I have to be honest when reading Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward, I kept thinking about the movies. Specifically, those Oscar movies that you only want to see once. Like you are glad you saw it, you know it was important, but you don't really want to revisit that world again. That is how I felt reading this novel. I am glad I read it, I know it was important, I know it made me uncomfortable, and I know I don't really want to go back.
The novel was powerful. I found my heart breaking for these characters because I knew they were grounded in reality despite the mystical elements of the novel. The raw realness was potent. In hindsight, the opening description of the slaughtering of a goat signaled the rawness that would follow. The command of descriptive language by Ward beckons the reader to experience the world through the eyes of these characters. Throughout the novel...specifically the road trip, I kept wishing for a break, the sadness kept creeping in. And maybe it is my naiveness that I don't really know of this world but my word...my heart broke for those kids. I think it broke because I know there is a truth that grounds this fiction.
Having said all of this, in the end, I found myself wishing for more. I knew that this was a snapshot of the family and one plight but I was hoping for more. Well, I was hoping for a happy ending. But I guess if there was suddenly a happy ending in this novel. I'd be mad. It would have betrayed her narrative. For Jojo and Kayla, happy endings look different I guess.
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