I GIVE THIS NOVEL TEN STARS!


Imagine being a mother of six boys when all you have ever hoped for in life was to give birth to a daughter? When you were young, you played with your dolls pretending that you were caring for that daughter you hoped would grow up to love you. You prayed that your little girl would grow to adore you in a way your own mother and sisters never did simply because your skin was too dark. That is the heart-breaking story of Emma Jean Peace, the young matriarch of this rapidly-growing, African-American family living in a rural Arkansas town during the mid-twentieth century. Emma Jean Peace had been abused, neglected, and reviled by her mother and sisters because of her ebony-hued skin and African features. She was the youngest of three girls but never received the pretty dresses, the dolls, or her mother's love because her mother believed that all of that would be wasted on a such a "dark and ugly thang." So Emma survived that abuse only living for the possibility that one day she would have a beautiful little girl that would provide her with the bond she could never experience with the women in her life.

But after six sons, Emma is sure that her latest pregnancy will yield the daughter she had waited so long and so patiently for. She longed for her daughter so much, that she tricks her husband into getting her pregnant a final time even when he adamantly opposes bringing another child into their struggling family. So when Emma discovers that her precious daughter turns out to be a beautiful little boy, she decides that since God had not sent her a daughter, she would create one. "God heps dose who hep demselves!" Emma declares to the midwife, whom she blackmails into keeping her secret. As a result, little Perfect Peace in born into the Peace family.

For eight years, the little "girl" is doted upon not only by Emma, but by her daddy and her six, hulking older brothers who are so thrilled to have a little sister to fawn over. The men learn to go without food so that little Perfect could have pretty ribbons and dresses and dolls. And they don't mind the stings of jealousy so much because they adore their little sister.

But as that Biblical saying goes, "what is kept in the dark will come into the light." A series of events take place, such as Perfect's blind older brother Bartameus accidently feeling something perculiar about his sister's anatomy one day as they are playing in the field. Then Emma realizes that Perfect begins to show the beginning stages of physically developing into a boy, all the while asking questions about when she will begin her menses and get married to have babies. Emma begins to see the flaws in her plans. Fearful of hurting her precious baby any further, she sits her down and explains that at eight, Perfect must no longer act like a girl, but must become the boy she was supposed to be. After confessing the truth to her family of men, who are appalled, Perfect, who is rechristened as "Paul" is suddenly thrust into the role of being the family's youngest son and he will become that son if it is the last thing the father does! Suddenly Paul must face his father's, brother's and the town's judgement upon his every action. He is heckled even by those who are supposed to be adults. He is ostracized because the town believes he is going to grow up to be a sissy. His father and brother don't know how to treat their son/brother, so they don't treat Paul as anything at all. Now Paul, once the princess of the family, becomes nothing more than an outcast.

Hot potato! Can you imagine? That's all I am going to share about the plot because who is going to read it if I share it all?

The author Daniel Black does a stu-pen-dous job depicting the racial and gender-based psychological issues that are prevalent specifically with African-Americans in the south. This novel challenges what the rural African-American community believes about religion, sexuality, gender identity, child abuse, racial pride, and self-love. We experience the sorrow, the passions, and the healing of each character as we read the story that spans across each of their lifetimes. It was a heart-wrenching, beautifully written novel that left me crying and wishing that someone would turn this beautiful novel into a movie.

I have stopped writing reviews for a while because it was so time consuming but I could not neglect to speak on such as satisfying work. I only wish Goodreads allows us to give 10 stars to a novel.