I loved the writing, it was so painful and so beautiful. Don't let my inability to express my admiration affect your potential opinion of this book. The writing was breathtaking and heartbreaking. But...
the author never finished this book. He wrote it over a period of forty years, years that saw great change and social upheaval, but he never finished it, so we don't get resolution. I wanted resolution, I guess I always do, but life keeps moving on and some things don't get resolved. So the story is not complete, it is not resolved. One thing that struck me is that I never learned about Juneteenth! It wasn't taught in school. We had President's day and 4th of July, knew about the emancipation of the slaves of course. But never heard of Juneteenth. That seems like an important day for all Americans, the day we as a country abolished slavery! It is a little more complicated than that, you can read about it on Wiki. Pres Lincoln actually outlawed slavery on Jan 1 1863 but it took awhile for states to comply with the law. Texas was the last state, in the Confederacy, to legally comply and that law was signed on June 19, 1865. Delaware and Kentucky didn't free their slaves until an Amendment to the Constitution abolishing "chattel slavery" on Dec. 6, 1865. The last slaves held in the Continental U.S. were in the Indian Territories and they were freed in 1866. But Juneteenth is the day we celebrate the end of slavery and the emancipation of the slaves, an important day for ALL Americans.
Pres Joe Biden just signed the holiday into law and it is celebrated in parts of Mexico as well.