Edith Jackson

New York. 1992. February 1992. Dell. 1st Dell Paperback Edition. Very Good in Wrappers. 0440211379. 181 pages. paperback. keywords: Caribbean Trinidad Literature Women African American America World Literature. DESCRIPTION - Edith Jackson lived in Peekskill, New York, with her three sisters, two foster brothers, and her foster mother, Mother Peters. Soon she would be eighteen, and when she left high school, she swore, she would take her sisters and give them a home of their own. But then she met Mrs. Bates, a retired lawyer, who laughed at Edith's ambition and gave her the reasons she felt Edith would fail. Edith hated Mrs. Bates for her preaching and wanted to stop visiting her comfortable, disheveled home. But if she did, she would lose her chance to see ' 'Mr. Brown again, Mrs. Bates's handsome nephew. Meanwhile, Edith's sisters were making plans of their own - and they were not the same as Edith's. Bessie with the mussy eyes had begun to cuddle up to Uncle Daniels, Mother Peters' friend, and bright Minnie was hoping Mrs. Cramer, the mother of her best friend, would adopt her. Only Suzy, like Edith herself, seemed to have nowhere to go. Finally Mr. Brown gave Edith the loving she wanted, and she set her sights on marriage and a real home for her sisters. With insight and sensitivity, Rosa Guy tells the moving story of Edith's search for and security. Her compassion for the abandoned ones among us overwhelms this realistic novel about the failures of the institutions of America, whether church, school, or welfare. Ultimately, Edith learns, people must take the responsibility for shaping their own destinies, as the structure of caste and class in society leaves each of us on our own. inventory #47918. …