The Mothers and American Spy

This #thankyouthursday, I am grateful for The Mothers and American Spy.

Both are excellent works of fiction that feel real, and while their plots differ, they share a common thread of affecting me greatly.

It’s convenient that Brit Bennett and Lauren Wilkinson are both black women and that February is Black History month, but I would gladly amplify these writers and their work any day of the year.

I finished The Mothers a week or so ago, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days. I tried describing it to my partner, but the storyline is such a small sliver of the overall effect. Judging from a synopsis, I’d thought the book would would be a light read, which would have been fine with me, but it turned out to be a work of art that I’m grateful to have experienced.

And I’m about two-thirds through with American Spy, which, again, I thought was going to be more playful than it is, but I nonetheless appreciate its depth. Not to mention its fascinating action—the story is so compelling that every time I get a spare 30 seconds I want to reach for my Kindle. (But I have to resist, since 30 seconds inevitably turns into 20 minutes.)

So if you’re looking for your next read, or you’d like a literary way to honor black history (which of course includes current creations), or you’re interested in understanding perspectives beyond your own—or perhaps you want all three!—I could not recommend these books more strongly.

Love > fear,
Christina

p.s. Ah, books. Did you know I’m writing one? I am currently revising the first draft, and the process is both harder and more rewarding than I thought it would be. That being said, it might still be a while till you see it in print, so in the meantime, I direct you to the already published Are You My Boyfriend? (which is significantly shorter than my current project, but more or less on the same topic).