It was back to my mom for this prompt (for full disclosure we skipped the next prompt in line for an audio book and will come back to it at the end). I don’t know how she chose this one, but I am really glad she did.
Book 4: A book written by a person of color: A Mercy by Toni Morrison.
This tragic novel follows four women, each bound in a world where they are nothing when not owned by a man: An African slave girl, tribeless Native American young woman, shipwrecked fire haired orphan girl and a European woman cast on a ship to America to marry a man so he can claim his land.
Set in 1600s America, a time pre Revolution and at the start of slavery in the New World, we learn of each woman’s journey to the farm of John Vaark who himself is held by his dream of a large and ornate house. He is the tie that binds them all and when he dies the women must figure out who they are and how they relate to each other.
Each woman’s story is more tragic than the last and the point that resonated with me the most was how close to reality these stories were. Living in modern day America, with all the freedoms that brings, it is a real eye opener to be placed back in a world where a woman, no matter the color of her skin, was nothing if not tied to a man.
I couldn’t put this book down and stayed up way too late reading before we moved. Do yourself a favor and read this book.
The Roaming Rider 