I must admit, I went into this book feeling a little skeptical that I would enjoy it. I often find that I have difficulties connecting with books that are about black characters. I'm sure that's probably because I grew up in, well, a mostly white suburb, so my associations with the African American culture is limited.
So, I was pleasantly surprised that I truly enjoyed this book.
Hattie Shepherd is the main character of this book. Now, when I say that, I don't really mean that the book is completely told from her point of view, but rather that she is the binding character for the entire thing. It's a book separated in many chunks, each chunk representing a certain point in time for Hattie. The twelve tribes? Her eleven children and one of her grandchildren.
There are her struggles through motherhood throughout her entire life, beginning when she is just 17 and trying to take care of twins (be prepared, the first block of time is a tear-jerker), and ending when she is an old woman who has to take care of her ten-year-old granddaughter after having the child's mother committed.
It is an emotional story that shows just how hard it can be sometimes. Hattie is unhappy in her marriage, struggles to take care of her children, and overall struggling with life. She tries to run away, but doesn't. Her children try to escape their past, only to find that it has shaped them into the people that they don't really want to be.
I definitely enjoyed this. Thanks to Oprah's Book Club for introducing this great piece of work to me.
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