Profound, poetic, and at times painful to read, Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing is searing, truly a soaring literary achievement that I won't stop thinking about anytime soon.
Jojo is 13 years old, on the cusp of manhood but in some ways still very much a child, longing for the security and comfort of an easier time in his life. He and his younger sister Kayla (short for Michaela) have essentially been raised by their grandparents, since their mother Leonie is often absent, either physically or emotionally, as she "ain't got the mothering instinct," and their father Michael is in prison. Three-year-old Kayla often looks to Jojo for food, love, and nurturing, which often irritates Leonie when she is around.
Growing up a biracial child in Mississippi isn't easy, but Jojo's grandparents, Pop and Mam, have taught him compassion and love, as well as survival skills to weather the hard times both physical and emotional, and how to be a good man. But Mam is dying of cancer, and her illness seems to be eating away at Pop as well. Leonie is also having a difficult time dealing with her mother's illness, as she was always such a force in her life.
"Growing up out here in the country taught me things. Taught me that after the first fat flush of life, time eats away at things: it rusts machinery, it matures animals to become hairless and featherless, and it withers plants. Once a year or so, I see it in Pop, how he got leaner and leaner with age, the tendons in him standing out, harder and more rigid, every year. His Indian cheekbones severe. But since Mama got sick, I learned pain can do that, too. Can eat a person until there's nothing but bone and skin and a thin layer of blood left."
Given her choice, Leonie would rather be with Michael, just the two of them, although at times she wants her children to need and love her. But the fact that Leonie is black and Michael is white makes their relationship difficult where his family is concerned—his father has made it clear that she and her children are not welcome in their home. To combat these stresses, Leonie spends a lot of time getting high, which has its own drawbacks—she is haunted by visions of her dead brother, Given, who was killed in a hunting accident. She knows Given disapproves of her, and she wants him to go away, but she refuses to give up the drugs that bring on his presence.
When Leonie gets word that Michael is being released from the notorious Parchman penitentiary, she is determined that she and the children will greet him there, even if it means a road trip across the state. Accompanied by her coworker, Misty, the trip to Parchman is rockier than she imagined it would be, with Kayla getting sick and Misty insisting on a few detours to pick up some "sustenance." And even though she dreams that once she sees Michael he'll sweep her and the kids away to their own life, more often than not, Leonie wants to hit the kids for annoying her, and just wants them to be back with her parents. And the trip becomes ever more fraught with peril from there.
In addition to Given's spectral presence, the book is also haunted by the presence of Richie, a young boy Pop knew when he was a prisoner at Parchman years ago. Only Jojo can see and hear Richie, who wants to know how he met his end years ago, so he can finally be at rest.
There is a lot going on in this book, but Ward's narrative is utterly mesmerizing. I felt this pervasive sense of doom or danger while reading and kept hoping everything wasn't going to fall apart. It is testimony to Ward's skill as a storyteller that a book dealing with such complicated, heavy themes as racial identity, grief, violence, addiction, the responsibilities of parenthood, and the dark places our minds can go still generated suspense and flowed so beautifully.
The book does have its difficult moments, which may cause people anguish. Leonie's feelings toward her children saddened me, but you can see she is a much more complex character than you initially think. There are also some graphic descriptions of violence and animal butchery that may be hard for some to read. Others may not understand the mystical elements of the story—the ghosts, the spiritual powers that some of the characters have—and if those aren't elements you traditionally enjoy, you may not like this book as much.
Even though many Goodreads friends had raved about this book, I was hesitant, because I wasn't sure if it would be too much for me. I was surprised at how much I loved it and how quickly the story moved.
This is the first of Ward's books I've read and it won't be the last—this is an absolutely stellar achievement, and easily one of the best, and most unique, books I've read all year.
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