Book No. 29 of 2020
I’m in awe of how much ground Woodson covers in such an economical novel (the whole thing is a ~45 minute read). Red at the Bone winds its way through several generations of dreaming and despair and determination. Woodson draws a thread between the twin traumas of the Tulsa massacre and 9/11, and how the generations in between rise above their struggles. The depths of a family’s love for one another, and their desire for each successive generation to rise even higher, are poignant and beautiful.
Similar Reads
Some of the themes in Red at the Bone reminded me of Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime.
The thread of a family’s rise over generations reminded me of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko and Namwali Serpell’s The Old Drift (both are much, much longer books).