The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
A Novel
(Sprache: Englisch)
"If you enjoyed An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, read The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls...an absorbing commentary on love, family and forgiveness."-The Washington Post
"A fast-paced, intriguing story...the novel's real achievement is...
"A fast-paced, intriguing story...the novel's real achievement is...
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"If you enjoyed An American Marriage by Tayari Jones, read The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls...an absorbing commentary on love, family and forgiveness."-The Washington Post "A fast-paced, intriguing story...the novel's real achievement is its uncommon perceptiveness on the origins and variations of addiction."-The New York Times Book Review
One of the most anticipated reads of 2019 from Vogue, Vanity Fair, Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Essence, Bustle, HelloGiggles and Cosmo!
"The Mothers meets An American Marriage" (HelloGiggles) in this dazzling debut novel about mothers and daughters, identity and family, and how the relationships that sustain you can also be the ones that consume you.
The Butler family has had their share of trials-as sisters Althea, Viola, and Lillian can attest-but nothing prepared them for the literal trial that will upend their lives.
Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband, Proctor, are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. The worst part is, not even her sisters are sure exactly what happened.
As Althea awaits her fate, Lillian and Viola must come together in the house they grew up in to care for their sister's teenage daughters. What unfolds is a stunning portrait of the heart and core of an American family in a story that is as page-turning as it is important.
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***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected copy proof*** Copyright © 2018 Anissa Gray
Althea
You do a lot of thinking in jail. Especially when you re locked in the box that s your cell. Mine is about as big as the walk-in closet I had back at home, but in place of leather bags and slingbacks and racks of clothes, I ve got bunk beds, a stainless-steel sink-and-toilet combo, and a compact, padlocked cabinet. The cabinet s where you keep your valuables, like family pictures, commissary, and letters, including the one from your daughter that s not addressed to you. The letter that, truth be told, you just can t bring yourself to read, so you ve got it tucked inside the Bible that belonged to your dead mother.
The Bible s the one thing you read religiously, but not for scripture. You read it for the notes written in the margins. Then, when it s lights out and you can t read anymore, you lock the Bible up in the cabinet and crawl in your bunk. The top bunk, which you re still scared of falling out of. You d still be in the bottom bunk, if it was up to you, but your new crazy-quiet cellmate asked for that bunk in a way that made you feel like she might kill you as you slept on it, if you said no.
Now you lie here, wide awake, with the compact cabinet across the way and the sink-and-toilet combo near the foot of the bed, thinking and remembering because that s all you ve got here in the dark when sleep won t come. And it hardly ever comes. I m usually up thinking about getting out or what it was like before I came in or why I did what I did and how what I did compares to the next woman s crime.
It s always me versus Inmate X: I did this, but at least I didn t do that.
I used to meet with the chaplain, somebody who s seen everything. We d sit in a little room that had a view to the outside, with him in his metal chair, black shirted, white collared, but casual in jeans. The type who probably plays guitar to youth
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groups in parks. He d sit with his elbows on his knees, leaning forward with his back to the window while I stared past his pink, freckled bald spot to the jail s front lawn and the flagpole.
Don t go comparing crimes like that, the chaplain would say. There s no good in it, Althea. What you ve done doesn t have to define you.
Then what does?
Only you know that. No one can tell you who you are.
I stopped meeting with him.
Who am I?
I ask myself that question every night I lay my head down in here. Althea Marie Butler-Cochran: round, dimpled face; rounding, dimpled body; smooth, light brown skin. There was a definition of me that went with that name, face, and body, but it s hard to see it now, even though I still look pretty much the same, except for the jailhouse weight gain.
I used to think I was like a river. A mighty force of nature. A real river that I used to watch and dip my feet in, sitting out on the dock behind my house. You can t see the river from the jail, but it s out there past the barred-up windows. Past the recreation yard with the basketball court and beyond the patches of gravel and dry grass you got to cross before getting to the fence. Go over the razor wire, go out past the woods about twenty miles or so, as the crow flies. Touch down on the two-lane road underneath you. That barrenness on either side of you is farmland waiting for its season.
This road, beyond that fence and miles away as the crow flies, looks like it goes on forever because it s flat and straight and all you can see are the miles in front of you. But you re not far now. You ll see the river I m talking about. The Saint Joseph. I got baptized in that river. I got proposed to there. There
Don t go comparing crimes like that, the chaplain would say. There s no good in it, Althea. What you ve done doesn t have to define you.
Then what does?
Only you know that. No one can tell you who you are.
I stopped meeting with him.
Who am I?
I ask myself that question every night I lay my head down in here. Althea Marie Butler-Cochran: round, dimpled face; rounding, dimpled body; smooth, light brown skin. There was a definition of me that went with that name, face, and body, but it s hard to see it now, even though I still look pretty much the same, except for the jailhouse weight gain.
I used to think I was like a river. A mighty force of nature. A real river that I used to watch and dip my feet in, sitting out on the dock behind my house. You can t see the river from the jail, but it s out there past the barred-up windows. Past the recreation yard with the basketball court and beyond the patches of gravel and dry grass you got to cross before getting to the fence. Go over the razor wire, go out past the woods about twenty miles or so, as the crow flies. Touch down on the two-lane road underneath you. That barrenness on either side of you is farmland waiting for its season.
This road, beyond that fence and miles away as the crow flies, looks like it goes on forever because it s flat and straight and all you can see are the miles in front of you. But you re not far now. You ll see the river I m talking about. The Saint Joseph. I got baptized in that river. I got proposed to there. There
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Autoren-Porträt von Anissa Gray
Anissa Gray is a Senior Editor at CNN Worldwide and a contributor to Emmy and DuPont-Columbia award-winning coverage of some of the most consequential stories of our time. She began her career at Reuters as a reporter, based in New York, covering business news and international finance. Born in St. Joseph, Michigan, Gray studied English and American literature at New York University. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her wife.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Anissa Gray
- 2020, 320 Seiten, Maße: 13,8 x 20,5 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Berkley
- ISBN-10: 1984802445
- ISBN-13: 9781984802446
- Erscheinungsdatum: 02.01.2020
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
"The inequities of the justice system, the fortitude of women of color, and the bittersweet struggle to connect are rendered ravishly in this bighearted novel." Oprah Magazine"Gray's nuanced, lyrical debut is a moving examination of the ties that bind and nearly as often bless." People
[An] intimate family saga sure to appeal to fans of Tayari Jones and Celeste Ng. Entertainment Weekly
"Masterful debut...a poetically written story. Delia Owens, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Where the Crawdads Sing
I was immediately taken by the power and honesty of Anissa Gray s voice. She is a writer to watch, and this debut is not to be missed!
Terry McMillan, New York Times bestselling author of I Almost Forgot About You and Waiting to Exhale
If you enjoyed An American Marriage, read The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls...an absorbing commentary on love, family and forgiveness. The Washington Post
As in Tayari Jones s best-selling An American Marriage, Gray uses imprisonment as the backdrop for a disarmingly compelling story that skirts easy answers and sentimentality. Conversational in tone and difficult in subject, Care and Feeding tells not just an American story but several important ones. Vogue
Gray s absorbing novel is about family and the things we hunger for. Real Simple
Anissa Gray s debut is heralded as The Mothers meets An American Marriage. If that s not enough to sell you on this stunning novel about family and relationships, we don t know what will. HelloGiggles
[A] stark, emotional story you don't want to miss. Bustle
A trio of sisters navigate the tricky waters of forgiveness in Gray s heartfelt, beautifully written debut...Get an extra copy for your best friend or your own
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sister; this is one you re going to want to talk about. Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
Gray beautifully captures the way strong women can piece a community back together, taking care of their loved ones while still figuring out how to care for themselves. A graceful debut that feels timely and important. Karin Tanabe, author of The Gilded Years
This is perfect for fans of Brit Bennett s The Mothers; readers will be deeply affected by this story of a family wrestling to support itself. Publisher's Weekly
Gray s engrossing and moving debut novel considers secrets and lies and their effect on the families of three sisters. Booklist
Gray manages a large cast of characters with ease, sharply differentiating between the voices of hardheaded Althea, shrewd Viola, and hesitating Lillian, who narrate the novel in alternating chapters. Kirkus
[A] moving portrait of a troubled family that would be an excellent book club pick. PureWow
Gray beautifully captures the way strong women can piece a community back together, taking care of their loved ones while still figuring out how to care for themselves. A graceful debut that feels timely and important. Karin Tanabe, author of The Gilded Years
This is perfect for fans of Brit Bennett s The Mothers; readers will be deeply affected by this story of a family wrestling to support itself. Publisher's Weekly
Gray s engrossing and moving debut novel considers secrets and lies and their effect on the families of three sisters. Booklist
Gray manages a large cast of characters with ease, sharply differentiating between the voices of hardheaded Althea, shrewd Viola, and hesitating Lillian, who narrate the novel in alternating chapters. Kirkus
[A] moving portrait of a troubled family that would be an excellent book club pick. PureWow
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