The Book I'm Carrying Around: When She Woke

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Again, I didn't read the back of the book and had no idea what I was getting into.  You can take this as a love story, a moral tale, a crime/suspense novel.  Or all three.

*I'm trying not to give any spoilers, but have to give a few details to review the book and I promise I won't tell any major plot twists or the ending*

Everyone knows that Hannah has committed some type of terrible, punishable crime. How? Because she's red.  From head to toe, dyed thru the skin red. And she will continue to be red until her sentence is over.  She's free to roam the streets, but everyone will know she's a criminal.

What was her crime? She had an abortion.  Yes, Roe v. Wade has been repealed and abortion is illegal.  In the U.S., which is a religious state, it is anyway.

Jordan doesn't give us a time for When She Woke, but its conceivably not too far in the distant future.  Some of the electronic gadgetry is our navigation maps and smartphones and iPads taken up a few notches.  Religion, Christianity specifically, has become, if not the law, then the basis of the law of the land and the country is ruled by a moral code.

One can consider this story on a number of different levels.  As a Christian, I have to admit, there were angles that I agreed with, and then there were others that I thought, "no, I don't think that's what the Bible means."  When you have sinned, do you believe that God will forgive you, regardless of that sin?  Even if its against the law?  Can you forgive yourself?

Obviously, your personal belief on abortion will influence what you think of Hannah's sentence. But, if you are pro-choice, do you support breaking the law in the name of personal choice? If you are pro-life, do you think a woman, alone, should be punished?  I'm not getting into a pro-life/pro-choice debate, but you can't discuss this book without raising the subject.

In Jordan's novel, criminals are dyed different colors depending on the severity of their crime. Interesting to note the discussion on how these "colored" people are treated.

When She Woke definitely kept me awake, late into the night to get to the next page.


* I've also read and reviewed Jordan's Mudbound.

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The Book I'm Carrying Around: Mudbound

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You know those books you read while walking around the house?  You're making coffee with one hand, holding the book with the other?  Glad there was a snow day and the kids are going to school late and now you've got 2 extra hours to find out what these folks on Mudbound are up to?  Yeah, this is that kind of book.

The book begins and ends at the same place - two brothers digging their father's grave.  The middle is the story of how he got there.

The basics: Henry and Laura McAllan move their family from their comfortable home with lights and a flushing toilet in Memphis to a cotton farm and worn-down farmhouse in Mississippi.  Their new land comes with sharecroppers and tenant farmers, including the Jacksons and the Atwoods.  At the end of WWII, the McAllan's brother (White) and the Jackson's eldest son (Black) come home from serving in the Army.  Their time in Europe has matured and changed their views and themselves.  And neither is really prepared to return to their Southern home.

At the end of the story - I won't tell what happened in the middle, of course - your mind flips back, as Laura's does to wonder - what was the point that set these events into motion, reminiscent of a question in "The Shack".  As in our own lives, you don't know how all the pieces fall together, which ones knock the next one over like a set of dominoes.

The story is about families, Black and White.  But the issues in the book aren't all that way.  Yes, there's racism which, at least for me, is a definite "wrong."  And there's taking care of your family, a "good".  But then there's - do you side with your family, even when they're wrong?  Can you be a good person and exact revenge?  Is it so easy, just not to mention a betrayal and hope it doesn't come up?  But, as Laura says, its better if you begin and end it all with love.

I got caught up in the story and forgot, while I was reading the book, that the father dies. I was shocked when he did, then recalled they were digging his grave at the beginning.  When you have finished the book, I urge you to go back and read the first couple of chapters again and see if you don't say,"ooohhhh, I get it!"

A few other things to consider....

- Jordan, a White woman, uses the "n-word" throughout the book, in dialogue by the White characters.  Recently, there's been controversy about Q. Tarentino using it in his movie, "Django," set in the 1860s.  Is it appropriate to use the "n-word" when historically accurate?  Should authors/screenwriters temper the vocabulary for modern sensitivities?

- Often suggested as a restitution for slavery is "40 acres and a mule."  I never gave much thought about the mule, but at one point in this story, the value of the mule is highlighted, illustrating the vast difference in potential income that the animal represents, and by consequence, the livelihood, lifestyle and hopes of the farming family.

- On the cover, there is an image - I believe its a bird reflected in the water.  Interesting enough, I'm still figuring out the symbolism.  But one day, I happened to glance at it and it appeared to be a silhouette of a man running.  Hmmm.

I was drawn in by the story, but I was pulled by the subtleties of the characters' emotions.  Jordan does a nice job of mixing in historical data (which I will presume to be true) of the 1940s into a personal story - I always like to learn a little something when I read.

Have you read it?  What did you think?

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