I don’t know if I told you but I didn’t have the best luck with books last year. I just didn’t. When I picked up this book, I was immediately thrown into this world Sarai Johnson created and I knew I would be the better for it. Oh what a book. Grown Women covers fifty years of relationship across four generations of Black women, navigating the complexity of motherhood and daughterhood, and insidious generational trauma that spares none of them. We first meet Charlotte, and her stoicism and penchant for self destruction cues you in that something isn't right. Then we meet Corinna, Charlotte's daughter and her desperation to be invisible, her constant tentativeness and the complicated relationship between the two of them sets the stage for us to meet the other points of this thread: first Corinna's own daughter, Camille, who is finally a glimmer of hope in this heartbreaking tale of womanhood, and later, Charlotte's mother who seems menacing but is where we find answers for all the hurt spilling out of this book.
I enjoyed this book so much that even the dizzying timeline and multiple points of view did not bother me one bit. Last year, I watched Jessie Woo's video talking about the complex feelings a lot of women have as it relates to their daughter. Simply put, a lot of women do not like their daughters, at least not in the way they love their sons. I talked about it here just briefly and I said everyone who is a daughter and who has a daughter should watch or listen to that. There is a lot to unpack about the inherent burden and resentment that sits in between too many mothers and daughters. This book captures it so beautifully. You feel the hurt, the anger, the dysfunction, the resentment. Something about how Sarai writes this book that doesn't want you to just automatically will it all away. Instead, you're interested in them unpacking it, going through it, surviving it, and healing from it. I think you sense the love, raw and crass, and much purer when Camille comes along. Sarai depicts these imperfect, deeply flawed Black women (all four of them. Cos chilee, I had my problem with Camille too) and reminds you that forgiveness is so much more for yourself that it is for the other person; that forgiveness is recurrent; that forgiveness is a choice, a tough decision.
"We move not on but forward."
I couldn't recommend this book more.
As far as what I didn't like, I already hinted it a bit: the alternative points of view and the timeline almost got complicated but honestly, it didn't get in the way of the story. What made it worse was that all the main characters' names start with a C. I imagined it seemed like a unique creative endeavor but whew, it almost become confusing. Admittedly, some stories did feel a little repetitive, and perhaps a few pages too long.
So you should definitely read this book and let me know what you think!
And that's about this for this month's Book of the Month. This one was a long time going. Look at all that snow in the background of the photo, ha!
Love,
I
