A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR “A spectacular novel that only this legend can pull off.” -Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST, in The Atlantic “An exquisite tale of family legacy….The power and poetry of Woodson’s writing conjures up Toni Morrison.” – People “In less than 200 sparsely filled pages, this book … – People
“In less than 200 sparsely filled pages, this book manages to encompass issues of class, education, ambition, racial prejudice, sexual desire and orientation, identity, mother-daughter relationships, parenthood and loss….With Red at the Bone, Jacqueline Woodson has indeed risen — even further into the ranks of great literature.” – NPR
“This poignant tale of choices and their aftermath, history and legacy, will resonate with mothers and daughters.” –Tayari Jones, bestselling author of AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE, in O Magazine
An unexpected teenage pregnancy pulls together two families from different social classes and explores their histories – reaching back to the Tulsa race massacre of 1921 — and exposes the private hopes, disappointments, and longings that can bind or divide us from each other, from the New York Times-bestselling and National Book Award-winning author of Another Brooklyn and Brown Girl Dreaming.
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 family – reaching back to the Tulsa race massacre in 1921 — 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.
more
Woodson is part magician as she weaves a multi-generational story in sparse sentences and chapters. Red at the Bone is a quick yet profound read that builds unexpectedly to a moving conclusion. I was interested in every point of view but I did wish that I got to know each character more deeply. The book brings you into each character’s confidence and then asks you to move on. Plain and simple, I wanted more – more backstory, more dialogue, more scenes and more character development – yet I still marvel at how much we did learn and feel as we follow the young protagonists’ journey. I highly recommend this book!
A very complex story with characters that are both inspiring and troubled. It tells the story of the interconnection between three generations, seen in relation to the life of a teenager. The emotional ups and downs between the teenager Melody and her mother Iris is both thought provoking and caring, with each character standing firm to their life beliefs. I really enjoyed this book.
Beautiful book!
I think this is the most beautifully written book I’ve read all year. It’s definitely one of my favorites. I’m usually not a huge fan of novellas and short novels but this was a giant exception to that rule. I felt all the feels, all in a matter of a couple hundred pages; I laughed out loud, I cried, I got angry, sad and overjoyed. And the audiobook is wonderful! Bahni Turpin is one of my all time favorite narrators, I discovered her while listening to Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, and she does just as good reading literary fiction as she did playing a zombie-fighter. Another wonderful narrator— that I now need to hear more of—is Peter Francis James, reading the part of Po’Boy (who also narrates the audible version of Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King, a book that I have and will now be listening to very soon just to hear him read again). Jacqueline Woodson has a way with words that both writers and non-writers (me!) alike will be envious of after reading this book. It’s both lyrical and raw and incredibly poignant. Since I do not have that same way with words I’ll stop there to spare anyone reading this, but I could go on and on about this one. I’ll definitely be reading more Jacqueline Woodson!
What beautiful language and innovative structure. Red At The Bone and specifically the character of Iris was illuminating and thought provoking. This was a short read chock full of poetic language. A huge fan of books about the cycles of motherhood and sacrifice, I truly enjoyed this fresh point of view. I highly recommend- a timeless tale yet deeply rooted in these times.
Realistic and true to life especially the relationship between a daughter and mother.
Once again I am blown away by Jacqueline Woodson’s writing. Every word is carefully chosen, each sentence perfection. I am in awe of how sparse her writing is while at the same time so filled with imagery, voice, and emotion.
This story was no exception. Red at the Bone is a tale of the complexity of a parents’ love, the promise and profanity of legacy, the struggle for individuality within a family and a community. And oh so much more. I finished it late in the night and knew immediately I would be rereading it, probably many times to come.
Beautiful and lyrical, this book moved me so much with so few pages.
This is a simply beautiful, uplifting novel, small in heft, enormous in heart. Woodson’s lyrical prose captures intimate, complex and conflicted family dynamics while depicting the effect of the social and historical forces of race, social class and expectations. Woodson reverses the trope of the black teenage father who initially wants to have a baby but finds himself uninterested in parenting. Rather, she gives us a bright, ambitious college-bound teenage mother, Iris, in the context of a relatively wealthy family, and an also bright teenage boy from a family with much less, who not only loves Iris, but falls in love with their baby daughter, to whom he devotes himself, raising her with Iris’s parents, while Iris largely detaches to go to college and create a separate life. This multi-generation story is told from the points of view of grandparents, mother, father and the near-adult child, Melody, in a non-linear manner, yet the story is never difficult to follow as the various narrators take over from one another. Woodson, who won a National Book Award for her verse memoir titled Brown Girl Dreaming, well-known for her books for children and young adults, has created another masterpiece in this, her third adult novel.
I will anything this author writes. She can say so much in so few words.
A powerhouse of a short little book. The story of how an unwanted teenage pregnancy affects the lives of the parties involved told in a unique style of multiple narrators, dialogue mixed into narration. How this baby girl went from causing so much pain and anguish to bringing joy and love. Woodson deals with parenthood, sexual identity, family history moving back and forth thru time in eloquent prose.