Nothing to do but eat, sleep, and write. It took some getting used to and at first the words came in drips and drabs, like an old pipe being coaxed by a plumber’s wrench. October was upon her and the sidewalks were littered with autumn leaves and still nothing. Weeks passed and two new moons and then winter smiled its icy grin, and with the first December snow the words finally came.
(from Glorious, page 161)
Bernice L. McFadden’s novel about the Jim Crow South and the Harlem Renaissance, Glorious, is the beautifully written story of a fictional writer, Easter Bartlett, who runs from the problems in her life until she can run no longer. Her family is shattered by a seemingly innocently bet that led to the rape of her sister and the death of her mother, among other tragedies, and begins her journey out of her hometown of Waycross, Georgia.
From there, Easter makes several starts and stops on a journey that includes witnessing a gruesome lynching, joining a traveling show and becoming friends with the seductive Mama Rain, and moving to Harlem and eventually becoming a successful writer. She juggles her marriage to Colin with her strong feelings for Rain and learns a lot about love and loss, and she thinks it all might turn around when the socialite Meredith Tomas becomes her benefactress — but the bottom falls out from under her.
The book spans a lengthy period from 1910 to the early 1960s, and McFadden does an expert job weaving fact and fiction, including such famous figures Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston. I did a report on the Harlem Renaissance in high school, so right away I was drawn to this book. McFadden’s rich descriptions transport readers back in time and thrust them into the scene. Her prose is straight-forward and honest, sometimes brutally so, underscoring the hardships Easter and blacks in general endured due to racism.
Glorious really got me thinking about the issue of racism (especially since I just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird yesterday), and when I read the lynching and prison scenes and the fact that Easter’s fall from success boiled down to the color of her skin, I was angry and even ashamed about these stains on our country’s history. I don’t understand how people can treat other people so horribly based on race. And it’s sad that such hatred continues to this day.
Easter is a complex character who can’t sit still each time her world is upended. McFadden shows Easter at her best and her worst, and I couldn’t help but love her, flaws and all. It’s easy to feel sorry for poor Easter, handed the short end of the stick time after time, or to wonder why she can’t stay and face her problems. But Easter has the strength to rise from the ashes and start again when most people would have given up. McFadden uses her to show us how easy it is to be consumed by hate and to let go of our dreams.
My only complaint about Glorious is its length. At 239 pages, I’d finished the book in a matter of hours, and while I was emotionally drained, I also was sad that it was over. McFadden’s writing grabbed me from the start and kept me on the edge of my seat until the last page. Brilliantly crafted, Glorious is definitely among the best books I’ve read this year.
Disclosure: I received a copy of Glorious from the author for review purposes. I am an Amazon associate.
© 2010 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
Diary of an Eccentric 