Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - Wow, this was a powerful, beautifully written, but brutal book that looked at a poor African American family living in Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina. The family of five lost the mother at the birth of the youngest child, Junior, who is now 8. The other three children are Esch-14, Skeetah- 16, and Randall- 17. The father is an alcoholic, who tries his best, but the family lives in extreme poverty. The story takes place over 12 days, those leading up to, during and right after Katrina. Esch discovers she's pregnant, her father loses 3 fingers while trying to prepare for the hurricane, there is a major fighting pit bull plot that I won't go into, and the family's house is destroyed. In the end, the only thing that matters is that they're a family, prepared to go forward together.
AtY #5: A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read
Book 23 of 2021


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