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A "wonderful novel" steeped in the folklore of the South from the New York Times-bestselling author of The Women of Brewster Place (The Washington Post Book World). On an island off the coast of Georgia, there's a place where superstition is more potent than any trappings of the modern world. In Willow Springs, the formidable Mama Day uses her powers to heal. But her great niece, Cocoa, can't wait to get away. In New York City, Cocoa meets George. They fall in love and marry quickly. But when she finally brings him home to Willow Springs, the island's darker forces come into play. As their connection is challenged, Cocoa and George must rely on Mama Day's mysticism. Told from multiple perspectives, Mama Day is equal parts star-crossed love story, generational saga, and exploration of the supernatural. Hailed as Gloria Naylor's "richest and most complex" novel, it is the kind of book that stays with you long after the final page (Providence Journal). … (more)
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most of them strong and loving women. Much of it takes place
on Willow Island, a barrier island off the shores of Georgia and
South Carolina. The residents of Willow Island live a life similar
to that which their ancestors lived a hundred
did have modern conveniences, they certainly didn't depend on
them for happiness. Love, family and tradition ruled their day.
Mama day, Abigail, Cocoa, Ruby and more. They all have their own
story, and they tell it, or have it told in rich mellow voices. I
don't know how anyone can read this book and not love Mama Day and Abigail.
And they have within them a magic all their own. A knowing that has been lost
to most over the generations. I have to believe that they are based on
women known by the author, otherwise how did she make them so real? And
if they are not, all the more kudos to their creator.
Cocoa, a younger woman from their family spends most of her time in New
York City, where she lives, works and falls in love. She too, is quite
a force, but often more negative then she should be. We find out in the
story how life changes her.
Recommended for anyone who wants to experience literature at its best.
For fans of southern American literature, this is a must read.
Cocoa, her grand-niece, and George, Cocoa's husband who ultimately sacrifices himself to save Cocoa's life
And that's the other part of this story. Mama Day lives in a world that we might call magical, although she denies she "does that Hoodoo nonsense." Cocoa crosses that world to the everyday world of job hunting, marriage, dinner parties and the like. George is firmly based in the mundane - he's an engineer who never has the grand idea, but takes the grand ideas of others and turns them into hard reality.
The clash of these ideas and worlds makes for a compelling, fascinating book. Unusually to my mind, George is the character that I strongly suspect most of us will relate to - he's the everyman that relates to this wild, old, confusing world in which his wife grew up.
Cocoa, her grand-niece, and George, Cocoa's husband who ultimately sacrifices himself to save Cocoa's life
And that's the other part of this story. Mama Day lives in a world that we might call magical, although she denies she "does that Hoodoo nonsense." Cocoa crosses that world to the everyday world of job hunting, marriage, dinner parties and the like. George is firmly based in the mundane - he's an engineer who never has the grand idea, but takes the grand ideas of others and turns them into hard reality.
The clash of these ideas and worlds makes for a compelling, fascinating book. Unusually to my mind, George is the character that I strongly suspect most of us will relate to - he's the everyman that relates to this wild, old, confusing world in which his wife grew up
One of my favorite lines of dialogue:
How can I go with you? she asked him.
One foot before the other, he told her.
For me, there's something magical about the book. I think it may be how it's written, switching perspectives to move the story along. It's a book i often reccomend to family and friends.
At times I had to be very focused to track which character was speaking/thinking, as they aren't always identified. That was good, in its way, as it kept me engaged with the story.
While some of this imaginative story takes place in New York City, most of the action is on Willow Springs, a
I so enjoyed this book that I didn't want it to end!