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Faces in the Moon
"As my grandmother was dying, she told my mother, then nine years old, that she would always be watching her from the moon. And throughout her childhood, my mother sat on her back porch and waited for her mother's face to appear in the moon. Sometimes she saw it clear and defined, and she went to bed happy."
Faces in the Moon is the story of three generations of Cherokee women, as viewed by the youngest, Lucie, a woman who has been able to use education and her imagination to escape the confines of her rootless, impoverished upbringing. When her mother's illness summons her back to Oklahoma, Lucie finds herself confronted with the legacy of a childhood she has worked hard to separate from her adult self.
Her mother, Gracie, and her maternal aunt, Auney are members of the Cherokees' "lost generation," women who rejected the traditional rural ways in search of a more glamorous life as autonomous working women. With tragic irony, Gracie and Auney do not recognize that white America has exploited and rejected them, nor do they understand why. In foolish pursuit of the American dream, they have lost the respect of their own people without earning the respect of mainstream society.
For the girl Lucie, being an Indian means living in a shack near Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where her mother works in a restaurant, and trying to cope with the succession of men who enter and leave her mother's house. Her understanding changes when, at a low point in Gracie's life, Lucie is sent to live with her great aunt Lizzie, a stern farm and "full-blooded" woman who reveals to Lucie the existence of alternatives to her mother's uprooted ways of living.
Throughout the novel, Bell has woven together the sounds of women's voices, telling and retelling stories, explaining and speculating, comforting and seeking comfort. From this piece of her own family history, and from the voices of those women as they preserved that history and imbued their own lives with meaning through the retelling of tales, Bell has fashioned a first novel of impressive emotional power.
Faces in the Moon is the story of three generations of Cherokee women, as viewed by the youngest, Lucie, a woman who has been able to use education and her imagination to escape the confines of her rootless, impoverished upbringing. When her mother's illness summons her back to Oklahoma, Lucie finds herself confronted with the legacy of a childhood she has worked hard to separate from her adult self.
Her mother, Gracie, and her maternal aunt, Auney are members of the Cherokees' "lost generation," women who rejected the traditional rural ways in search of a more glamorous life as autonomous working women. With tragic irony, Gracie and Auney do not recognize that white America has exploited and rejected them, nor do they understand why. In foolish pursuit of the American dream, they have lost the respect of their own people without earning the respect of mainstream society.
For the girl Lucie, being an Indian means living in a shack near Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where her mother works in a restaurant, and trying to cope with the succession of men who enter and leave her mother's house. Her understanding changes when, at a low point in Gracie's life, Lucie is sent to live with her great aunt Lizzie, a stern farm and "full-blooded" woman who reveals to Lucie the existence of alternatives to her mother's uprooted ways of living.
Throughout the novel, Bell has woven together the sounds of women's voices, telling and retelling stories, explaining and speculating, comforting and seeking comfort. From this piece of her own family history, and from the voices of those women as they preserved that history and imbued their own lives with meaning through the retelling of tales, Bell has fashioned a first novel of impressive emotional power.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 26, 2026
Being given this book by my mother when I approached her for the first time as an adult seeking cultural reconnection & knowledge on our Native family, I was anxious to read it and did not pick it up for a few months after reading some reviews on its subject matter that scared me. While she had said that reading the book helped her a lot in understanding & feeling less alone in her own identity, I was afraid of looking too closely at it, and as a result this book was left unread for several months. As soon as I did feel ready to read it, this book grabbed my attention and kept it until I finished it in 1 night.
While a bit hard to follow the characters and perspective changes at the beginning of the story, once you get to know them things all fall into place. It is an experience akin to getting to know a real person. To me, this confusion & blurring of familial lines in the beginning, while possibly unintentional, reveals an underlying unhealthy level of interconnectedness and a struggle for identity that happens to you when you grow up in a family like this. The book speaks to this several times in the dynamic of storyteller-listener wherein Lucie’s mothers’ words flow freely without much care or thought for her presence at all - treating her child self as a mirror and nothing more, revealing the objectification and dehumanization Lucie experiences at the hands of her caregivers. This is contrasted further on in the book, wherein Lucie experiences storytelling as reciprocal care whilst healing from an illness under the guidance of someone other than her mother.
Reading this book with a background so similar to its main character is more of a flashback than any kind of imagining. Its prose elucidates near crystal clear sensory images of what it was like to grow up in & around Oklahoma in a mixed-blood Southeastern Native family, for good and for bad. In the expressive faces and backhanded compliments and pallet sleeping nights and tobacco chewing beer drinking stealing-to-live habits of relatives, I hear and see my own family. It reads very much as an authentic and genuine connection the author must have had to real people who are very near the characters and very near to her heart.
In this connection the author paints not just a picture of the complex emotional dynamics of familial abuse & intergenerational trauma, but portrays unequivocally the intersections of race, class, gender, cultural assimilation, religious belief, policy, addiction, and the way each individual experiences the consequences of each of these in forming their own identity & in the way they experience life. The author also touches on the peace and healing that can be found in returning to traditional ways, whatever that may look like, and on the fact that sometimes a certain relative needs to die before you can truly start your life & acknowledge what you have been running from. While much of media stereotypes Native characters as abusive, drunk, lazy, or stupid; and as a result does incidentally depict our trauma; this book tackles the reasons why our communities may struggle so much and portrays them in a multifaceted light. It shows us as whole people who deal with these things instead of a 2D caricature or token.
This book, while likely enjoyable for people of all backgrounds, is really a by-Natives for-Natives piece of media. There are perspectives written here I find myself missing in every book I read that does not include them. This is a book I will undoubtedly find myself coming back to & reading multiple times to be able to process all of it. 10/10 very few complaints this book is so good
While a bit hard to follow the characters and perspective changes at the beginning of the story, once you get to know them things all fall into place. It is an experience akin to getting to know a real person. To me, this confusion & blurring of familial lines in the beginning, while possibly unintentional, reveals an underlying unhealthy level of interconnectedness and a struggle for identity that happens to you when you grow up in a family like this. The book speaks to this several times in the dynamic of storyteller-listener wherein Lucie’s mothers’ words flow freely without much care or thought for her presence at all - treating her child self as a mirror and nothing more, revealing the objectification and dehumanization Lucie experiences at the hands of her caregivers. This is contrasted further on in the book, wherein Lucie experiences storytelling as reciprocal care whilst healing from an illness under the guidance of someone other than her mother.
Reading this book with a background so similar to its main character is more of a flashback than any kind of imagining. Its prose elucidates near crystal clear sensory images of what it was like to grow up in & around Oklahoma in a mixed-blood Southeastern Native family, for good and for bad. In the expressive faces and backhanded compliments and pallet sleeping nights and tobacco chewing beer drinking stealing-to-live habits of relatives, I hear and see my own family. It reads very much as an authentic and genuine connection the author must have had to real people who are very near the characters and very near to her heart.
In this connection the author paints not just a picture of the complex emotional dynamics of familial abuse & intergenerational trauma, but portrays unequivocally the intersections of race, class, gender, cultural assimilation, religious belief, policy, addiction, and the way each individual experiences the consequences of each of these in forming their own identity & in the way they experience life. The author also touches on the peace and healing that can be found in returning to traditional ways, whatever that may look like, and on the fact that sometimes a certain relative needs to die before you can truly start your life & acknowledge what you have been running from. While much of media stereotypes Native characters as abusive, drunk, lazy, or stupid; and as a result does incidentally depict our trauma; this book tackles the reasons why our communities may struggle so much and portrays them in a multifaceted light. It shows us as whole people who deal with these things instead of a 2D caricature or token.
This book, while likely enjoyable for people of all backgrounds, is really a by-Natives for-Natives piece of media. There are perspectives written here I find myself missing in every book I read that does not include them. This is a book I will undoubtedly find myself coming back to & reading multiple times to be able to process all of it. 10/10 very few complaints this book is so good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2020
This was a bit of a confusing read, as it was from multiple POV even within a chapter. There was also some time hops. That said, it is ruggedly complex intergenerational story of Indian Women & their families. The last 20ish pages really ties it all together and provides some more clarity.
March 29, 2016
Faces In The Moon introduces the reader to generations of women within one Native American family and explores the varied feelings between them regarding their culture. While some of the women completely embrace their heritage, others are uncomfortable with it, preferring to present themselves in a more Caucasian way, at least in public. One woman, Gracie, tries to disguise her Native American features by dying her hair blonde, shaving her eyebrows down, drawing them back in. She believes this looks more womanly than her natural look. Her fixation on her looks seeps into her relationship with her daughter, Lucie. Lucie sadly takes a lot of heat from her mom, having to endure statements like "You're plain... better be smart."
Lucie also battles harsh treatment from her mother's revolving door of boyfriends -- some alcoholic, some abusive. When Gracie becomes deeply involved with one man in particular, the man moves in and things almost instantly become tense between him and Lucie. Not only does Gracie's white boyfriend express racist sentiments toward Lucie, but there is also subtext that suggests that some sort of sexual assault might have been carried out on Lucie. Eventually the boyfriend makes the ultimatum that either Lucie has to leave or he will, so Gracie packs up Lucie and takes her to live with Great-Aunt Lizzie. All the way to Lizzie's house, Gracie is berating her daughter (as well as drinking while driving, btw -- class act, that one) -- cursing Lucie for her "selfish" behavior, telling her, "all you had to do was be nice to him... well, your days of milk and honey are over.."
Lizzie and her husband, Uncle Jerry, live out on a farm where, for what seems like the first time in Lucie's life, Lucie is able to sleep in a real bed rather than a pallet on the floor, as well as get solid meals and clean clothes every day without fail, not to mention just the overall safe environment a rural farm provides, compared to what Lucie was coming from! Funny thing is, Lucie is surprised to realize that even with all this, she still misses her mom.
The first part of the story focuses on these early years. Later on it fast forwards into present time when Lucie is now a grown woman and literature professor, embarrassed to ever be reminded of her mother's 3rd grade education. Lucie is called back home when her mom has to be hospitalized for a lengthy time. When not sitting with her mother in the hospital, Lucie spends time at her mom's house, taking care of the place and thinking back on the traumas and heartaches of years past, reflecting on how far things have come.
While this story might not have been the most exciting as far as plot action goes, I did think it was good as a general character study kind of look into the intricacies of a family, how we can't choose our genetic families and how some of us seriously pull short straw when it comes to ideal home situations, but how we can also dedicate ourselves to doing the best for our own lives. Finding ways to make peace with life's disappointments, acknowledging the blessings, however small they might seem.
As far as specific characters that spoke to me, I think my favorite was Uncle Jerry. Gotta love that he seemed so unruffled by life, one of those unwavering optimists that could easily find joy and humor in nearly anything. Given what Lucie was struggling with in her mind and home life, I think he was the perfect balm to keep her sane and grounded during a really challenging time. Also, given that I have Native American heritage myself, I did enjoy all the jokes made about the dangers of angering a Native woman (the NA women making the jokes themselves, btw) -- "Ain't nobody meaner than an Indian woman that's been crossed."
Lucie also battles harsh treatment from her mother's revolving door of boyfriends -- some alcoholic, some abusive. When Gracie becomes deeply involved with one man in particular, the man moves in and things almost instantly become tense between him and Lucie. Not only does Gracie's white boyfriend express racist sentiments toward Lucie, but there is also subtext that suggests that some sort of sexual assault might have been carried out on Lucie. Eventually the boyfriend makes the ultimatum that either Lucie has to leave or he will, so Gracie packs up Lucie and takes her to live with Great-Aunt Lizzie. All the way to Lizzie's house, Gracie is berating her daughter (as well as drinking while driving, btw -- class act, that one) -- cursing Lucie for her "selfish" behavior, telling her, "all you had to do was be nice to him... well, your days of milk and honey are over.."
Lizzie and her husband, Uncle Jerry, live out on a farm where, for what seems like the first time in Lucie's life, Lucie is able to sleep in a real bed rather than a pallet on the floor, as well as get solid meals and clean clothes every day without fail, not to mention just the overall safe environment a rural farm provides, compared to what Lucie was coming from! Funny thing is, Lucie is surprised to realize that even with all this, she still misses her mom.
The first part of the story focuses on these early years. Later on it fast forwards into present time when Lucie is now a grown woman and literature professor, embarrassed to ever be reminded of her mother's 3rd grade education. Lucie is called back home when her mom has to be hospitalized for a lengthy time. When not sitting with her mother in the hospital, Lucie spends time at her mom's house, taking care of the place and thinking back on the traumas and heartaches of years past, reflecting on how far things have come.
While this story might not have been the most exciting as far as plot action goes, I did think it was good as a general character study kind of look into the intricacies of a family, how we can't choose our genetic families and how some of us seriously pull short straw when it comes to ideal home situations, but how we can also dedicate ourselves to doing the best for our own lives. Finding ways to make peace with life's disappointments, acknowledging the blessings, however small they might seem.
As far as specific characters that spoke to me, I think my favorite was Uncle Jerry. Gotta love that he seemed so unruffled by life, one of those unwavering optimists that could easily find joy and humor in nearly anything. Given what Lucie was struggling with in her mind and home life, I think he was the perfect balm to keep her sane and grounded during a really challenging time. Also, given that I have Native American heritage myself, I did enjoy all the jokes made about the dangers of angering a Native woman (the NA women making the jokes themselves, btw) -- "Ain't nobody meaner than an Indian woman that's been crossed."
January 18, 2019
This story is billed as fiction, but I would bet it's heavily autobiographical. It reads more lived than invented.
It tells the tale in first person of Lucie Evers, a mixed blood Cherokee girl, and her mother and aunt who take care of her. Her mother is a very flawed human being. She smokes too much, gets involved with questionable men, and criticizes her daughter at nearly every turn. Still, Lucie loves her mother, and it's her mother's stories which draw her in. She serves as her mother's rapt audience when she's younger, learning about older members of her family, especially her grandmother, who was a link to the time before dispossession and reservations.
After talking back repeatedly to her mother's abusive boyfriend, she is carted off to her Aunt Lizzie's farm, and rays of sunlight begin to slash through the dark tone. Her aunt and her Uncle Jerry are gentler souls, who give Lucie space to explore and be herself. The rustic area around the farm serve as a healing balm, cleansing some of her mother's toxicity. Lizzie, at first a terse, reluctant caretaker, eventually softens in the girl's presence, opening up with stories and advice of her own. Lizzie sleeps close by when Lucie is sick. Lizzie's troubling cough becomes more persistent over the years, awakening Lucie to the fact that this golden time can't last forever. Her mother returns to claim her daughter eventually, the boyfriend Lucie offended turning into another romantic footnote. In that time though, Lucie finds a slender line of hope.
When Lucie returns home many years later as a successful adult, she must reckon with her mother's legacy, exploring her own feelings about her troubling childhood. It's a gripping journey, written with lucid , startling honesty. The prose is lean, but every word is precisely placed, and cuts to the truth of imperfect families and the long-term effects of a peoples' oppression. If there were any sense in this world, this book would sit proudly alongside other classics we revere, such as To Kill A Mockingbird.
It tells the tale in first person of Lucie Evers, a mixed blood Cherokee girl, and her mother and aunt who take care of her. Her mother is a very flawed human being. She smokes too much, gets involved with questionable men, and criticizes her daughter at nearly every turn. Still, Lucie loves her mother, and it's her mother's stories which draw her in. She serves as her mother's rapt audience when she's younger, learning about older members of her family, especially her grandmother, who was a link to the time before dispossession and reservations.
After talking back repeatedly to her mother's abusive boyfriend, she is carted off to her Aunt Lizzie's farm, and rays of sunlight begin to slash through the dark tone. Her aunt and her Uncle Jerry are gentler souls, who give Lucie space to explore and be herself. The rustic area around the farm serve as a healing balm, cleansing some of her mother's toxicity. Lizzie, at first a terse, reluctant caretaker, eventually softens in the girl's presence, opening up with stories and advice of her own. Lizzie sleeps close by when Lucie is sick. Lizzie's troubling cough becomes more persistent over the years, awakening Lucie to the fact that this golden time can't last forever. Her mother returns to claim her daughter eventually, the boyfriend Lucie offended turning into another romantic footnote. In that time though, Lucie finds a slender line of hope.
When Lucie returns home many years later as a successful adult, she must reckon with her mother's legacy, exploring her own feelings about her troubling childhood. It's a gripping journey, written with lucid , startling honesty. The prose is lean, but every word is precisely placed, and cuts to the truth of imperfect families and the long-term effects of a peoples' oppression. If there were any sense in this world, this book would sit proudly alongside other classics we revere, such as To Kill A Mockingbird.
November 13, 2015
A wonderful example of Cherokee literature
This novel follows the lives of three generations of Cherokee women that are seeking their own identities as Cherokee tribal members, women, mothers, and urban Indians living in a contemporary setting. As the story unfolds, we see patterns of motherhood and how children are effected by those that mother them --alongside the tough choices that mothers must make.
Some of the mothers within this text are abject, and make deplorable decisions that put their children in danger. Other mothers, or stand-in mothers, are wonderful women that take mothering very seriously and will protect children that are not even their own. This is a gorgeous story about one woman's journey to forgive her mother for the wrongs that she has committed against her--but will she forgive her mother, or is their bond shattered forever?
I used this book in my Master's Thesis, so I'm clearly biased towards it and am in love with it. But I highly recommend this novel!
This novel follows the lives of three generations of Cherokee women that are seeking their own identities as Cherokee tribal members, women, mothers, and urban Indians living in a contemporary setting. As the story unfolds, we see patterns of motherhood and how children are effected by those that mother them --alongside the tough choices that mothers must make.
Some of the mothers within this text are abject, and make deplorable decisions that put their children in danger. Other mothers, or stand-in mothers, are wonderful women that take mothering very seriously and will protect children that are not even their own. This is a gorgeous story about one woman's journey to forgive her mother for the wrongs that she has committed against her--but will she forgive her mother, or is their bond shattered forever?
I used this book in my Master's Thesis, so I'm clearly biased towards it and am in love with it. But I highly recommend this novel!
January 26, 2017
I picked up this book as a used text book. It has writing in the margins - apparent class notes. Avoiding the prior reader's notes I read this story. Loved it! Focused on women in a fictional family, their interaction with each other and how their relationships evolve over the years. I wish there was more. Great reading.
September 9, 2016
Commonly summarized as a depiction of a mother-daughter relationship, this is a beautiful narrative of abuse and maternal lineage and the mother-daughter relationship is shared by a community of women who are both the nurturer and child.
November 3, 2007
beautiful novel about american indian oral tradition
November 22, 2008
One of those books that just need to go in the freezer, and stay there until they asphyxiate or freeze to death. Whichever one comes first.
August 23, 2025
4.8
Being Chickasaw from Oklahoma, this book is very close to my heart. It is very powerful.
Being Chickasaw from Oklahoma, this book is very close to my heart. It is very powerful.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews