Janie was born to a young girl who was not ready to be a mother and so was raised by her Nanny (grandmother) but Nanny is aging and has been a slave to men and seen what her daughter went through and wants a better life for Janie so arranges for her to marry a wealthy man who can keep her in comfort. Janie has thoughts of her own about this but does as Nanny wants and it's ok for a little while. There is no passion and it's a dull life but Janie thinks that these things will grow but instead the longer she is married to her first husband, the more he starts demanding of her and demeaning her. This leads her to runaway with Joe who promised her passion and vitality and that he was going to make something of himself in a big way. And he did become a successful businessman and mayor of a small town but he was also controlling and demeaning of her and she was still miserable until he died. After that, Janie was not sure she wanted another husband who would control her every move. She was finally enjoying her freedom but then Teacake came along and taught her to play chess and shoot a gun and all sorts of things that are generally thought to be for men only and he made her laugh and she fell in love. They were married and Teacake treated her more like an equal and partner than anyone else ever had and she loved it and him. They were good together and she grew into a whole person and more sure of herself. Unfortunately, nothing that good can last.
I had never even heard of this book or author until this year's new literature course. I read reviews talking about how the dialect made it difficult to understand and I can see that. I found that I definitely had to slow down when reading it to make sure I was understanding it properly but it was the right fit for this story. The imagery in the prose was masterfully done and the characters were well fleshed out and realistic. I'm very glad to have read it.
Page count: 219p/3,749p ytd/295,770p lifetime
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