Mary

by Mary E. Mebane

The life story of a woman who refused to accept life in one of the traditional roles assigned to Black women profiles her background on a poor North Carolina farm and chronicles her road to success

244 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 1981

Reviews

[Samantha Gronberg]

It frustrates me to no end the Goodreads has removed so many of the volunteer librarians that help run this site as there are multiple errors for this book and another on Mary Mebane’s page. This book actually titled “Mary An Autobiography” tells the autobiography of Mary Mebane. Mary grew up in a the rural area surrounding Durham. Mebane does a fantastic job giving a first hand account of life in the piedmont during segregation and post Civil rights moment. Her snapshot of the world at this time is both enlightening and disheartening. The only reason I brought it down a star was because there was more than one occasion where it gave off the Cinderella vibe. “I’m doing everything and trying to be so perfect why does the world and everyone in it hate me??” As Mary explained in the book much of that hatred was from blatant racism and colorism but the relationship with her family still gave off a “prodigal child thrown to wayside for not reason” feeling that just seemed hard to believe. Going to keep an eye out for her sequel novel Mary Wayfarer (also mis-titled on goodreads) to see if she gives us more insight on the relationships between her and her family. Oh and fingers crossed she just takes Diane and gets the hell out of Wildwood asap.