Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Healing

4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 · rating details · 2,604 ratings · 522 reviews

Rich in mood and atmosphere, The Healing is awarmhearted novel about the unbreakable bonds between three generations of female healers and their power to restore the body, the spirit, and the soul.

In Antebellum Mississippi, Granada Satterfield has the mixed fortune to be born on the same day that her plantation mistress's daughter, Becky, dies of cholera. Believing that th...more

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published February 21st 2012 by Nan A. Talese

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Books of 2012

203rd out of 2,660 books — 7,702 voters

Best books of February, 2012

14th out of 48 books — 83 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jun 05, 2013 Richard rated it 2 of 5 stars

Rating: 2* of five

The Book Description: "Compelling, tragic, comic, tender and mystical... Combines the historical significance of Kathryn Stockett's The Help with the wisdom of Toni Morrison's Beloved." —Minneapolis Star Tribune

Rich in mood and atmosphere, The Healing is awarmhearted novel about the unbreakable bonds between three generations of female healers and their power to restore the body, the spirit, and the soul.

In Antebellum Mississippi, Granada Satterfield has the mixed fortune to b...more

19 likes · like · see review

Dec 22, 2011 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-fiction, america, four-star-fiction, historical-fiction, av

I approached this novel warily because it had been compared to a wildly popular piece of Southern fiction of which I was not fond. I'm happy to report that I found the comparison entirely inapt. Odell's work offers greater subtlety of message and a richer, more authentic representation of people, period, and place.

The healing for which the book is named refers not only to healing of the body, but also to the power of connecting through stories to heal the parts of us that can't be touched in an...more I approached this novel warily because it had been compared to a wildly popular piece of Southern fiction of which I was not fond. I'm happy to report that I found the comparison entirely inapt. Odell's work offers greater subtlety of message and a richer, more authentic representation of people, period, and place.

The healing for which the book is named refers not only to healing of the body, but also to the power of connecting through stories to heal the parts of us that can't be touched in any other way. Granada shares her life story with silent little Violet, and the telling works its magic on the psyches of both speaker and listener. Eventually Violet must come out of her silence in her eagerness to tell the parts of the story unknown to Granada.

Granada's story centers on her relationship with Polly Shine, a black folk healer and midwife from whom Granada learned the healing and intuitive arts on a Mississippi plantation in the years just before the Civil War. Polly plucked Granada from her elevated position as a house slave, recognizing that Granada had healing gifts as yet undeveloped.

Polly Shine is the sparkle in this story. Spunky and outspoken, she embodies the hope of Freedom for her people, and sows that seed of possibility in their minds until it becomes a reality. Feared by some as a conjure woman, revered by others as a miracle worker, Polly lives by her own lights and mocks her white owners.

This is a story full of heart and a little humor, carefully researched by the author, himself a white child of the South. I would pick up the book thinking I was only going to read a chapter, and before I knew it I'd read 40 or 50 pages. It's a captivating picture of plantation life and healing lore as seen through the eyes of the slaves.

My only reason for not giving this lovely book five stars is that I felt abandoned near the close of the book. It jumps forward in time, which was disappointing after I'd developed a strong attachment to Polly Shine and Granada. It felt like a rush to the finish after a careful buildup. I do love the way it ends, though, with the message of passing forward to the young ones the responsibility for remembering and respecting what their forebears endured and accomplished.

(less)

28 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was asked to review an advanced copy of this book for my sister's bookstore. One of her employees highly recommended it and said that it was the next "The Help." I have not read "The Help," but on the surface there are some similarities. However, this book focuses on the lives of slaves in the Mississippi delta area just prior to the civil war. The overall tone is uplifting, it pays tribute to some of the shocking and horrible things that occurred during that time, but primarily focuses on hop...more

7 likes · like · see review

Oct 27, 2011 Jaime Boler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Author Jonathan Odell writes that American slaves and their descendants "have strived and survived as a proud of community and, in spite of every adversity imaginable, infused the larger American culture with a richness like none other." Their story is our story, he maintains. What a story he tells in his second novel The Healing, to be released in February 2012. Historically accurate details and characters that seem to come to life on the page populate the book. The African-American slaves in O...more Author Jonathan Odell writes that American slaves and their descendants "have strived and survived as a proud of community and, in spite of every adversity imaginable, infused the larger American culture with a richness like none other." Their story is our story, he maintains. What a story he tells in his second novel The Healing, to be released in February 2012. Historically accurate details and characters that seem to come to life on the page populate the book. The African-American slaves in Odell's world are players, not pawns; they are active, not passive, participants in the oppressive and repressive institution that was slavery. The slaves tried to forge identities for themselves and their families while slave owners did their best to suppress their attempts. Nothing, however, could stop Odell's Polly Shine.

Odell previously wrote The View from Delphi. He currently lives in Minnesota but was born in Laurel, Mississippi, the hometown of this reviewer. The Healing is very personal to him as this novel works to heal the wounds slavery, segregation, and racism have left behind. In the author's note to the reader, he recounts several instances of his early life in which he saw racism firsthand. His note is very revealing and allows readers a chance to see into his mind and his heart. In fact, I urge readers to read it first, as it will give you great insight into the author and his mindset.

Set on a cotton plantation in the Mississippi Delta, The Healing begins when the twelve-year-old daughter of Benjamin and Amanda Satterfield dies of cholera. Mistress Amanda is distraught, even enraged and unstable, and takes a baby from one of the Satterfield slaves to raise as her own. The mistress renames the baby Granada and exiles her true parents to the swamps. Mistress Amanda dresses Granada in the clothes of her dead daughter and parades her before friends and neighbors. Granada loves the clothes, for the clothes made the mistress notice her: "The clothes made her more than beautiful. They made her visible." The sight of Granada, an African-American slave in the clothes of a white girl, appalls the whites. The mistress also has a pet monkey named Daniel Webster who perches on her shoulder. Here, Odell is rather heavy-handed. The reader is meant to compare Granada to the monkey; they are the same in the eyes of slaveholding whites. Perhaps Odell does not think readers would fully grasp the meaning without the presence of the monkey. Granada is just a slave, no matter how many fancy clothes she wears; she will never be the daughter of the mistress. She merely mimics the world of the whites, and her emulations are met with disdain. As Granada tries to curtsy "like she had seen white women do," the monkey pulls her hair, making her tilt to the side. She looks to see the reaction: "The women had dropped their eyes to the floor, looking red-faced, as if they had been slapped in church…." A man watching her "hid his mouth behind his hand and coughed loudly." The man's eyes, Granada, saw, "danced with a wicked merriment." Her mimicry only makes Granada ridiculous, since "tying a scrap of red on a straw broom don't make it no Christmas tree." This works even without Daniel Webster, although the monkey serves a purpose later in the novel.

Everything changes on the plantation with the arrival of Polly Shine, who had "bird feathers stuck out of her braids this way and that, and around her neck she wore a ponderous necklace made of gleaming white shells." Polly was "as skinny as a river bird, and draped over her shoulders was a mangy wrap made from the fur of some animal Granada imagined being too ugly to ever have lived." Odell is at his very best when he writes her scenes. Satterfield purchases Polly from North Carolina for the grand sum of five thousand dollars. The other slaves speculate as to her purpose there: "She was too unsightly to be thought of as frolic in bed for the master. She was too far past her childbearing years to multiply the stock. Though she seemed nimble enough, it was hard to imagine her being brought all the way from North Carolina for field work." The reason for her presence is soon revealed: Polly is a healer, and the master hopes she can cure his slaves of the "blacktongue," a disfiguring and painful disease. The master gives Polly lots of leeway. Polly even chooses Granada to be her apprentice, causing a battle of wills between the mistress and the slave. Polly, however, emerges as the victor, leaving Granada furious and saddened. Polly does things her own way. Although she is a slave, she is really her own boss. I loved her and consider her Odell's richest, most well-developed character. She stirs things up on the plantation so much so that nothing would be the same after her arrival for Granada, the Satterfields, or her fellow slaves. For example, Polly tells Granada Master Satterfield "can't give you your Freedom. The Yankees when they come can't. I can't. If you think any somebody can, then you always going to be their slave."

Readers will appreciate the meticulous research Odell conducted for The Healing. He combed through archives and listened to the Works Project Administration's interviews with former slaves recorded in the 1930s. Odell also talked to numerous descendants of former slaves. His hard work paid off as historical accuracies abound in his novel. Odell paints a picture of a world in which house slaves believe they are better than field hands. That is true. Slaves were hierarchical. In the novel, the master has an affair with a slave named Rubina, a typical practice. The mistress knew of her husband's affair and hated him (and Rubina) for it. This, too, is historically accurate. In fact, many mistresses treated any children from such dalliances cruelly. In The Healing, Satterfield names his slaves and this sometimes did occur. Not all masters named their slaves, however. Ella, Granada's natural mother, originally gave her daughter an African name, Yewande. In the slave south, slaves could not come and go as they pleased. Written permission from the master was required. Odell shows readers the same was true for Polly Shine. Slaves also resisted slavery through rebellion. Their resistance might be active (revolt) or passive (everyday rebellion). Near the end of Odell's novel, we see Satterfield's slaves engaging in rebellious acts against the master. Therefore Odell gives us a story that very well might have happened, even if it is fiction. Nothing he writes is inaccurate or not plausible.

The world of Odell's imagining is one in which readers will want to immerse themselves. Filled with both historical accuracy and vivid, rich, detailed characters, The Healing proves Odell is an up-and-coming author. The Healing recalls earlier greats such as Toni Morrison's Beloved and Alice Walker's The Color Purple. I believe Odell will receive great acclaim. With The Healing, he will certainly put Laurel, Mississippi, on the literary map. Oxford who?

The version I read was an Advance Reading Copy. Thank you, Todd Doughty.
(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Nov 06, 2012 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: slavery, three-star-reads

I have read a lot of books on slavery, healers and plantation life; so thematically, everything was familiar territory. The way in which this book was different in how the normal situations for these types of books were handled. The perspective was fresh and respectful (of the readers and history).

While I liked the book well enough, it made me personally feel so un-womanly and out of touch (which might actually be an apt description of me).

Reading note: the first few chapters are the least sati...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 01, 2013 Tara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A great deal of research went into this book, and it shows, without being glaringly educational. An intense look at plantation life from the pov of the "swamp slave," and a respectful exploration of the role midwives played amongst the slave population before the 1950s. A very female-centered book, this story highlights the importance of oral history and has one of the best definitions of freedom I've ever heard:

"All Freedom is two words: 'Yes' and 'No.'"

So simple, but so true, this book delves...more

1 like · like · see review

May 14, 2012 Janelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love this book and would highly recommend it. Anybody that draws you into characters like this is worth reading!

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 09, 2013 Vannessagrace Vannessagrace rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: jonathan-odell

The story begins and ends with Granada who was stolen from her mother arms shortly after birth by the master’s wife who was grieving the death of her daughter, and who decided that Granada would replace her dead child. Though the master’s wife didn’t love Granada, she treated her like a cherished pet and Granada, not knowing better, mistook the treatment as a mother’s love and acceptance.

Master Satterfield bought Polly Shine, a slave and a healer, to cure his slaves of a mysterious plague. While...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 22, 2012 1864 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Dec 02, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: solid

Odell has delved into the slave narrative and tried to spin it, ultimately successfully. The journey of the slave master's narrative becomes a lot like the mansion that the protagonist currently occupies: stagnant, moribund, and fetid with memories and discomfort. The certainties of women wanting to save their children from their fate via mercy killing is not new, Beloved did this in an extraordinary way already and there was a Polly-esque figure in Baby Suggs, Rubina's narrative and Grenada's i...more

like · see review

Nov 30, 2012 Everyday eBook rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Everyday by: Juliet Simon

Jonathan Odell grew up in the Jim Crow South. Researching his own family history and Mississippi roots led him to discover elderly African-American midwives who practiced, unrecognized, in the first half of the twentieth century. Their stories traced back generations, and Odell felt compelled to give voice to their experiences. His evocative novel, The Healing, is about a powerful slave midwife on an antebellum Mississippi plantation who changes the lives and fates of many, especially a rebellio...more Jonathan Odell grew up in the Jim Crow South. Researching his own family history and Mississippi roots led him to discover elderly African-American midwives who practiced, unrecognized, in the first half of the twentieth century. Their stories traced back generations, and Odell felt compelled to give voice to their experiences. His evocative novel, The Healing, is about a powerful slave midwife on an antebellum Mississippi plantation who changes the lives and fates of many, especially a rebellious young girl. There is a spiritual dimension to be sure, but it is the dramatic twists and profound characters that will keep you riveted to this narrative.

The year is 1847 on the Satterfield plantation. Unstable, opium-addicted Mistress Amanda, whose own daughter died of cholera, takes a slave's newborn girl, renames her Granada, and keeps her as a peculiar replacement. Granada grows up in the house as a kitchen slave, desperate for the Mistress's sporadic attention. When Master Ben's slaves are afflicted with what seems like a plague, he purchases an old slave healer named Polly Shine, who selects a reluctant twelve-year-old Granada to be her apprentice, believing her to also have the gift. Polly Shine teaches Granada the mysterious ways of healing slaves' broken bodies, but also nurtures their souls with dignity and hope. In fact, Polly Shine's powers go way beyond what the Master could have ever imagined.

What she does is teach Granada about the coming of freedom and the idea of "remembering" who she is and where she comes from. It's a challenge to get Granada to confront her origins, to accept that her mother was a swamp slave, or even hear her given name. Despite a pull toward midwifery and the patience Polly Shine shows her, Granada still longs for the comforts of the Mistress's house and the pride she sadly believes can be found there. Even after Granada carries out a reckless plan, Polly Shine is steadfast and maintains perspective, imparting a story told by her mother, an African weaver: "The difference in weavers is, some see the tangle and others see the weave. The ones that can't take their eye off the tangle, they never rise above it." And when Granada is at the crossroads of her destiny, she heeds these words and takes a surprising path.

In a sense this story is about teacher and disciple, and Granada must inflict pain and suffer her own in order to understand Polly Shine's lessons. But no matter what poor choices Granada initially makes, Polly Shine does not cast her aside. In his research, Odell found that all of the midwives he interviewed were spiritual women who felt a calling toward healing. Polly Shine reflects that spiritual quality and I feel comforted and safe knowing that such a woman existed, first in reality, and then in Odell's glorious fictional world.

Head to www.EverydayeBook.com for more eBook reviews (less)

like · see review

Nov 22, 2012 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jonathan Odell says he grew up in Mississippi where "we were taught to see half the population not as individuals but as functionaries--maids, yardmen, etc..." In The Healing, he focuses on this racial divide by specifically looking at the black midwife who was important up until the 1950's when the white medical establishment discredited them. He writes about these women with such intimacy that you think the author must be a black midwife! Apparently, he interviewed several of these ladies who...more

like · see review

May 19, 2012 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Comparing this book to The Help is misleading. Sure, it is about black/white relations in the south, and part--the smaller part--is set after "freedom". But that is where the similarities, for me, end.

The story centers around Gran Gran, and the book jumps back and forth from her childhood to her old age (there is very little about her middle years.) It starts when she must take in the child of a woman who has just died. It appears that no one else will have the girl. The girl has been emotionall...more

1 like · like · see review

May 09, 2012 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

This deserved 3.5 stars but I could only say I liked it, not REALLY liked it. I did develop a small attachment to Gran-Gran, the main character who is looking back at her childhood as a slave on a plantation and how she came to learn about "healing". She seems an admirable character because she was a selfish, prideful child who cared only about appearances yet she learns to depend more on her insight and her heart rather than her eyes.

Some books work well jumping back & forth in time change...more

like · see review

Apr 26, 2012 Carly rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Apr 12, 2012 Jo Butler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Granada is an enslaved girl, torn from her mother’s arms on a whim to be raised in a mansion as the mistress’s pet. Sometimes dressed in finery, sometimes scrubbing the kitchen floor, the confused Granada knows nothing of her past – who her mother is, where her people came from, or of the ancient voices who could guide the girl if only she knew how to use her Sight.

The master brings a healer home, paying an unworldly price for the ancient hoodoo woman. Polly Shine recognizes Granada’s gift and o...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 21, 2012 Jade A. rated it 5 of 5 stars

American history to learn from... The Healing takes us into a world we wouldn't be able to see first hand. There is much wisdom in this book, set just before the Civil War, Polly is brought to the huge cotton plantation to save the master's slaves from an epidemic of 'black tongue'. A wicked white plantation owner and his wife lose their 12 year-old daughter to the “black tongue” disease. The fragile wife loses it. The wife then steals the newborn of a too young slave and names the child after a...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 15, 2012 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found this book at Costco while browsing the book table (I go around 3 times), and picked it up. Lalita Tademy, author of Cane River, gave The Healing an excellent review and I really liked the cover. I found it interesting that a gay, white man wanted to attempt to write about a slave women and their relationships. He pulled it off. Being originally from Mississippi, Odell felt that dealing with this subject healed wounds for himself. The story centers around Granada who is chosen by the slav...more

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 24, 2012 Gayle rated it 5 of 5 stars

While I admire Pat Conroy, I was disheartened by his comparing this book to The Help.
I had read enough leading up to the release of the book to know that Jon O'Dell had done massive research so I expected it to outshine The Help. The Help is entertaining, but The Healing is so much more.

The writing is flawless; the story is true to its time in history. This is literature at its finest and it's going
to affect many people. By the time I finished, I was weeping ... and for many reasons:
For the sa...more

10 likes · like · see review

Feb 11, 2012 Cindy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I will remember the characters in this book for a long time to come. I've lived in the South and I know it can be mystical, strange and wonderful all at the same time and that is what The Healing is like. Jonathan Odell writes about women in a wonderful way and the women in this story come to life. I do a lot of reading at night, and while I was reading this book, I couldn't wait to catch up with Granada, Polly, Violet, Sylvie and the others each evening when I opened up The Healing to get lost...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 27, 2012 Vikki rated it 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book so much! It is so beautifully written. I felt that every word was chosen with great care. It is a story that takes place in the Mississippi Delta region before the Civil War. It tells the story of Granada Satterfield, a slave, a healer, a midwife. The story flip flops from when Granada is a girl and when she is a wise old woman, Gran Gran. It is absolutely excellent.
But I enjoyed equally as well Jonathan Odell's "Note to the Reader" at the end of the book. He says it so wel...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 20, 2012 C.M. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jonathan Odell’s sophomore novel is a genuine epic filled with round characters and a sense of place, the sort of book that just doesn’t get written anymore. Just when you think novels have nothing left to tell us about the past and how it connects to our present, a book like The Healing comes along.

Young protagonist Granada and the seemingly ancient antagonist Polly Shine do a dance around each other that pulls the reader in and works that magic so necessary to story—the kind of magic that make...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 04, 2012 Barb rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction-1800s, new-in-2012, slavery, vine, women, read-in-2012, america-pre-civil-war

There's a lot to like in this novel. If you read and enjoyed March by Geraldine Brooks, The Kitchen House, by Kathleen Grissom or The Help, by Kathryn Stockett you will probably enjoy this story as well.

Gran Gran, in her nineties in 1933, recalls the conflicts and hardships of her childhood as a slave and the life altering impact that a wise woman named Polly Shine had on her when she was chosen to learn the woman's healing ways.

I liked the characters Jonathan Odell created, the story is compe...more There's a lot to like in this novel. If you read and enjoyed March by Geraldine Brooks, The Kitchen House, by Kathleen Grissom or The Help, by Kathryn Stockett you will probably enjoy this story as well.

Gran Gran, in her nineties in 1933, recalls the conflicts and hardships of her childhood as a slave and the life altering impact that a wise woman named Polly Shine had on her when she was chosen to learn the woman's healing ways.

I liked the characters Jonathan Odell created, the story is compelling and I kept reading to learn what happened to Granada as she grew up. There were many moving moments throughout this story but what I enjoyed most is the way Odell brings the story full circle, there is a certain satisfaction in the ending he gives these characters.

I think the author does an amazing job with the female voice, I never would have guessed the writer was a man. The shift from the more contemporary narrative (1933) and the historical narrative (1860) was smooth and easy with events in each time period adding to the story as a whole. I liked the illusions the character Polly shares with Granada as well as her advice and aphorisms.

I would have liked some expansion on Gran Gran's life after the Civil War and a few other aspects of the story. It seemed as if the author avoided showing the ugliness and brutality of slavery until about half way through the book. I think that may have been a wise choice when considering the mass marketability of this story but on the other hand it would have given the book a more realistic feel if the horrors of slavery had been woven throughout. There were also a few threads that could have been smoothed and polished a bit more but I think that most readers won't notice or care.

I really enjoyed the author's note, which gives the reader some perspective on where the author has come from. I will look for more books by Jonathan Odell and I recommend this to readers who enjoy exploring issues of racism and those who have an interest in learning about slavery.

If you haven't already read the books I mentioned earlier I also highly recommend those,The Kitchen House: A Novel is an all-time favorite of mine. And reading this has now moved up the following books in my "to be read" pile: 'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl' by Harriet Jacobs and 'Kindred' by Octavia Butler. (less)

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 25, 2013 Lncropper rated it 3 of 5 stars

In this book, a white slave owner loses her own child, and takes a slave girl to somewhat take her place. She is renamed Granada. She is part daughter, part house worker, and plays with the mistress' son. She is not allowed contact with her mother, a field worker. On special occasions the mistress dresses her up in her dead daughter's clothes and shows her off. (If it sounds like she is crazy, she is.) Meanwhile, the master has bought a woman reputed for her healing techniques. She wants Granada...more

like · see review

Apr 23, 2012 Autumn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Do yourself a favor and get yourself the audiobook of The Healing today, like now, when you're done reading this. One of the best stories I've heard in a long time. I'm sure the book it great, but audiobook is just so fantastic. Make sure to listen to the author's note and the midwife's interview at the end.

The first time I talked to anybody about this book I told my husband I was listening to an audiobook about plantation slaves from a woman's point of view and I was really having a hard time b...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 23, 2013 Deyanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

I seldom give a five ranking on a book. While this novel has some minor flaws, so much about it is good...really commendable. What is it lately that pulls me to read more about racial divide? As immersed as I have been with Lincoln's life, this novel added a rich dimension as I remain entangled in the politics and struggles of the mid 19th century; however, this time from the point of view of strong Southern slave women.

The power of story for me is a believable theme, and this book had a fresh a...more

like · see review

May 23, 2013 Mrs. Reed rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting, complicated, and provocative book. For me, one of the strangest things about it is that it was penned by a white man. I am trying to decide if that matters. Definitely, the more surprising half of that description is "man."

This book had really interesting things to say about identity. How much is your name tied into your identity? How does not knowing your biological parents influence the way you see yourself? What about if you see yourself as "better" than other members...more This was an interesting, complicated, and provocative book. For me, one of the strangest things about it is that it was penned by a white man. I am trying to decide if that matters. Definitely, the more surprising half of that description is "man."

This book had really interesting things to say about identity. How much is your name tied into your identity? How does not knowing your biological parents influence the way you see yourself? What about if you see yourself as "better" than other members of your group? How much does other people's idea of you enter into your idea of yourself? Granada didn't know the name her mother gave her; she was raised as a pawn between her master and mistress, a way for the mistress of the plantation to humiliate her husband and pay him back for the death of their daughter. Dressed up in the dead daughter's clothes and paraded about for visitors and raised in the plantation owners' house, she sees herself as being far above the field slaves. She refuses to even learn to pick her mother out of a crowd, wanting nothing to do with her biological family or where she came from. A large part of this story is about being proud of who you are simply because that's who you are.

The book's frame has Granada as an old woman who has to look after the daughter of a woman who has just died. She's trying to get her to open up, to talk, and the old stories she tells make up the bulk of the book. The frame helps pull together the idea that you've got to look at the big picture instead of all the little pieces (seeing the "weave" instead of the "tangle").

There are a lot of books about slaves, but this is the first one I've read that didn't center around escaping or proving the cruelties of the slave owners. It manages to take a subject that has been the center of so many historical fiction books and make it seem really new. This book helped me to look at slavery in a different way--if that's the only life you've ever known, and you don't even know what the word "freedom" means, would you want to go out on your own? Books like this can tend to be preachy, stereotyped, and one-dimensional. This one felt fresh because all its characters are so flawed, even though of course the slave owners are so much more flawed than everyone else!(less)

like · see review

May 03, 2013 Michael Jenkins rated it 2 of 5 stars

I had a very difficult time rating this book, due to the subject matter. The beginning of the story was packed with suspense and emotion but it went downwhill as it progressed. Honestly, it was one of the books that I wished would have gotten better but it just fell flat in many areas. Starting with the characters, few of them were unecessary or added very little to the story. Originally,I thought this book was about healing people but then it turned into something completely different. It would...more

like · see review

May 03, 2013 R. rated it 4 of 5 stars

The next 3 books I have read all have to do with history and midwives - I didn’t even plan it - it just worked out that way.

This story is so much about place and time - southern states during the end of slavery. A young woman is trained in healing and delivering babies by another older woman who wants to pass down her craft. The story is told from the point of view of the “story memories” of an old woman recounted to a young girl who has been through a trauma. She tells the story of her young y...more

like · see review

Mar 27, 2012 Doreen Rice rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: midwife, doula, people in the Healing Arts

I headed out to the sun at 11:45 a.m. and just now finished the book. I was laying on my belly and reading the note to the reader .... and I was freeeeeezing - I looked up and had not even noticed a huge ass fog had rolled in - I can not even see the high rises just a block away from mine.

Anyway .... WOW ..... the characters from the book haunted my dreams last night as I am sure they will for many nights to come. Universal stories and lessons .... and ones I still need to learn in regard to hel...more

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (14)

More editions...

Genres

Historical Fiction

124 users

Book Club

26 users

Cultural > African American

19 users

Adult

8 users

Adult Fiction

8 users

Military History > Civil War

7 users

Cultural

6 users

American > Southern

6 users

Novels

5 users

Literature > 19th Century

4 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Jonathan Odell

Born in Mississippi, I grew up in the Jim Crow South and became involved in the civil rights movement in college. I hold a master’s degree in counseling psychology and have been active in human resource development for over 30 years, including holding the position of Vice President of Human Resources for a Minneapolis based corporation and later founding my own consulting companies.

I am the author...more

More about Jonathan Odell...

Books by Jonathan Odell

The New Brunswick Poems Of Jonathan Odell

The American Times: A Satire: In Three Parts: In Which Are Delineated the Characters of the Leaders of the American Rebellion ...

Stories from the Blue Moon Cafe III: Anthology of Southern Writers

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Healing

2 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Healing

“Sometiimes when you look at a person all you see is the tangle and you miss the weave” — 5 people liked it

“A flapping tongue puts out the light of wisdom."~Polly Shine” — 4 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Healing
avg rating	preview: The Healing Goodreads rating: 4.03 (2604 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12266595-the-healing?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333578260l/12266595.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12266595-the-healing?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Healing by Jonathan Odell[/url]

The Healing

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website