Pearl Cleage

This book was 100% on my radar because of its inclusion on a couple of lists on listchallenges.com. Then when I saw it at a library sale on our ASTC trip to Tampa (for ridiculously cheap), I had to buy it. I had no idea (or had forgotten) going in that it takes place almost entirely in Idlewild, Michigan -- a small town not so very far from where I had lived before that we have driven through a dozen times. This unexpected connection endeared it to me.

Though I think I would have loved this show more book anyway. This book is so full of compassion, yet unflinching about the challenges of small town life. Characters are dealing with major health problems, grief, criminal pasts, and yet are so gentle with each other in providing space for all to grow.

Not that everyone in this book is gentle and compassionate. There are some real heels here. But in the end, we're given chances to understand them all, and why they've made the choices they've made -- even if we strongly condemn those choices.

I really loved this, and was grateful for the odd path that put it in my way. show less

Single Mom, Catherine Sanderson, has been living off an inheritance and working as an advocate for immigrant women, making connections to housing and services, when her daughter indicates an interest in attending an expensive college. Just as she begins to think about paid employment she is approached by the renowned Miss Ezola Mandeville, a Black woman who has organized Black maids in Atlanta to get better working conditions and benefits. Her company needs to expand and she wants to show more incorporate immigrant women into her network and thinks Catherine can help make those connections. As she is winding up her unpaid services and getting her feet wet at the company, she is asked to help a young immigrant girl find her missing younger sister. There is also a side story about her daughter wanting to know the identity of her father. When a reporter, Burghardt Johnson, shows up investigating the rumors of a sex slave trade moving into the Atlanta area immigrant community and said reporter turns out to be the secret father things get interesting.
This was a nicely done African American romance with a look into a couple of current social issues; the exploitation of immigrant labor and the sex trade and right of discovery of birth parents. Both are handled well and with a little intrigue. The lower rating is mainly for the fact that there were too many coincidences and things fell into place much too easily. show less

I agree with some of the complaints about Babylon Sisters being a bit scattered, and sometimes obvious...but what relationship with sisters -- whether by birth or luck -- isn't both of those, from time to time? Pearl Cleage's stories just make me happy. They're romances, at heart, but the men and women who populate them are real people, with real faults and worries. When they fall in love, its not a rescue, and when they have sex, its neither careless nor earth-shattering. I like them, show more because I *would* like them, if I knew her characters in person.

I read a review, today, that noted (and, I paraphrase) that if you can't find a character you can root for to have an emotional transformation, whats the point of finishing the book? Cleage's characters are Good People, doing the best they can, and sometimes getting it wrong, but sticking together, no matter what. I can root for that, despite a few flaws. show less

The backstory: Longtime readers know Pearl Cleage is my absolute favorite author. See my raves about her novels: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, I Wish I Had a Red Dress, Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do, Babylon Sisters, Baby Brother's Blues, Seen It All and Done the Rest, and Til You Hear From Me. Any new writing from Pearl is a cause for celebration.

The basics: Things I Should Have Told My Daughter is a curated collection of diary entries from the 1970's and 1980's Cleage show more includes an introduction and a brief final commentary, but this memoir is essentially twenty years of diary entries.

My thoughts: It's incredibly intimate to read diary entries, particularly from someone I have admired for nearly twenty years. At times, reading these entries broke my heart. While Cleage is now incredibly successful, these entries go back before she was famous, and reading her self-doubt was haunting. I couldn't help but wonder how hindering my own moments of self-doubt are--and where will I find myself in twenty years?

One of the delight of this book was getting to know more about Pearl. One of my favorite anecdotes was her short-lived time in library school. I've long felt Pearl was a soul sister, and knowing she once thought seriously enough about being a librarian delighted me.

I think I enjoyed this book more than the average person because of my familiarity with Atlanta and its progressive activists from the last forty years. There's a special delight at hearing stories about the parents of my classmates from before we were born. Those not familiar with Atlanta power players may find themselves looking up unfamiliar names that are presented without context, but it's worth the extra time to marvel at Cleage's rich history.

Favorite passage: "I told Michael in Martinique that sometimes it doesn't matter if you're telling the same stories over and over. Most people don't have many to tell. Talking is just a way of having pleasant social intercourse with people and of establishing contact; and concern; and love."

The verdict: Things I Should Have Told My Daughter is a mesmerizing glimpse into a fascinating woman and her intriguing life. Atlantans, feminists, writers, and social activists will delight in the familiar names, locations, and emotions. I consider myself at least part of all four, and perhaps that makes me the target audience. show less