Finished Sa 4/20/19
This is the author's third novel; 2n was 'SALVAGE THE BONES'- also set in Bois and is about a rural poor family as they wait for Katrina.
'MEN WE REAPED' is her memoir
Southern Gothic Genre, Lyrical, Poetic, Magical Realism, Fantasy
Set in the fictional city of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, somewhere in the Delta region
From Amazon:
"A slamming, heartbreaker of a novel that is rendered with such stinging beauty and restrained emotion that despite the anguish taking place on the page, you won’t want it to end. For her third novel, National Book Award winning Jesmyn Ward, tells the story of Jojo, a young black Mississippi boy raised by his grandparents, who is forced to become a man far before he should because his mother is a drug addict, his father is in jail, and his baby sister needs a guardian. When Jojo’s dad is released from prison, Leonie packs Jojo and Kayla in the car, picks up her meth addled friend and drives north. What transpires is a nightmarish journey that weaves in and out of the present – Leonie’s meth induced highs, when she dreams of her dead brother who was killed by white hands decades ago, and the past -- when a man named Ritchie served time alongside Jojo’s grandfather. Sing, Unburied, Sing shimmers with mythic southern memories to tell a story of the drugged and the damned and the fluttering promise of youth".
Mississippi State Penitentiary- Parchman Farm 28 square miles. Center of the state; halfway between Memphis (100 miles south) and Jackson. 1901 started as three large farms, over 20,000 acres; women- mostly black, white men, and the largest farm consisting of all black men. Elvis Presley's father did time in Parchman for check forgery. 'COOL HAND LUKE'.
William Kenneth (Kinnie) Wagner (February 18, 1903 in Scott County, Virginia – March 9, 1958) commonly known as Kinnie Wagner (although Kennie and Kenny were also used) was a bootlegger in Mississippi, who murdered five people, including three lawmen. He escaped from custody numerous times, but ultimately died in prison.
A very good roundup on wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sing,_Unburied,_Sing
Meaning behind the title:
"The spirits of those who died violently and cannot rest in peace are singing to whomever can hear them, the way JoJo, Leonie, and Kayla can, in search of way home, their final resting place".
"It refers to the ghosts the children are able to hear and see as birds on the trees, singing their song of grief, the spirits of those who died due to a violent act, those (mostly black people) who were killed, or hurt, abused, mistreated and left unburied, without justice".
Link to the author's page at wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesmyn_Ward
Link to GoodReads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32920226-sing-unburied-sing
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