I just finished a debut novel which has been compared to Saving
CeeCee Honeycutt and The Help. It is a coming of age story about
Ibby Bell who, after her father dies suddenly, is left at at her paternal
grandmother's home in New Orleans in 1964. On the author's extensive web
site, Laura Lane McNeal says: Dollbaby is … "a story of a way
of life that no longer exists but needs to be told…. It is the story of New
Orleans, where you learn to dance, even when there is no music."
The author goes on to extol the "shared culture" that she says is unique
to New Orleans, implying that people of many races have long blended together. However,
I was troubled by the dialogue in Dollbaby, especially the
emphasis on speech patterns for the African American characters, but not so
much for other (white) Southerners who were featured in the novel. Maybe this was done for a purpose – after
all, there was quite a bit of scholarly research on this vernacular English,
beginning in the 1960's and continuing with the "Ebonics" debate in the
1990's. It is one thing to read
dialogue by Lorraine Hansberry or Zora Neale Hurston or works by Langston
Hughes or August Wilson, but in this novel, I thought that comments by Queenie,
Dollbaby and Birdelia felt awkward and unnatural -- at least as contrasted with
dialogue from other characters.
I did, though, definitely appreciate the attempts at weaving
in historical facts such as Johnson's speech about the Civil Rights Act of 1964:
I would encourage any students reading Dollbaby
to read or watch the speech (another excerpt is available here), especially
since we are celebrating its 50th anniversary as this novel is being
published. In order to further appreciate the times, they
should look at the photo
montage from that era recently uploaded by the Kansas City Star.
It would also be really interesting to explore the archives at Tulane University
(where some of the novel is set) for local newspaper coverage from the time. Dollbaby refers to other national events occurring in 1968 and 1972, although in less detail. In her
online book group guide, Laura Lane McNeal raises questions about the "political
realities [that] trickle down to the personal ones." I wish that idea had been
developed even more deeply in her novel and will be curious to see what other
readers think.
If you read Dollbaby and are interested in
learning more, the Civil Rights Digital Archive has compiled information from
numerous Universities about Freedom Summer.
See especially http://crdl.usg.edu/events/civil_rights_act_1964/?Welcome&Welcome
and http://crdl.usg.edu/events/freedom_summer/
Here are several more links related to Freedom Summer (1964)
and the Civil Right Movement:
- Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/civilrights/external.html
- PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/further-reading/freedomsummer-furtherreading/ OR http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/lbj-civilrights/
- UVA’s Miller Center: http://millercenter.org/presidentialclassroom/exhibits/civil-rights-act with full text of Johnson’s speech: http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/3525
Post script added August 4th: I just finished Secret of Magic by Deborah Johnson and will be recommending it to others. The writing is truly lyrical - there is a sense of magic throughout the book and an understanding of Mississippi in the mid-1940s. Like Jordan's Mudbound, this deals with prejudice and struggles for returning soldiers and their families. However, it also weaves in a children's book and tales of an earlier murder, all of which are explored by a new associate of Thurgood Marshall, Miss Regina Robichard and the fledgling NAACP.
