Daughters of the Stone by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa

"A lyrical, powerful debut novel about a family of Afro-Puerto Rican women spanning five generations, detailing their physical and spiritual journey from the Old World to the New" [quoted from the inner sleeve]

I have become more interested in reading a story of slavery through a family of women. Llanos-Figueroa addresses this by beginning with Fela, the introductory generation, who has the desire but struggled with becoming pregnant. She and her husband perform a tribal ritual to initiate the procreation of a child but is captured and sold into slavery before it is finalized. Determined to see this to completion, Fela's lifeline is a stone that carries the soul of her future child and Mother Oshun, the goddess that will allow for the manifestation.

If you are interested in how women balance sacrifices made for children and determination to fulfill ones own desires read this book.

If you recognize the importance of a support system for women through a community of women from generation to generation, read this book.

If you're curious as to how strong women address seeing their dreams manifested in relationships, read this book.

And if none of what I said above is applicable to you, read it anyway.

Until next time...
Mella

You Can't Keep A Good Woman Down by Alice Walker

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection of stories. Nine stories that range from ten to twenty pages each, Walker takes single moments in women's lives that exemplify the behavior of a fully realized self.

Unable to eloquently articulate this meaning in a single word, or more appropriate phrase, it is more than high self esteem, confidence and purpose but being completely comfortable with her mind, body, perspective and decisions to the point where intense discussion or debate is irrelevant.

PBS aired an insightful view into the life of Alice Walker that I highly recommend. Here is the link:

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365171000/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=americanmasters

Also, read the book : )

Until next time...
Mella

Powder Necklace by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond : National Identity and Privilege

The story of a teenage girl coming of age, Lila, was born and raised in London, parents are Ghanaian, now divorced, and lives with her mother. Lila’s mother is extremely bitter about the divorce, although we later learn her mother left her father, because of that Lila finds a unique balance between surpassing her mother’s standards, she believes if she is a wonderful daughter she’ll stay out of trouble with her mother, and satisfying her adolescent curiosity. Her mother’s two lessons are that, “everything happens for God’s good reason” and “boys…only wanted to spoil me”. In an effort to avoid a group of guys making calls to Lila as she walks home from school, a male friend, Ev, becomes her escort. The routine is for Ev to walk Lila home, complete their homework together, play video games then he leaves, unknown to her mother of course and before she gets home from work. One night her mother finds Lila home playing video games with Ev and the next day Lila finds herself on a plane headed to an aunt in Ghana for an unknown period of time.

Lila has never been outside of London much less in a place without a steady source of available water, paved roads, etc. and the first two things she notices are the temperature and personal hygiene habits of her new environment. Lila’s Aunt Irene welcomes her to the country, however, thinking this is a punishment for the night she was caught with Ev, Lila repeatedly explains to her mother that it was a misunderstanding every chance she gets. It is Aunt Irene who explains that her mother needs a "break" and she will be enrolled into Dadaba Girls Secondary School until she is able to return home.

Although Lila was raised by a Ghanaian mother, understands, but does not speak, Twi, she readily distinguishes herself from the other girls by faking ignorance of the language, accepting the title broni (white girl) and actions that have her classmates in servitude to her, which is until her knowledge of the language is discovered. It is in Ghana where Lila truly establishes her national identity (English) and because of this establishment the inherent privileges to which they are associated. The fact that she regularly wears jeans, her accent, reaction to tasks she is requested to complete, abundance of funds, snacks and other things, (purchased specifically to share with the other girls) contributes both to how she perceives herself and by others. Although she reflects on the differences to which she, versus her classmates, identifies, Lila takes advantage of her privileges to the full extent. In the next post we will discuss the effects of her experiences upon her return to London. As for now her mother says that this is for her good and God does everything for a reason, to which she has trouble subscribing.

Reading and reflecting on the perception of privilege in this context helped me finally realize what my History professor was trying to get me to understand. We were studying the formation of classes within a society and I stubbornly argued that a person’s class is associated by their financial status, period. My professor, however, explained to me that class is determined by economics and lifestyle, but the lifestyle part I could not get around because, at least for me, one’s lifestyle was determined by their finances. I don’t know why it took me so long to see it, that happens, but I have more of an understanding now than I would have previously been able to discuss. Even reflecting on my own life, my own circles, area I shop and refuse to shop, versus my paycheck (not that I’m breaking the bank to do it) further helps me understand.

There will be two more posts on subjects this book arises which is a good enough reason to continue reading. Until next time…Mella

Third Girl from the Left – Martha Southgate

This story, is about a young woman, Tamara, in LA that aspires to be a film director telling the story of her mother, Angela’s, journey to become a famous actor. The book begins in the perspective of the daughter and changes to Angela rather quickly. In this section, we learn of her life in Tulsa and decision to move to LA where she then finds herself performing sexual favors to be an extra in films, or just because she feels like it. After completing Angela’s section I read the book summary where it states her “unplanned pregnancy derails her plans for stardom”. Yes, an unplanned pregnancy will do that but her decision to partake in recreational drugs and multi-partner sexual activity wasn’t helping. Quite frankly, I was not interested in the story of her life because it is so heavily laden with sexual activity and alluded struggle with sexual identity. Maybe it’s because of society’s acceptance of homosexuality at the time or her upbringing from which she rebels, but Angela, at no point, tries other avenues to further her film career and I think she was looking for an out, and got it, when she got pregnant.

The next section is Mildred, Angela’s mother, and I hope it becomes more interesting. It has taken much longer than expected to complete this novel and I will not be reading it past the first of January.

If you have gotten further than I, and have an alternative incite to share, please do. Otherwise, the next novel will be Powder Necklace by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond. Until next time…..Mella

Welcome

I love reading. Particularly stories about and from the perspective of women. Seeing what they see, feeling how they feel, not because the experiences are different from my own but because they are so familiar. While the settings are indeed different, the characters are different, the emotions are the same. So I read to escape into a different world to find those things that are the similar.

A few of my top authors are Toni Morrison, Pearl Cleage, and Alice Walker (in order of discovery). Their honest approach to human emotion and unveiled exposure behind what we believe to be beautiful or ugly forces me to re-evaluate my perspective on what is typical or normal, which does not exist in their work. While there are many other authors that I admire, I realized that after reading all that the above have written, I was left empty searching for new authors for my particularity. And I have found a few. The following are novels I read recently and thoroughly enjoyed:

Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate

Mellanation will reveal the authors that I discover (as in new to me), their stories and my experience reading them. Each novel will be announced prior to my reading of it. But please note, I am not conducting formal reviews, do not read novel summaries nor descriptions prior to its reading and will reveal the ending of the novel (for discussion purposes) when complete. This week I will be reading Third Girl from the Left by Martha Southgate and I welcome you to read along and share your perspectives with me. Until next time….Mella