J is for Jordan

I love finding author's first published novels. I guess that's because of that desire I have to write and be published. The "J" stop on our journey is with Hillary Jordan who has written an intriguing and very sad story of the Mississippi Delta during the 1940's.

"Mudbound" is a haunting tale of two families trying to survive the hardships of cotton and soybean farming in Mississippi. This is the story of the white farm owners, the McAllans and one of their black farm families, the Jacksons. Henry McAllan has dreamed of being a land owner and farmer since his father sold the family farm when he was young. He worked hard and saved to buy a farm in the tough Delta. Henry is married to city-born Laura who is not thrilled with her husband's sudden announcement that they are leaving Memphis to work the farm. Henry, Laura and their two young daughters pack up everything and head to Mississippi where they land on their new farm which Laura and the girls quickly name Mudbound. Henry's father, Pappy, also moves with the family. Saying Pappy is cantankerous would be a very nice thing. He is a mean, ugly racist who makes life miserable for Laura and for Florence Jackson, who helps Laura around the house. When the war winds down, Henry's brother Jamie joins the family on the farm. He brings smiles to the little girls and a completely different feeling to Laura.

"Mudbound" is about two families scraping their way on the farm, but it's about so much more. It's about the attitudes of people towards people of color in America. In 2010, we don't think much about the ugliness, the evilness that was spewed at blacks in America just a few decades ago. We think we're above it and beyond it. I think "Mudbound" reminds us that it wasn't that long ago that a crazy man in Germany was trying to eradicate an entire race while here at home, we were making another race of people ride in the back of the pickup, use the back door and never, ever look us in the eye. Even the supposed good people in "Mudbound" followed the norms of the day. This book made me angry for what happened, sad for those to which it all happened and fearful that if we do not remember history, we will repeat it.

Hillary Jordan wrote a powerful first novel. I think readers, like me, who never attended a segregated school or saw a whites only water fountain will learn a great deal from the novel. I enjoyed the story, loved the writing style and was reminded of what terrible things we as humans are capable of doing. I recommend "Mudbound" to those who need a refresher course in why all men and women are truly created equal.