54. Sing, Unburied, Sing

Read any list of Best Books for 2017, you'll see Jesmyn Ward's third novel. But, just because a book is critically acclaimed doesn't mean a reader will think it's any good. It's like Oscars. They often pick the sweeping epic as Best Picture even though no one would actually want to sit through The English Patient and say they enjoyed it.

This book, though? This book is both good for the critic and good for the reader. It's rich and dark and hopeful and desperate. Above all, it's beautifully written.

Set in rural, poor Mississippi and inside a family torn by racism and poverty, Ward brings the story to life through the points of view of several characters. Most notably, 13-year old JoJo. The product of a meth-addicted black mother and an imprisoned, abusive white father, he's old enough to know the pain that surrounds him. He's also the lifeline for his young sister Kayla, who reaches for him before all others. Raised largely by their strong, silent grandfather and their grandmother who now battles cancer, the children manage to find love in their grandparents and each other, even as an abusive world swirls around them.

JoJo and his grandfather have an exceptionally close relationship. It's clearly Pop that's guiding him to become a man. But, Pop can't go along as the family goes to pick up JoJo's father from prison. And, what happens along the way on that road trip is heart wrenching. 

We hear the story from JoJo's perspective at first and it's easy to see his mother Leonie as a villain of the highest order. Just when you're ready to write her off, the narrative switches to her point of view. You don't exactly sympathize, but maybe you begin to understand the desperation that lives inside her, too. Where does she direct her love? To the man she's picking up from prison? To her children who won't call her Mom? To her dying mother? Or to the ghost of her murdered brother who appears to her every time she gets high? 

Ward's characters are rich and multi-dimensional and her storytelling is beautifully evocative, yet somehow simple, too. It's about love and family and racism and poverty - and, about the things that chase us until we acknowledge them and can finally close the door. All along, it's subtly building to a climax that's so powerful, it had me holding my breath for 10 or more pages. It reminds me of the first time I read Toni Morrison's Beloved, which remains one of my favorite books of all time. Both are books that are entirely real, with a touch of supernatural. Both have characters you'll never forget.

Is it one of the year's best? It certainly was for me. I imagine it will be taught in high school and college lit classes for years to come. But, you don't have to write a paper on it or take a test. You can just read it and let it swallow you whole.