Crossing Over Jordan - Hardcover

Brown, Linda Beatrice

3.92

13 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345378571 ISBN 13: 9780345378576

Publisher: One World/Ballantine, 1995

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"A DEEPLY AFFECTING NOVEL about the hidden legacy of slavery--from the waning of the Civil War to the early twenty-first century."
--Essence
Georgia McCloud lives to see emancipation. Her daughter Sadie discovers that, though she might be free, she is powerless to break with a man who abuses her. But at the center of their communal pain is Sadie's intelligent, beautiful, ambitious daughter Story, who wants more from life than she's been led to expect. Her uncompromising desire for safety corrupts Story to her very soul, dooming her to wander an emotional desert, repressed, rigid, enslaved to propriety. Her daughter Hermine must then challenge the lie that life is hardship. But can Hermine finally break the cycle of oppression that has chained the women of her family? Can she alone cross over Jordan?

Reminiscent of the early work of Alice Walker and Gloria Naylor, Crossing Over Jordan deftly explores the themes of the mother-daughter relationship, the emotional scars left by history, the struggle to be authentic in the throes of great personal pain, and the transforming power of love.
"Written with passion, force, and compelling clarity, Crossing Over Jordan is a priceless novel that immerses us--even baptizes us--in the deep waters of our humanity. . . . A must-read that deserves a prominent place among books written by African-American women."
--Gloria Wade-Gayles
Author of Pushed Back to Strength: A Black Woman's Journey
Home
"ENTERTAINING AND ENLIGHTENING."
--Library Journal
From the Trade Paperback edition.

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From the Publisher:

When my sister found out she had been accepted to the Peace Corps and would be leaving for Senegal in six months, she was inundated with all sorts of books, articles, and information from friends and family members. Although books about Africa were helpful for her to learn about her new home for the next few years, she told me that one of the most important for her was the copy of DAUGHTERS OF AFRICA that I had given her.

In this anthology, my sister can read the actual voices of Africa, rather than just information about the history or sociology or economy of a certain country. This book brings together poetry, plays, fiction and journalism in the unique and varied voices of women from all over Africa, as well as those of African ascent. My sister can read the truths of Senegal in the words of such writers as Mariama Ba, Nafissatou Diallo, Annette M'Baye, Aminata Sow-Fall, Myriam Warner-Vieyra, and Phyllis Wheatley. Although I am happy for my sister's upcoming journey, I have been worried about the distance that will soon be between us. But a book like DAUGHTERS OF AFRICA gives me a window on what her experience will be, and in a way brings me closer to the people and country she will soon inhabit.

About the Author:

Linda Beatrice Brown is Distinguished Professor of Humanities and holds the Willa B. Player Chair in the Humanities at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina.

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