So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba

"So Long a Letter" by Mariama Ba is a spectacular book. Ramatoulaye is a widow when the novel begins. We meet her while she is in mourning. Soon, we learn about the other sorrows of her heart. Times throughout which she cried and cried. Her healing strength comes through writing this letter to Aissatou. Because the friendship means so much to her Ramatoulaye names her daughter after Aissatou. I thought this was a beautiful way of showing appreciation for a friend who always had a listening ear and a nonjudgmental heart.

In this letter to Aissatou, Ramatoulaye gives details about her marriage to Madou Fall. This lengthy letter is like a flashback in time. Both Aissatou and Ramatoulaye faced the identical situation with their men. Each woman chose a different way to handle their new circumstances. Still, neither woman judges the other woman.

I adored the book for so many reasons. I loved the friendship between the two African women. I enjoyed learning about the West African culture and I liked learning more about the African male. At the last page, I had my pen ready to write down other titles by Mariama Ba. Unfortunately, this is her first and last novel. "Ba died tragically in 1981 in Dakar after a long illness, just before her second novel Le Chant Ecarlate appeared. "So Long A Letter" by Mariamb Ba is translated from the French by Modupe Bode-Thomas.

If anyone can translate the French phrase, I would appreciate knowing the name of the novel in English.

A Mercy by Toni Morrison

The title of Toni Morrison's new book, "A Mercy" makes me tremble and my arms get goose pimples. Amazing the way she can put one word or two words together making my emotions go all jittery with delight or sadness. I am always in for a bittersweet treat with any words Toni Morrison chooses to write down and publish as a book.

"In "A Mercy" there are people who have known what it's like not to be loved and those who have known love. There is Sir, Rebekkah, Lina, Florens, Sorrow, Twin, the freed blacksmith and more characters. Each character's life is a memorable story, a book in itself.

In the Seventeenth century religion was around every corner: Baptists, Anabaptists, Separatists, Presbyterians, Catholics and Protestants and also the secret, foreign gods of the slaves. With all this religion, there is also deep hatred, feelings of superiority and greed. These feelings lead to evil bartering for flesh. Other time these other emotions lead to a clinging together becoming as one like in a marriage until each person gains the strength to survive in this new world.

Jacob Vaark is one of the few men who hates the selling of human flesh like chattel. His presence gave me a sense of safe relief. His death made me sad. Born a orphan he sympathized with other needy human beings no matter the color. Perhaps, it's his lack of a real home that leads him to build more than one home for himself looking for a spiritual security. Looking for a place where he can give and receive love.

I favored some characters in "A Mercy." I favored Sorrow. Her life is the one I will remember. Sorrow changes her name after the birth of a daughter. She changes her name to Complete. Wow! That was so powerful for me. I can't tell the story here without spoiling it. At the end of the book I felt complete. I had also witnessed A Mercy.

I feel honored just trying to write a review of Toni Morrison's book. The book, the plot is swollen with wisdom and beauty. I remember the words "motherlove." Oh, how can I stop sharing this book? With Toni Morrison book, there isn't an ending. There is just a resting place. Her book "A Mercy" is as refreshing as water from a rolling brook in the mountains. Thank you Toni Morrison. May you live a long life always with a pen and paper nearby.

Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O'brien

"Without the constraints of damnation, what holds human passions in check?"

Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O'Brien is a courtroom drama. Itis also an American Historical story about the Beecher family. Most of us are familiar with one of the sisters, Harriet Beecher Stowe. She wrote the world famous "Uncle Tom's Cabin." There is also Isabella, one of the other sisters. She fights fervently for the rights of women during the Women's Suffrage Movement. She befriends and works with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Victoria Woodhull and Susan B. Anthony. She becomes closest to Victoria Woodhull.

Although Harriet and Isabella are very much a part of the story being told, the main conflict involves the brother, Henry Beecher and his wife, Eunice. He is the pastor of Plymouth Church. He is known for his sermons about love and forgiveness vs. fire and brimstone sermons. Unfortunately, Henry Beecher becomes involved in a scandal that rocks Boston and New York. This scandal makes the Beecher siblings and their wives or husbands choose sides about Henry's guilt or innocence.

The book is powerfully written. All the characters are three dimensional. It is also a sociological and psychological study of family. Is it ever right for one family member to help others bring their sibling before a judge and jury? Is true love always silent? When some of the members of a family are famous, is there responsibility on all of the family to make a mark on history's page? There were so many questions brought to mind while reading the book. I also thought about how it feels to live so close to your family but no longer welcome within their homes because of a difference in opinion.

The courtroom drama is never boring. It's hot and stagnant inside the court. Perhaps, that made feelings more raw among the people there. I could not stop reading. I just kept thinking how it would all end. I also thought a lot about how far women have come in the annals of American History. Patricia O'Brien is a mighty writer. She leaves not one thread unraveled.