Grown Women by Sarai Johnson

 

Summary (from the publisher): In this stunning debut novel, four generations of complex Black women contend with motherhood and daughterhood, generational trauma and the deeply ingrained tensions and wounds that divide them as they redefine happiness and healing for themselves. Erudite Evelyn, her cynical daughter Charlotte, and Charlotte’s optimistic daughter Corinna see the world very differently. Though they love each other deeply, it’s no wonder that their personalities often clash. But their conflicts go deeper than run-of-the-mill disagreements. Here, there is deep, dark resentment for past and present hurt.   When Corinna gives birth to her own daughter, Camille, the beautiful, intelligent little girl offers this trio of mothers something they all hope, joy, and an opportunity to reconcile. They decide to work together to raise their collective daughter with the tenderness and empathy they missed in their own relationships. Yet despite their best intentions, they cannot agree on what that means. After Camille eventually leaves her mother and grandmother in rural Tennessee for a more cosmopolitan life in Washington, DC with her great-grandmother, it’s unclear whether this complex and self-contained girl will thrive or be overwhelmed by the fears and dreams of three generations she carries. As she grows into a gutsy young woman, Camille must decide for herself what happiness will look like.  In masterful, elegant prose, debut novelist Sarai Johnson has created a rich and moving portrait of Black women’s lives today.

Review: I received an uncorrected proof copy of this novel from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review. 

In this novel, four generations of Black women struggle with the dynamics of mothers of daughters and struggle to wade through the fallout of generational trauma. As a pregnant teenager, Charlotte flees from her educated but cold mother Evelyn. Charlotte struggles to love and bond with her daughter Corinna, who grows up in poverty with little love and suffering from abuse at the hands of her mother and stepmother. But when Corinna in turn has a daughter as a teenager, Charlotte and Corinna unite in their love for Camille, the beautiful, intelligent daughter that they are determined to do right by. Eventually, Camille leaves Charlotte and Corinna in rural Tennessee to live a more privileged life with her great-grandmother, who is a professor and published author in Washington, DC. Tentatively, the four women try to navigate the minefield that is their past, while all trying to do better by Camille. 

It is difficult to believe this startingly complex novel is a debut work by the author. There's a lot of layers to this book that are only slowly peeled back as the novel progresses. I was particularly impressed with the shifts in perspective between the different women. Each woman has very different perceptions of the same event and frequently has limited knowledge or understanding, which colors her opinion. It is only through shifting through all four women that a complete picture of the family's history is gained. For instance, one of the most poignant scenes is when Camille is told her mother has been witness to a suicide (I'll refrain from saying who to avoid spoilers). Camille clearly does not fully grasp what this means until her dazed mother is brought home and is sinking into a hot bath and the bath water unfurls red and murky away from her body. This was such a visceral image and fully puts the reader in the shoes of a young child comprehending at last what she was told verbally several times but still failed to understand. 

At heart, this book truly illustrates the fallout that loss and grief can cause not just on the first immediate relationship, but on those that follow. While Camille is a typical teenager in so many ways in this book, the pressure of having three generations of mother focusing all their hopes and dreams and plans to do better in this next chance must have been significant. Interestingly, despite being the least engaged mother to her own daughter, it's Charlotte, caught in the middle of much of this generational trauma, that becomes the most loving and forgiving when it comes to Camille. 

Although it was meant to link them yet tighter in their trauma, it was confusing at times that three of the main characters had names that started with the same letter. There were also elements of this that felt a bit far-fetched. For instance, the reveal of who Charlotte's mother is and the vast array of her accomplishments is shocking to say the least. Likewise, the truth behind who Corinna's father is was similarly disorienting and almost like something you'd read in a fairy tale in terms of riches and fame and not reality. This novel takes its characters from extremely rural poverty, physical abuse, and alcoholism to unbelievable glamor and luxury in the country's capital. 

By the conclusion of the novel, there were still things left unexplored. The full story behind Evelyn's second husband is left unsaid. And I still believe that Camille would eventually want to know about her father and his family. Overall, a beautifully written and crafted novel and an intriguing character study of a strong family of women. 

Stars: 4