About the Book

Sing, Unburied, Sing

Sing, Unburied, Sing

Author: Jesmyn Ward
Pages: 285
ISBN: 1501126067
Genre: Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Released: September 5, 2017

Rating:

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Synopsis

Jesmyn Ward’s first novel since her National Book Award–winning Salvage the Bones, this singular American writer brings the archetypal road novel into rural twenty-first-century America. An intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle, Sing, Unburied, Sing journeys through Mississippi’s past and present, examining the ugly truths at the heart of the American story and the power—and limitations—of family bonds.
Jojo is thirteen years old and trying to understand what it means to be a man. He doesn’t lack in fathers to study, chief among them his Black grandfather, Pop. But there are other men who complicate his understanding: his absent White father, Michael, who is being released from prison; his absent White grandfather, Big Joseph, who won’t acknowledge his existence; and the memories of his dead uncle, Given, who died as a teenager.
His mother, Leonie, is an inconsistent presence in his and his toddler sister’s lives. She is an imperfect mother in constant conflict with herself and those around her. She is Black and her children’s father is White. She wants to be a better mother but can’t put her children above her own needs, especially her drug use. Simultaneously tormented and comforted by visions of her dead brother, which only come to her when she’s high, Leonie is embattled in ways that reflect the brutal reality of her circumstances.
When the children’s father is released from prison, Leonie packs her kids and a friend into her car and drives north to the heart of Mississippi and Parchman Farm, the State Penitentiary. At Parchman, there is another thirteen-year-old boy, the ghost of a dead inmate who carries all of the ugly history of the South with him in his wandering. He too has something to teach Jojo about fathers and sons, about legacies, about violence, about love.


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Our Review


“Sing, Unburied, Sing” by Jesmyn Ward was an incredible read!

A skillfully crafted ghost story about a southern African American family and their haunting lives. It’s a character driven story that is primarily told by a young woman, her adolescent son, and a ghost from their ancestral past.

This is a deeply profound and heartbreaking tale of death, addiction, racism and poverty that will squeeze your heart raw.

While the plot is an emotionally driven one with saddening injustice and excessively flawed characters, the narrative successfully instills empathy at the same time.

Sing, Unburied, Sing” is a dark and beautiful tale that deserves every bit of the hype. You won’t forget this book!


This book was used for prompt #23: A book with a minority character in the BOTM 30/30 – Summer 2019 Challenge and BOTM Summer Slam.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges: