A friend of mine recommended this book and since I haven't read non-fiction for a while, I took a break from my current read and picked it up at the library. I then read it, in 2 days. It was quite good.The Color of Water is about a black boy who grew up in Brooklyn with 11 siblings and a white mother. As he takes steps to discover his mother's background (she was a Polish Jew who came to America with her family) he also discovers himself. The book takes you through both of their lives. Sometimes their experiences are not pleasant and they have some difficult times, but in the end, their strong characters pull them through and they find goodness. His mother emphasizes education, religion (she becomes a Christian), and family and puts these before any other concern, especially questions her son has about race. With humor and excellent story telling, James McBride does an excellent job explaining the two very different places he and his mother came from and how it brought them together.
3 comments:
sounds like a good one. i just finished The Glass Castle, which may be placed in the same genre. inspiring stories that point out how pristine my childhood was - and i'm so grateful it was.
Our book club is doing glass castle this month, what a cheerfully dysfunctional mother.
Ash, you should write book reviews for the Times.
I picked this up this week and am about 1/2 way finished. I've found it interesting to read a personal account of hardship felt due to race and religion.
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