Coleman hill: a biomythography - kim coleman foote

Once in a while, a writer comes along with a brilliance that stops the breath.

Kim Coleman Foote is that writer.

--Jacqueline Woodson Kim Coleman Foote has the rare talent of completely immersing you in time and place .

A sweeping yet intimate family saga.

--Sarah Jessica Parker, SJP Lit Coleman Hill is the exhilarating story of two American families whose fates become intertwined in the wake of the Great Migration.

Braiding fact and fiction, it is a remarkable, character-rich tour de force exploring the ties that bind three generations.

In 1916, Celia Coleman and Lucy Grimes flee the racism and poverty of their homes in the post-Civil War South for the Promised Land of the North.

But soon they learn that even in Vauxhall, New Jersey, black women are mainly hired for domestic work, money is scarce, children dont progress in school, and black men die young.

Within a few short years, both womens husbands are dead.

Left to navigate this unwelcoming place alone, Celia and Lucy turn to one another for support in raising their children far from home.

They become one anothers closest confidantes and, encouraged by their mothers friendship, their childrens lives become enmeshed as well.

However, with this closeness comes complication.

As the children grow into adolescence, two are caught in an impulsive act of impropriety, and Celia and Lucy find themselves at irreconcilable odds over whos to blame.

The ensuing fallout has dire consequences that reverberate through the next two generations of their families.

A stunning biomythography--a word coined by the late great writer Audre Lorde-- Coleman Hill draws from the authors own family legend, historical record, and fervent imagination to create an unforgettable new history.