Repossessing Ernestine: A Granddaughter Uncovers the Secret History of Her American Family - Hardcover

Hunt, Marsha

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060174439 ISBN 13: 9780060174439

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1996

Synopsis

The author describes the process of recovering her family's past after she discovered that her long-lost grandmother was alive in an asylum

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

A troubling account of the search for roots in the racially and psychologically complex American South. Hunt, a novelist (Free, 1992, Joy, 1991) and actress (Hair), and, it must be noted in obeisance to the rules of American celebrity worship, the mother of Mick Jagger's first child, is an intelligent, responsible writer. She discovers that her family's deepest secret is an ``insane,'' long-institutionalized woman, Hunt's grandmother, still alive in a nursing home in Memphis. Hunt flies from her home in France to meet Ernestine, a tiny woman over 90, usually silent, withdrawn, perhaps unreachable. Ernestine is living in a small private nursing home in substandard conditions, her upkeep paid for by her dead husband's mistress. A host of disturbing questions about Ernestine's history, and Hunt's family, unfold. Was Ernestine, who has been institutionalized since the 1920s, ever really insane? Or did she just suffer from a combination of postpartum depression and her husband's wish to get her out of the way? Hunt stresses the role of color in this story. Ernestine was a blond, blue-eyed black woman born to a dark mother who was ambivalent about her daughter's appearance. Hunt's research takes her all the way back to the antebellum South and up to the life and tragic death of her father, Ernestine's son, a Harvard- educated psychiatrist. While much of what Hunt uncovers could only be seen as a tragedy, the conclusion does offer a faint note of triumph: Ernestine gains a family of sorts. And Hunt, who recovers and brings to light so much family history, is someone we are glad to come to know, a kind of Everywoman. Repossessing Ernestine reads at times like a cross between a confessional article in a woman's magazine and a detective novel. It's not literature, but it is honest, energetic, and profoundly evocative of the deep, deep psychological imprint of the question of color in the South. (b&w photos, not seen) (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist:

In 1991 Hunt's cousin uncovered (by accident) that their grandmother was still alive. The news prompted Hunt to begin a five-year crusade to find her grandmother, piece together the woman's past, and discover why she had spent the greater portion of her adult life in one mental hospital or another. Her research led her across the country, and she learned some of the family's secrets about their mixed racial heritage; but her attempts to reconnect with long-separated family members were difficult, for they had never been close. After the 1960s Hunt spent much time in Europe, made her name in London in the musical Hair, and maintained a 15-year career in rock music and other media. Mick Jagger is the father of her daughter, Karis. Hunt battled with insufficient finances, an unsupportive family, and her own uncertain feelings during the process of "rediscovering" Ernestine. She did more than just physically take hold of her grandmother; more important she demonstrated acceptance and love for an abandoned family member. A compelling family history. Lillian Lewis

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0060174439
• ISBN 13: 9780060174439
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304