Red at the Bone

Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Literary
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 208
Source: Local Public Library
Publisher: Riverhead Books
First Published: September 17, 2019
Opening Lines: But that afternoon there was an orchestra playing. Music filling the brownstone.

Book Description from GoodReads: Moving forward and backward in time, Jacqueline Woodson's taut and powerful new novel uncovers the role that history and community have played in the experiences, decisions, and relationships of these families, and in the life of the new child.

As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer: Melody's mother, for her own ceremony-- a celebration that ultimately never took place.

Unfurling the history of Melody's parents and grandparents to show how they all arrived at this moment, Woodson considers not just their ambitions and successes but also the costs, the tolls they've paid for striving to overcome expectations and escape the pull of history. As it explores sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, Red at the Bone most strikingly looks at the ways in which young people must so often make long-lasting decisions about their lives--even before they have begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be.

My Rating: 2.5 stars

My Review: I have, of course, heard of Jacqueline Woodson but for some reason, hadn't yet read any of her work. After reading the blurb of this book and how it focuses on several big and pertinent issues (race, unwanted pregnancy, class, parenting, love …), I quickly got my hands on a copy. I also liked that this was a short book with short chapters. All in all, it seemed to be a great pick for me but sadly, and a little surprisingly, this book and I didn't connect.

It's a short book but it felt like a short story (not my favorite genre) and while there are some interesting characters and issues raised, they weren't given enough depth to be satisfying. Different narrators take up the story in each chapter, but readers are left to figure out who is speaking, which was confusing, frustrating and a little exhausting. The story itself is quite slow and while some readers have labelled this book as 'too depressing', I found that it didn't evoke much emotion in me, nor did I connect with the characters. Not a great feeling after looking forward to this book.

I'm glad I read this book because I now know Woodson's lyrical style of writing (which will help when I advise my library customers who enjoy that style), but I'm going to chalk this one up as 'it just wasn't for me'. This book has received rave reviews from others so take my review with a grain of salt - literary, lyrically written books just aren't my thing.