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This Kooky Wildflower Loves a Little Tea and Books's Reviews > Caucasia
Caucasia
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by
This Kooky Wildflower Loves a Little Tea and Books's review
bookshelves: society, literature-black-american, historical-fiction, food-for-the-melaninated-soul, ownvoices, realistic-fiction
Jan 31, 2016
bookshelves: society, literature-black-american, historical-fiction, food-for-the-melaninated-soul, ownvoices, realistic-fiction
In a world where we struggle to find our place, issues of race, sex, gender, sexuality and religion strive to complicate matters. In this debut novel of Danzy Senna, she explores all five, without the goal of solving their complexities, but understanding them better.
Birdie Lee, a daughter of the revolution, deciphers a society where she was born to "pass" as a spy of sorts between black and white - never grasping hold of her fit. Where does she belong among the nuances of both camps? Since her parents are 1970s radicals, one camp forces itself upon her as her white mother, Sandy, informs her that she will live as a white, Jewish girl in New Hampshire to protect the both of them from the FBI. Birdie's never comfortable with the implications of such a choice, but she deals, while searching for her sister, Cole, also mixed but able to fit inside the black camp, and her father, Deck.
While playing spy, she realizes what some whites say and feel where comforted by anonymity, away from those they may offend. Such experiences drive her to seek her black side and live with them. But, she's not as comfortable as she expects (though she does feel better among them) as there are communal survival tips she has to master to fully feel "in". Will she meet the members of her other half again? (view spoiler) Will they accept her and welcome her back in their newly-fanged lives? (view spoiler).
Pros: Birdie's naivete is slight and she grasps matters as they come in a bittersweet way, never happy or cliched. Fast paced. Well-developed characters. Understanding of a muddled world - nothing's tidied by the book's end, which some books can try to "pass" off onto their readers.
No cons. Sorry. It's a good read for a debut novel. I can't help but think Senna put in some of herself in this novel because the words read true, not from her imagination, as a mixed woman herself.
Highly recommended. Read with open eyes, not closed minds.
Birdie Lee, a daughter of the revolution, deciphers a society where she was born to "pass" as a spy of sorts between black and white - never grasping hold of her fit. Where does she belong among the nuances of both camps? Since her parents are 1970s radicals, one camp forces itself upon her as her white mother, Sandy, informs her that she will live as a white, Jewish girl in New Hampshire to protect the both of them from the FBI. Birdie's never comfortable with the implications of such a choice, but she deals, while searching for her sister, Cole, also mixed but able to fit inside the black camp, and her father, Deck.
While playing spy, she realizes what some whites say and feel where comforted by anonymity, away from those they may offend. Such experiences drive her to seek her black side and live with them. But, she's not as comfortable as she expects (though she does feel better among them) as there are communal survival tips she has to master to fully feel "in". Will she meet the members of her other half again? (view spoiler) Will they accept her and welcome her back in their newly-fanged lives? (view spoiler).
Pros: Birdie's naivete is slight and she grasps matters as they come in a bittersweet way, never happy or cliched. Fast paced. Well-developed characters. Understanding of a muddled world - nothing's tidied by the book's end, which some books can try to "pass" off onto their readers.
No cons. Sorry. It's a good read for a debut novel. I can't help but think Senna put in some of herself in this novel because the words read true, not from her imagination, as a mixed woman herself.
Highly recommended. Read with open eyes, not closed minds.
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Reading Progress
January 31, 2016
– Shelved
January 31, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
March 25, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
March 27, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
May 23, 2016
–
Started Reading
May 23, 2016
–
9.2%
"A bit slow. Intriguing, though. You can see the set-up for the split between the sisters."
page
38
May 23, 2016
–
24.21%
"Dad's a hypocrite. Mom's crazy. What could go wrong with their daughters?"
page
100
May 23, 2016
–
32.69%
"Biracial black girl, Birdie, becomes half-Jewish girl, Jesse Goldman on the run with her white radical mother. Let the games begin."
page
135
May 24, 2016
–
41.89%
"I get a feeling Birdie/Jesse will get her "Spring Awakening" from Nicholas. But, she's twelve and he's a teen. Perverse?"
page
173
May 24, 2016
–
45.52%
"Since when is it appropriate for a mother's boyfriend to grab and scold her daughter as if he's her father?"
page
188
May 24, 2016
–
50.61%
"Birdie/Jesse is talking too much. She slipped telling a different family history. Also, a moment of tenderness ruined by the adage "soiner or later, they remember your color." I like knowing that she explires her muddled sexuality. She recounts early lesbian experiences while kissing Nick. So many issues discussed in this book. I love it."
page
209
May 24, 2016
–
50.61%
"Birdie/Jesse is talking too much. She slipped telling a different family history. Also, a moment of tenderness ruined by the adage "soiner or later, they remember your color." I like knowing that she explires her muddled sexuality. She recounts early lesbian experiences while kissing Nick. So many issues discussed in this book. I love it."
page
209
May 24, 2016
–
57.87%
"What is it like to pass and ignore the spurs and things said when others think you aren't looking?"
page
239
May 24, 2016
–
65.38%
"Some humorous moments of Birdie/Jesse feeling natural around members and nuances of her black side. Talking music (aka Hip-Hop) in the early 80s. Sheila/Sandy, a white woman, telling Jim, her white boyfriend to sit "his honky ass", forgetting to hide her secret self among those "not in the know." Hilarious stuff among some serious dilemmas."
page
270
May 25, 2016
–
81.84%
"I wonder if Sheila/Sandy is running from the Feds, or she's running from herself. Anyway, I'm glad to see Birdie drop the false name of Jesse and reclaim the former name. She's on her way to rediscovering herself amidst the madness. Living with her paternal aunt, Dot and her daughter cousin, Taj, is the best choice she's made thus far."
page
338
May 26, 2016
– Shelved as:
society
May 26, 2016
–
Finished Reading
March 21, 2017
– Shelved as:
literature-black-american
March 21, 2017
– Shelved as:
historical-fiction
March 21, 2017
– Shelved as:
food-for-the-melaninated-soul
March 21, 2017
– Shelved as:
ownvoices
March 21, 2017
– Shelved as:
realistic-fiction
Comments Showing 1-3 of 3 (3 new)
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by
Deb
(new)
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rated it 4 stars
Dec 28, 2016 01:58PM
Phenomenal review.
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Debbie wrote: "Phenomenal review."Oh, thank you! I appreciate your kind words.
Welcome. I enjoyed reading yours. It touched on so many of my thoughts about this book.
