“Most of the jobs I get, I get cuz I was a slave…Most of the jobs I lost, I lost for telling the truth.”

This book was confusing, in both the description and the plot. The synopsis described a mother watching over her dying son in 1910 Philadelphia. Yet in reality it spanned the period of the American Civil War and slavery, with very little relating to Philadelphia or 1910. Whilst I expected a plot built around racial tensions, the facts of the historical account recounted by the mother did not tie into the ‘current day’ events of 1910 Philadelphia. Obviously, the prejudices and hatred still existed, but they were separate stories that did not gel.

Being under 300 pages, this was a short book, but there were far too many characters who appeared and then disappeared without much input. Deaths or disappearances were not expanded upon nor fully explained, and the pace was not consistent. This constant change of character and side-story did little to hold my attention. I’ve read many books (fiction and non-fiction alike) based on the barbarities of white privilege and am always left ashamed, embarrassed and angry. Yet this did not hit the nerve in the way it should have, which was disheartening. ( )

You know how sometimes a really great, brilliant, original, moving film comes out early in the year and you love it, but you're bummed because what if folks have forgotten about it by time awards season rolls around? Remembered is the literary equivalent of that film. I'm going to trust, though, that it's wonderful enough that folks won't be forgetting it.

Spanning the decades on either side of the Civil War, Remembered is the tale of a family slaves who move to Philadelphia after the war. Edward, the infant son of one of the women in that family is carried north. Fast forward to his adulthood—an early morning streetcar goes out of control, killing several people. Edward is seen at the controls, though Negroes aren't allowed to drive streetcars. He's seized and badly beaten by a crowd of whites, then sent to a hospital where he lies comatose. Edward's mother rushes to the hospital, desperate to tell him pieces of family history she's kept hidden, and hoping her stories will help him cling to life.

That's a quick summary of the central narrative, but this isn't a book you'll want to read quickly. Yvonne Battle-Felton can craft beautiful prose, and it's worth slowing down for and savoring. Her characters are complex, half-hidden from one another—and from themselves.

Clear out some space on your calendar and read this book as soon as you can lay your hands on it.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus. The opinions are my own. ( )