Jessica Maria Tuccelli

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Ordinarily, I write my own summaries of books, but try as I might, I could not manage to sum Glow up in a paragraph. This novel, though not especially long, is dense and complex. There hardly is a plot, but a whole lot happens. Nothing is stated explicitly; it's left to the reader to suss out the meaning.

Glow did not especially show more grab me, but, despite that, I can still appreciate the artistry of the book. Jessica Maria Tuccelli displays evident talent both in the unique construction of a narrative and in the writing of disparate characters.

Tuccelli tells the story using multiple points of view, a very effective narrative style, but a very dangerous one as well. Only authors talented enough to write easily distinguishable characters by voice alone can pull it off. Tuccelli does so with ease. Each of the assortment of characters that narrate their perspective have very particular methods of speaking that clearly distinguish them. Most all of them speak in their own particular dialect, all quite distinct even though they all live in the same small town. One character's brief section seems more like poetry than prose, and, though unclear, conveys perfectly the confusion and tragedy of a little girl's death.

In Glow, Tuccelli tackles a number of serious issues, most importantly that of racism. The characters in the story come from an array of backgrounds, but are mostly black and Indian (as in Native American). The story spans all the way from before the Civil War era to 1941, from the era of slavery to the fight for civil rights.

When I first started reading Glow, I tried to read it like I do most books, quickly, devouring. This was, I realized later, a mistake. By reading so fast, I became confused about some of the action and the relationships between moments. When I began reading more slowly, giving myself more time to mull over what was going on and to really savor Tuccelli's talent, my joy of the book most certainly increased.

If you like beautifully-written historical fiction that will really make you think, try Glow. show less

New last week from Viking, Glow is a stunner; there’s absolutely no pun or irony intended in my giving it a glowing review.

Jessica Maria Tuccelli’s debut novel, a sentimental ghost story about mothers and daughters, spans six generations, one hundred years, and is told from multiple distinct and original perspectives; it is the stuff that a fiction-lover’s dreams are made of.

The narrative begins in Washington D.C. in 1941. A young woman, caught in the midst of raciopolitical tensions show more and threatened by the opposition, is left alone with her young daughter after her husband is drafted into World War II. Out of fear, she puts her daughter Ella on a bus for her childhood home in Appalachian Hopewell, Georgia. But when Ella’s bus breaks down, and two drifters attack her and leave her for dead, the story of her roots is revealed with expansive force.

As the story jumps back several generations, dipping into the shared youth of Ella’s parents, and into the lives of those that came before them, Tuccelli’s narrative forms a splendidly gnarled family tree, reaching back to antebellum. And what begins as a modern historical narrative shows its roots to be that of a ghostly tale of injustice and lost love.

This is an exquisitely crafted novel that reveals itself slowly and carefully by peeling away the generational layers; it divulges the depth of Ella’s heritage in a style reminiscent of Ian McEwan’s Atonement, or of the short stories of Ambrose Bierce. Tuccelli is clearly a gifted writer with a knack for the untamed terrain of familial drama. I think we might reasonably expect even greater things from this author in the future. And I even love the cover.

Lauren Cartelli
www.theliterarygothamite.com show less

I was delighted to win Glow in the First-reads Giveaway contest. This was certainly a very much appreciated surprise Christmas present!

Glow is the exceptionally well written debut novel of Jessica Maria Tuccelli. Indian legends, ‘haints’ and hoodoo magic flickers through this brilliantly written novel of the history of the southern states. This is an expertly weaved tale written in the vernacular of several different characters from the small mountainous community of Hopewell County, show more Georgia ranging back and forth in time from the onset of WWII to 1836.

Tuccelli illuminates the history of slavery and the forced exodus of the Indians native to this region of Georgia and their often cruel treatment at the hands of the over powering white population. The surprising interconnectedness of the community and the contrasting racial barriers are honestly explored in this riveting epic. Most importantly, this is a story about the bonds of family and friendship, as well as, the special relationship between mothers and daughters. It is about human love, kindness and hope in the face of tragedy, shame and cruelty. Ghosts weave in and out of this story as the stains of shame and guilt thread through the tapestry of the history of the colonization of North America.

Too often these days, I have picked up books to read based on the back summary only to find upon completion that the descriptions given about the novel have in no way met my expectations. I can honestly say that the back description of Glow does not do this fabulous book justice. The story line of Ella McGee lost and left for dead at the side of the road, on the back of the book is one small thread in a multicoloured tapestry consisting of four main storylines. The alternating storylines include: Amelia McGee, of Scotch-Irish and Cherokee descent, and Ella’s mother, in two different timelines of 26 years old and at the age of nine; Willie Mae cotton, former slave and wise hoodoo practitioner, who tells her story of growing up on a plantation at the beck and call of an unstable mistress; and, Riddle Young, whose father was white and mother Cherokee, orphaned as a teenager with a small sister to raise on his own, goes on to form a bond with the wealthy Solomon Bound, building and eventually managing the large plantation but never belonging to the white community. Tuccelli like a busy spider spins a tale consisting of these seemingly disconnected stories drawing us further into the center of her web whereupon the connectedness of all the characters is revealed. Yet, this small storyline of Ella is the alpha and the omega of the story, literally the beginning and the end; and in the end, she is the sum total of the community and their future hope.

The strength of this novel is literally the writing. The prose is fluid and, yet sharp. The storylines are distinct, and each told from the first person POV. And, each is told in a different variation of the vernacular and immediately recognizable. In fact, you could easily open the book at any page and know with which character you are reading without hunting for the chapter heading. The characters are so well drawn they could step off the page. The scenery and environs of the community of Hopewell, with the mountains and farms, the alternating heat and rain storms, are well drawn and reflect each different timeline with abundant detail.

I love big epic stories with multiple storylines and characters. Glow does have a large number of characters some of which flit in and out of the different storylines, and I was quite grateful for the family tree at the beginning of the book and used it repeatedly to the keep characters straight in my own mind. While I enjoyed the challenge of keeping track of who is who, I can see how others could find this frustrating. Both the manner and subject matter of this book are in no way light hearted; however, the satisfaction upon the completion of this book was huge.

Days after completing this book, I continue to think of the characters of Glow and their stories. This book was insightful and lent a unique perspective of the non-white history of American. And, although terrible wrongs were committed, the story never lost sight of hope, love and the interconnectedness that makes us human.

I can only hope that Jessica Maria Tuccelli continues to write and I look forward to the next novel.

Glow will be released on March 19, 2012. show less

I am not going to lie, this book took some getting used to. What it reminded me of is a great bit ball of string, all knotted up, and trying to get it all into one smooth string, you have to follow the knots and work them slowly, one by one.

Glow begins with the story of Mia and Ella - Mia being the teenage mother of Ella, but Ella believing her grandmother is really her mother. There is racial tensions, being as this is set in Georgia in the mid-40's, and the switching back and forth show more between perspectives makes things a bit tiring.

But then something happens around mid-way through the book. The knots begin to take on lives of their own, and the characters meander through each others lives making the transition between characters and times a bit more easy to stand.

Glow is a fascinating look at not only the lives of characters of mixed race (Native American and African American feature prominently in this book), but also a very interesting look at the publications of the Census Bureau during the various times in the novel. Glow is a tearjerker - I was weeping and angry at the injustice that was oh so real and happening to people within its pages, and by the time I had closed the book, I knew I'd experienced something that will haunt me into the future. show less