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A discussion group dedicated to feminist reading from the Library's Steinem Sisters Collection.
Memphis
Print | Large Print | eBook | eAudiobook
Summer 1995: Ten-year-old Joan, her mother, and her younger sister flee her father’s explosive temper and seek refuge at her mother’s ancestral home in Memphis. This is not the first time violence has altered the course of the family’s trajectory. Half a century earlier, Joan’s grandfather built this majestic house in the historic Black neighborhood of Douglass-only to be lynched days after becoming the first Black detective in the city. Joan tries to settle into her new life, but family secrets cast a longer shadow than any of them expected. As she grows up, Joan finds relief in her artwork, painting portraits of the community in Memphis. One of her subjects is their enigmatic neighbor Miss Dawn, who claims to know something about curses, and whose stories about the past help Joan see how her passion, imagination, and relentless hope are, in fact, the continuation of a long matrilineal tradition. Joan begins to understand that her mother, her mother’s mother, and the mothers before them persevered, made impossible choices, and put their dreams on hold so that her life would not have to be defined by loss and anger-that the sole instrument she needs for healing is her paintbrush.
The Steinem Sisters Collection is a feminist collection that explores the lives and achievements of women. Created to honor Gloria Steinem, the collection champions the historical, cultural and political contribution of women; and strives to provide a welcoming space for women of all walks of life to share their truths. The types of materials we collect are first and foremost “feminist materials”- which are those materials that uphold women’s rights and interests in defining and promoting political, economic, personal and social equality of the sexes. This collection was made possible due to a generous donation by The Steinem’s Sisters Collective.
