Product Description

Set in the Georgetown neighbourhood of Washington in the 1920s, this is the story of young black girl Johnnie Mae Bynum, entrusted with the care of her younger sister Clara when at the river. Johnnie Mae's attention wanders and her sister drowns. Johnnie Mae must come to terms with her place in the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #854796 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 251 pages

Customer Reviews

Where's the passion?
Breena Clarke's portrayal of a family living in 1920s Washington teetered on the edge of being really very interesting, however her style of writing is so bland and wan that we don't venture into truly creative writing. Rather oddly, some of the potential high points in the lives of the characters were summed up in a few paragraphs, whilst mundane events seemed to take centre stage. I very much wanted to root for Johnnie-Mae, but couldn't empathise with the character. It's more Mills & Boon than Toni Morrison.

Great storytelling,filled with wisdom.
Enjoyed this book, well worth the time. Breena Clarke is an excellent storyteller. "River" is filled with wisdom sayings and reflections on cultural traditions of Blacks from the South. Those insights reflect research done within Breena's family/the kind of listening research that many Blacks fail to do with the elders in their clans. The story of Johnnie Mae is a powerful one with lessons for young and old. I recommend teachers consider this for class assignments. This book will take off with reading clubs.

Pre-Depression Black D.C.
The first thing to know about this book is that it basically has no plot -- it's more a series of loosely connected vignettes that, when taken as whole, combine to give the reader an impression of African-American life in the 1920s in a particular neighborhood in Washington, D.C. So, while the book does open with a beautifully rendered chapter in which the 12-year-old protagonist's sister drowns in the Potomac river, that tragedy doesn't lead to the kind of linear story with clear resolution many readers might expect.

In that respect, the book is a bit of a failure -- but to my mind, it more than makes up for it by presenting a compelling roster of leading and supporting characters who bring alive the social history of pre-Depression black Washington. To be sure, the little girl's death hovers over the entire book, and the author does a great job of showing how the community rallies to support the family, but it's really about the community, not the tragedy itself. We get little peeks into everyday life, rituals, habits, social mores, and so forth. And of course, racism and it's economic and social consequences are woven throughout the book in a seamless manner.

Ultimately, it's a very personal book -- the author lost her child to an accident, and it's hard not to read the book as part of her grieving process. Also, her parents grew up in Georgetown during the era the book describes, and the book began as a story based on their reminisces, so in that sense it honors their history. It's definitely a book worth checking out if you have a connection to Washington, D.C. or just want a good fictional glimpse of African-American social history -- just don't expect much of a story.