🔸️ Maud Martha was born from a respectable parents, and was brought up with her sister Helen and her brother Harry From childhood she felt insignificant and always came after the others. Her father, for example, loved her sister Helen more than her. She realized also that the color of one's skin determine one's quality of life. Helen is always more liked than her because of her lighter skin. The same with her husband, who was much lighter than Maud Martha. He even enjoyed a semi-normal social circle when he attended these events alone. The darker your skin color is, the more marginalized you are.
🔸️ During her childhood, Maud Martha and her family almost lost their house, and it left a deep impression in her. After she's married, Maud Martha dreamed of having a proper house, but what they ended up was a kitchenette (only a little above a studio apartment?) These seemingly unimportant vignettes brought us to understand the extend of what African-Americans at that time must endure.
🔸️ As a story, it lacks a plot and cohesion. The charm lays in the writing. Gwendolyn Brooks is a Pulitzer winning author, and it is her poetic prose that lent this otherwise monotonous novella its sharp tone and impeccable beauty. One more thing: it is one of the books which, I think, is best enjoyed in audio version.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/5
Read for:
Novellas in November 2024
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