This was an Oprah pick.
While it was very readable I doubt it would have been the bestseller it
was had she not selected it. The couple
featured in the book, Roy and Celestial were black as were all the other
characters. The book is narrated by the
three main characters, Celestial, Roy Jr., and Andre. It is the relationship between the three of
them that forms the spine of the book. Celestial’s
father, Franklin, was a high school chemistry teacher who tinkered in his
basement and invented an additive for orange juice. He became rich when he sold it to Minute
Maid. The Davenports lived in the biggest house in the neighborhood, a
previously broken down Victorian mansion which the Franklins restored. Instead
of moving to affluent north east Atlanta which was white, they stayed in
southwest black Atlanta. The characters
of Celestials parents, The Franklins were not well drawn. On the other hand Roy’s lower middle class
parents Roy Sr. and Olive were well drawn.
You felt like you knew them. Roy
was not Roy Sr’s biological child. Roy
Jrs. Real father abandoned Olive when she was pregnant and Roy Sr. took up with
her. They named him after Roy Sr. who
was for all intents and purposes a true father to his namesake. Roy and Olive
had no other children, because Olive made sure they didn’t. Roy attended Morehouse college. He met Celestial through his friend
Andre. She was attending Spellman after
leaving Howard. Celestial had an unhappy
romance with a Howard professor and came home to Atlanta.
Celestial and Roy now an executive in a company in Atlanta
meet, fall in love and marry. Prior to the marriage Roy thought of himself as a
Lothario. Celestial sports a decent
diamond engagement ring which Roy describes as a flashlight. In the African community it was impressive,
but it was probably a ¼ to ½ carat diamond in a tiffany setting. They settle into a middle class life in the
house the Franklins gifted to Celestial in the black south west Atlanta
neighborhood where she grew up. Andre
lives in the house next door. Andre’s
family was not intact. His father left
his mother when he was about 10. His father, Carlos, was of Puerto Rican
descent. Carlos remarried and had two
children with his second wife and abandoned Andre. Mr. Franklin became his de
facto father. Though Celestial thought
of Andre as her brother when they grew up, Andre always loved her in a romantic
way. Celestial was an artist who made
artistic dolls which became well received and popular. Celestial and Andre were planning a long and
comfortable life with the children they wanted and with want for nothing.
On a trip to Eloe, Louisiana, Roy’s hometown, they stay in a
motel overnight. A woman Roy met at the
ice machine was raped in her room and she accused Roy of the rape. This must
have been before the advent of DNA evidence.
Celestial’s uncle, Mr. Banks provides an adequate defense for his nephew
by marriage. Nevertheless, Roy is
convicted and sentenced to 12 years. The
makeup of the jury and the judge doom him to failure. Once he is arrested, it is obvious to the
reader that he will be convicted.
Celestial who is brokenhearted swears her allegiance to him. However, Andre who comforts her has other
ideas in mind. Celestial terminates a
pregnancy that would have been much welcomed had Roy not gone to prison. There is no question in anyone’s mind that
Roy was innocent. Celestial makes a doll
in a prison uniform and it becomes a hit in the art/craft community. All her dolls look like Roy. She has a solo
show in New York with dolls that look like Roy in prison uniforms. Some sell for $1000 or more. Her father sets her up in an upscale store
selling her dolls in Atlanta.
Now we have a story about a love triangle brought about by
Roy’s wrongful conviction. After two
years Celestial becomes romantically involved with Andre and sends Roy Jr. a
dear john letter. About this time Olive
who visited Roy every week became ill with lung cancer. She dies soon afterward. Roy is heartbroken that he could not attend
his beloved mother’s funeral. His
father, Roy sr. comes to visit but he too mourns the loss of Olive. While in
prison Roy meets his biological father, Walter who befriends him and is his
cellmate. The notion of a biological versus an adoptive father is an issue
brought up by these two relationships. Roy Sr. is junior’s real father in every
way except for his DNA. Yet Walter
becomes a father to him in prison guiding him in how to avoid prison
difficulties and protecting him as best he can.
Even after he leaves prison, Roy Jr. visits his biological father,
Walter on a regular basis.
Mr. Banks appeals Roy’s conviction. After 5 years of a 12 year sentence, Roy Jr.
is released. He stays in Eloe for about
a week. He believes that Andre betrayed him, and he is correct. However, a different outcome is hard to
imagine. Roy times his return to Atlanta when he knows Andre is arriving to
pick him up from prison. He arrives at
the house he and Celeste lived in as a married couple. She is surprised to see him and she is not
pleased. She is unnerved. She does not welcome him in her arms though
she and Andre were happy that his conviction was overturned and he was
released. Still after five years apart
it was unreasonable for Roy to assume he could move back in where he left off. When Roy confronts Andre, a fight
ensues. After that fight it is obvious
that Roy and Celestial will have no future even tho they try.
The wrongful imprisonment of black males occurs too
often. It ruins families and lives. This story is an example of that. However, in this case, the family is living
the American dream. It is not a family
on the edge of poverty. The imprisonment
does not bring about an economic crisis in the family as is more often the
case. However, Roy believes he has some
cache as a “Morehouse man”. I have never
thought there was status in graduating from a historically black college such
as Howard, Spellman, Morehouse, or Tuskegee Institute. With their easy entrance requirements, course
work that can be completed over 8 or 9 years other institutions are more
prestigious. Had Roy attended Emory,
Tulane, or the University of Virginia, those would have been more
prestigious. Considering the leg up and
scholarship offers available at those Universities for black male applicants, I
was not too impressed with Roy, Celestial’s, or Andre’s scholarship.
Had Roy attempted to pick up his career where he left off,
he would have found difficulties. He
would have had to explain his 5 year absence from the workforce. Explaining that he was wrongfully convicted
of rape would not endear him to future employers. Some perpetrators are released because of a
technicality rather than actual innocence.
Obtaining a finding of actual innocence from a court is very difficult
and another matter entirely. Instead of pursuing a white collar career in
Atlanta, Roy opens an upscale barber
shop with his father Roy sr. He marries
the local woman, Davinia, who welcomed him home and into her arms when he was
released. She is older than roy and has
an adult son doing time in prison. He
does not feel he can develop a relationship with this son nor does he want
children of his own.
Though this book deals with the dreadful consequences of the
all too frequent wrongful imprisonment of black males much of the rest of the
novel was at times sentimental. The
characters except for Olive, Roy Sr., Walter, and Davinia were in my opinion
clichés. I am sure that African American
readers could identify with these characters.
I could regarding their middle class status. However, I could not identify with them culturally. A possible cure for some of the defects in
the novel would have been to have the three main characters and narrators
attend white universities and perhaps to live in Atlanta’s northeast white
neighborhoods. The book also reveals the
often deeply flawed familial bonds and lack of responsibility in the black
community. When Franklin Davenport
begins courting his wife Gloria, he is married to another. When Olive becomes pregnant with Roy, Roy Sr.
takes responsibility for Walter’s son.
There is no talk of terminating the pregnancy. Pregnancy termination is not discussed until Celestial
pregnant by her incarcerated husband decides to terminate that pregnancy. That was a responsible though regrettable
action.
