Jacqueline Woodson’s Red at the Bone is one of the most beautiful books I have read this year. And also heartbreaking.
What Woodson can accomplish in less than 200 pages others would attempt (and fail) at double that. She has become one of my favorite authors and I cannot read her materials quickly enough.
I had the book in my paws but noticed the Libby app had the Red at the Bone audiobook available. Once I started listening, I’m so glad I had the different narrators to set the tone for each chapter. The actors and Woodson herself added such a depth to each side of the story and kept me straight in this complicated family web.
Red at the Bone weaves in the perspectives of five members of a family over many decades. There are so many heavy hitters here: the American Dream, racism, sexual questioning, teen pregnancy, death, poverty. How Woodson does this, I don’t know. But jeeeeez, she is talented.
Here is the family line-up. I had to make a fam diagram.
PO’BOY and SABE ->IRIS + AUBREY ->MELODY
Well, when I write it out, it’s not all too complicated. When there are that many perspectives plus a narrator, my mom brain needs a little lift after my caffeine fizzles out and I’m telling you, the audiobook.
Iris and Aubrey get pregnant during high school. This is a big disappointment to Po’Boy and Sabe. Iris discovers she needs to be anywhere but home. Be anyone but mom. Doesn’t want to be defined by this life event. Aubrey, however, eagerly takes on his role as dad. He doesn’t need more the way Iris does.
Melody develops a deep relationship with her father and grandparents. She calls her mom by her first name.
Sabe shares the horror of the Tulsa Massacre. Po’Boy shares his start of his career. The two of them share heartache and life together before Iris arrives in the world. Together they work harrrrrrd to create a good life.
Woodson lets us peer into the complicated world of a family who only wants the best for the younger generations. I think we can all share that desire. She so eloquently shows that you can’t make your heart want something.
If you haven’t read any of Jacqueline Woodson’s books yet, make this your first. Followed by Brown Girl Dreaming. You’re welcome.