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What Members Thought

Astrid Lim
I always have this conflicting feeling of Oprah's book club choices. This book is not an exception. I actually wanted to like it more - it's an interesting (and quite uncommon) topic of African American families from the South who moved to the North, only to find out that the challenges were still there, sometimes even worse than their previous lives.

Each chapter of this book told a story of one or two of Hattie's children. It's an interesting concept because Hattie had a lot of kids with their
...more
Joanne
Aug 01, 2013 rated it it was ok
This book just didn't seem to do it for me. I don't think there was much about the "Great Migration" as was touted in the blurb. The characters didn't seem to be all that connected to each other, even though they were all part of one family. Each character, each story just seemed ok as a stand-alone (and since Mathis said the book started as individual short stories that makes sense), but really stretch the boundaries of my belief in a lot of ways. (My favorite chapter was the one with Bell.) Al ...more
Beverly
Review coming shortly
Brenda
Jan 01, 2013 rated it it was amazing
It was a great read.Each chapter was about a different person,very descriptive.I think Hattie did love her children,but was disappointed by life and her circumstances.She was so worried about feeding and taking care of her children,that she couldn't show them the love that she had for them.Unfortunately,they became messed up adults as a consequence. ...more
Tiffany
Aug 05, 2015 rated it it was ok
I had a really hard time getting through this book. It was really depressing
Ching-In
Aug 07, 2012 marked it as to-read
Shannon Wallner
Dec 05, 2012 marked it as to-read
Darci
Jan 13, 2013 rated it it was amazing
Beth
Feb 03, 2013 rated it liked it
Jocelyn
Feb 07, 2013 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: haul2016
Camille
Feb 12, 2013 rated it liked it
Tanya
Mar 04, 2013 marked it as to-read
Tammy AZ
Apr 09, 2013 marked it as to-read
Shelves: owned, kindle
Diane
Jun 20, 2013 rated it it was ok
Tania
Jul 06, 2013 marked it as to-read
Ahsia
Jul 23, 2013 is currently reading it
Polly-Alida
Mar 21, 2014 marked it as to-read
Jayme Pendergraft
May 07, 2014 rated it it was ok
Shelves: 2014, src-spring-2014
Nikki Morse
Apr 08, 2015 marked it as to-read
Megan
Jun 15, 2015 marked it as to-read
Shelves: oprahs-book-club
Julie
Jul 16, 2015 rated it really liked it
Jenna
Sep 03, 2013 rated it liked it
Ra
Oct 20, 2015 rated it liked it
Shelves: nypl
Kristen Iworsky
Nov 28, 2016 marked it as to-read
alana
Feb 04, 2020 marked it as to-read
Ching-In
Jun 23, 2023 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
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