrificed both for herself and for family. They learn why she and their father never talk about or want to revisit their roots, and other jaw-dropping surprises.
What came up frequently at book club (other than the word “secrets” which made the round three times) was that this was a debut novel that could have done with a bit of editing and tightening up. One point of confusion was the overabundance of names (and nicknames) that started with the letter B, which made it difficult to keep characters and timelines straight.
The novel jumps from the past to the present, as we learn of Eleanore’s life before her children. At the same time, we are discovering all the many secrets everyone in this family has kept from each other, and sometimes even themselves, as they wrestle with identity and belonging in a world that wants to keep Black Americans in check. Wilkerson situates this story fimly in the present in a post “Black Lives Matter” America where little has changed and Black Americans still must fear violence and experience micro and macro racial aggression. This is a book about the things that go unsaid when you are trying to protect those around you but also protect yourself from having to face hard truths. It’s about having to wrestle with and live with the consequences of your own decisions. It’s a complex and winding story and I’m glad I read it.
Also, Wilkerson did a few unique things at the end of the book: she shares Eleanor’s recipe for the titular black cake (which of course, has no measurements and a lot of “to taste” as is commone with family recipes) and even a playlist for the different characters. The playlist was something I haven’t seen often, and the inclusion of “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi for both Byron and Benny (but each of them liking different versions of the song) was clever, and totally aligned with the characters.