Memphis A Novel by Tara M. Stringfellow

 Book Excerpt:

"A spellbinding debut novel tracing three generations of a Southern Black family and one daughter's discovery that she has the power to change her family's legacy.

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—Oprah Daily, Essence, Glamour, Business Insider, Marie Claire, The Millions, She Reads, Book Riot, Bad Form

Summer 1995: Ten-year-old Joan, her mother, and her younger sister flee her father's explosive temper and seek refuge at her mother's ancestral home in Memphis. This is not the first time violence has altered the course of the family's trajectory. Half a century earlier, Joan's grandfather built this majestic house in the historic Black neighborhood of Douglass—only to be lynched days after becoming the first Black detective in the city. Joan tries to settle into her new life, but family secrets cast a longer shadow than any of them expected.

As she grows up, Joan finds relief in her artwork, painting portraits of the community in Memphis. One of her subjects is their enigmatic neighbor Miss Dawn, who claims to know something about curses, and whose stories about the past help Joan see how her passion, imagination, and relentless hope are, in fact, the continuation of a long matrilineal tradition. Joan begins to understand that her mother, her mother's mother, and the mothers before them persevered, made impossible choices, and put their dreams on hold so that her life would not have to be defined by loss and anger—that the sole instrument she needs for healing is her paintbrush.

Unfolding over seventy years through a chorus of unforgettable voices that move back and forth in time, Memphis paints an indelible portrait of inheritance, celebrating the full complexity of what we pass down, in a family and as a country: brutality and justice, faith and forgiveness, sacrifice and love."

Title: Memphis
Author: Tara M. Stringfellow
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:
"Memphis" by Tara M. Stringfellow

My Assessment:

All that's left to say about 'Memphis' featured three generations of the North family: Hazel with her daughters, August and Miriam...Miriam's daughters, Mya and Joan.

This author gives the reader quite an exciting account of three generations was indeed quite a description of that what happened to each of the women as they faced some horrible issues that dealt with 'heartbreak, racism, poverty, violence, trauma, family secrets, abuse, grief, joy, forgiveness, love, and opportunity while living in this city of Memphis.

Be prepared for a rather uncomfortable read with some very complex characters that will have one shaking their heads as one reads about these three generations. However, it was imperative to see how these women could take 'charge of their families and worked hard to break these dysfunctional cycles.'

By the end of the read, one will see how well this author brings it all out...' powerful, raw, and honest read' as there were different POVs provided as the story went through different timetables, which was beautifully done, giving one still an easy read to follow.

'Memphis' was indeed a heartbreaking and heartwarming story with 'hopes, dreams and even with horrors' that you will have to pick up this excellent read and see for yourself how well this author brings it all out to the reader.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley for an honest review.