Coleman Hill by Kim Coleman Foote

 Book Excerpt:

"“Once in a while, a writer comes along with a brilliance that stops the breath. Kim Coleman Foote is that writer.” ―Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning author of Red at the Bone.

“A masterpiece. Brilliant, vivid, heartbreaking, epic, beautiful, raw, and true . . . This is the American story.” ―Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less Is Lost.

“Kim Coleman Foote has the rare talent of completely immersing you in time and place . . . A sweeping yet intimate family saga.” ―Sarah Jessica Parker

Coleman Hill is the exhilarating story of two American families whose fates become intertwined in the wake of the Great Migration. Braiding fact and fiction, it is a remarkable, character-rich tour de force exploring the ties that bind three generations.

In 1916, Celia Coleman and Lucy Grimes fled the racism and poverty of their homes in the post–Civil War South for the “Promised Land” of the North. But soon, they learn that even in Vauxhall, New Jersey, black women are mainly hired for domestic work, money is scarce, children don’t progress in school, and black men die young. 

Within a few short years, both women’s husbands are dead. Left to navigate this unwelcoming place alone, Celia and Lucy turn to one another for support in raising their children far from home. They become one another’s closest confidantes, and, encouraged by their mothers’ friendship, their children’s lives become enmeshed as well. However, with this closeness comes complications. As the children grow into adolescence, two are caught in an impulsive act of impropriety, and Celia and Lucy find themselves at irreconcilable odds over who’s to blame. The ensuing fallout has dire consequences that reverberate through the next two generations of their families.

A stunning bio mythography―a word coined by the late great writer Audre Lorde―Coleman Hill draws from the author’s own family legend, historical record, and fervent imagination to create an unforgettable new history.

Title: Coleman Hill
Author: Coleman Foote
Publisher: Zando Projects, SJP Lit
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"Coleman Hill" by Coleman Foote

My Sentiments:

'Coleman Hill' was quite an interesting, emotionally powerful story that will keep one's attention until the end. It happens around the 1920s through the late 1980s. What will happen when these two families move north during the Great Migration, which went through over three generations that dealt with the story of Celia and Lucy [marriages, children & grandchildren]. as they settled in New Jersey? This author, Coleman Foote, a biomythography, gives the reader quite a story from complex friendships, some joys, racism, Jim Crow, alcoholism, abuse, domestic violence, lack of education, poverty, infidelities, intergenerational trauma, child neglect, sexism, love, betrayal, death, and forgiveness. And I don't want to leave out: a lot of what these people came from..."brutal slavery, Ku Klux Klan raping and lynching, misogyny, senseless assault, police brutality, redlining, and endless egregious and ingenious forms of segregation and subjugation." Now, I will say this read may not be for everyone. I will also tell you that you must have a good stomach for what went on in our country then. Yes, some of this happened! One may wonder, did these people get a better life after moving north? This is where I say, pick up "Coleman Hill" to see what happens.

We are presented with each chapter telling what happens in their family. One character, in particular, was Bertha... whom I felt sorry for in how she was treated. You must pick up this read to see how it all comes together.

The author also gives the readers bleak pictures of the various families of the family members being spoken of in the chapter that is presented at the beginning of each chapter.

Be ready for many attractive characters in the large multi-generational family, so you will have to keep up with this story that will have a lot of facts mixed with fiction.

At times, this was a difficult read in what was being presented. The story brings in historical events and figures...' the Great Migration, Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, and Martin Luther King Jr.,' which brings out the realness in how this author presented the story to the reader, as it is a mix of fiction and history.

Thank you, Net Gallery/Kim Coleman/Zando Project, SJP Lit/, for this eArc in advance for my honest review.