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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