On the Rooftop: A Novel (edition 2022)

by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (Author)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
153	6	178,262	(3.41)	2
Fiction. African American Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: A Reese's Book Club Pick "An utterly original and brilliant story." �??Reese Witherspoon A stunning novel about a mother whose dream of musical stardom for her three daughters collides with the daughters' ambitions for their own lives�??set against the backdrop of gentrifying 1950s San Francisco At home they are just sisters, but on stage, they are The Salvations. Ruth, Esther, and Chloe have been singing and dancing in harmony since they could speak. Thanks to the rigorous direction of their mother, Vivian, they've become a bona fide girl group whose shows are the talk of the Jazz-era Fillmore. Now Vivian has scored a once-in-a-lifetime offer from a talent manager, who promises to catapult The Salvations into the national spotlight. Vivian knows this is the big break she's been praying for. But sometime between the hours of rehearsal on their rooftop and the weekly gigs at the Champagne Supper Club, the girls have become women, women with dreams that their mother cannot imagine. The neighborhood is changing, too: all around the Fillmore, white men in suits are approaching Black property owners with offers. One sister finds herself called to fight back, one falls into the comfort of an old relationship, another yearns to make her own voice heard. And Vivian, who has always maintained control, will have to confront the parts of her life that threaten to splinter: the community, The Salvations, and even her family. Warm, gripping, and wise, with echoes of Fiddler on the Roof, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton's latest novel is a moving family portrait from "a writer of uncommon nerve and talent" (New York Times Book Review)… (more)

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Member:	revliz
Title:	On the Rooftop: A Novel
Authors:	Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (Author)
Info:	Ecco (2022), 304 pages
Collections:	To read
Rating:
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On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

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Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)

Well-written with fully fleshed-out characters, but it just didn't grip me as much as some historical fictional novels with similar themes. (

)

bookwyrmm | Mar 29, 2024 |

Lots of characters, enjoyed it, wish the ending wrapped up more felt abrupt (

)

hellokirsti | Jan 3, 2024 |

Margaret Wilkerson Sexton has written a warm, bittersweet story of music, family, and resistance. In an homage to "Fiddler on the Roof," Ms. Wilkerson Sexton has placed her characters and plot in post-WWII San Francisco’s Fillmore District, where each family member’s story unfolds against the threat of forced eviction of the entire neighborhood through the city’s assertion of their right of eminent domain.

Vivian, a Louisiana native, is a widow and mother to Ruth, Esther, and Chloe, all in their twenties. While Vivian’s dream for her daughters is fame, fortune, and most importantly, safety, as a girl group, she soon learns that each of her girls is be called to express her own song. Set against the looming threat of redevelopment, these dramas play out quietly – but the love among family, friends, and neighbors is anything but quiet; it’s exuberant, like the music and the prose, which sings.

You won’t regret the time spent reading this rich piece of historical fiction. Consider educating yourself about the history of the Fillmore District, including the effect of “redevelopment” on the African Americans who were displaced, before reading the book for an informed reading experience; this reviewer found first-hand accounts on www.foundsf.org, a digital archive of material about San Francisco’s history.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC I used to write this honest review. (

)

CatherineB61 | May 31, 2023 |

Set in the 1950s in San Francisco, widow Vivian has great plans for her three singing daughters. They initially form a jazz group called The Salvations. The daughters, however, have other ideas. This book explores gentrification, ambition, grief, love, and miscommunications. Sexton excels at portraying the way different generational viewpoints. This is set during a time of great difficulties for black families. The main source of conflict is the removal of families from their homes to enable new construction. The (real) club The Fillmore plays a key role in the plot. The writing is solid, characters are well developed. It is not an action-based story but kept my attention from beginning to end. (

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Castlelass | Dec 26, 2022 |

This is a heartwarming novel of the Black Fillmore neighborhood of San Francisco as it once was before it was ripped apart by white developers in the 1950s. The author credits Fiddler on the Roof, with its three sisters and strong mom, as source inspiration, but I also saw the Oakland-bred Pointer Sisters in it. Mom, the widowed Vivian, has imparted her burning ambition to daughters Ruth, Esther, and Chloe, and she demands that they practice their harmonies every night on their rooftop. They're the pride of the close-knit block, but each girl has her own dreams to fulfill and they need to rise above their stumbles along the way. Vivian herself is staving off her strong attraction to Preacher, a widower who has been patiently waiting for her to accomplish her mission of getting the girls a contract to sing in LA nightclubs. There’s a wealth of minor characters to add charm to the story, which could almost be a companion, from the female gaze, to Walter Mosely’s Easy Rawlins LA novels, which begin in the same era. What an accomplished, evocative, and memorable period story. (

)

froxgirl | Oct 24, 2022 |

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Distinctions

Historical Novel Society Editors' Choice

NPR: Books We Love (2022)

San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Historical Fiction – 2022)

Notable Lists

NPR Best Book (2022)

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On the Rooftop

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San Francisco, California, USA

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Epigraph

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows i the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying

Sing one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? -Psalm 137:1-4

Dedication

First words

Vivian didn't mourn St. Francisville, Louisiana. On the contrary, her memories kept watch against nostalgia. Still, she would never be used to the Fillmore's weather. She had anticipated mild and sunny. She had expected it would never rain, and it was true that it didn't dip below freezing, but she hadn't prepared for the summer cchill, the fog and wind. She waltzed outside to work in a sleeveless dress her first June there, dipped her toe onto the sidewalk, then swung back around for the front door.

She hadn't known a soul then who could have warned her.

Vivian, 1953

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Canonical DDC/MDS

813.6

Canonical LCC

PS3619.E9838

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▾Book descriptions

Fiction. African American Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:

A Reese's Book Club Pick

"An utterly original and brilliant story." �??Reese Witherspoon

A stunning novel about a mother whose dream of musical stardom for her three daughters collides with the daughters' ambitions for their own lives�??set against the backdrop of gentrifying 1950s San Francisco

At home they are just sisters, but on stage, they are The Salvations. Ruth, Esther, and Chloe have been singing and dancing in harmony since they could speak. Thanks to the rigorous direction of their mother, Vivian, they've become a bona fide girl group whose shows are the talk of the Jazz-era Fillmore.

Now Vivian has scored a once-in-a-lifetime offer from a talent manager, who promises to catapult The Salvations into the national spotlight. Vivian knows this is the big break she's been praying for. But sometime between the hours of rehearsal on their rooftop and the weekly gigs at the Champagne Supper Club, the girls have become women, women with dreams that their mother cannot imagine.

The neighborhood is changing, too: all around the Fillmore, white men in suits are approaching Black property owners with offers. One sister finds herself called to fight back, one falls into the comfort of an old relationship, another yearns to make her own voice heard. And Vivian, who has always maintained control, will have to confront the parts of her life that threaten to splinter: the community, The Salvations, and even her family.

Warm, gripping, and wise, with echoes of Fiddler on the Roof, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton's latest novel is a moving family portrait from "a writer of uncommon nerve and talent" (New York Times Book Review)

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