If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin


If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin



                I’m trying to process what I just read, while I write this review. I am a sack of emotions and it would make no sense trying to lie to anyone about it. This is the story of Tish and Fonny. It begins with Tish visiting Fonny in jail, telling him that she carries his child. From there we learn of their story, how they have always belonged to and eventually loved one another. How her family became his family and how they planned on becoming a family. But within the pages of this book we learn of how families can function but be dysfunctional, how the legal system can and in some ways is meant to break you and how love, the love we have for each other can be the only thing that gives us hope.
                There were moments when the writing in this book took my breath away. It is beautiful. It is romantic. It is full of just this amplified love between two people, and reading about that love was amazing. Then there were moments when I was full of anger because what happened to Fonny is based on a truth that has been happening all across the United States and there are plenty of people like Fonny rotting in a jail cell because of crimes they didn’t commit. This was a snapshot of one couple and the family supporting them as they fight like hell to hold on to each other and make it through the worst moments of their lives. The imagery is just stunning and the world building, simple and yet gritty. You feel transported and your heart breaks with the reality. 
                These characters just lived for me and I’m still living in their world and I’m feeling their pain. No one prepared me for the swath of emotions that I’m going through right now, so let me warn you. This book isn’t easy. It is beautifully written, the characters are beautifully drawn. But is equally full of love, pain and loss and sorting through it hurts. With that being said, I highly recommend this novel. I love Baldwin’s fiction because it puts me through an emotional roller coaster that resonates. My broken heart gives it a 5 out 5 stars.

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