Customer Reviews

Another Way Home: The Tangled Roots of Race in One Chicago Family

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Why isn't this on the best seller list? Ronne Hartfield's family history is beautifully written, covering not only her family's transition from Mississippi to Chicago but black history as well. I grew up in a white neighborhood in Chicago. This book let me step into a parallel universe! Hartfield also covers women's changing roles over a century. The loving relationships among family members are a model and inspiration for all of us.

Another Way Home takes the reader through a time that first seems long gone, but surprises with its current influence and meaning. At first blush the story tells of the societal strictures of the South against mulattos. Gradually, the reader realizes that the book is actually about the development of identity and the hurdles society puts in the path of individuals. The book becomes less about the tensions of black and white, and more about the importance of solid values, courage and self-confidence. Ultimately it is these three critical traits in Day Rone that enable her to create the life she wants with the man she loves, and to raise a gifted family of solidy rooted individuals. Day Rone shares everything with my Sicilain grandmother and my husband's Irish mother -- proving that we are more like one another beneath the skin than we are different. The book engages from the first page because it speaks to every family. Beautifully written, imaginatively presented, and too true to be fiction, it makes for an entertaining and moving reading experience. It's a book worth reading so that we do not forget the struggles of the past, and also so that we can see the strong women who shape our own lives.

Another Way Home, by Ronne Hartfield, works for me on three levels: 1) it tells the ever-interesting story of a woman (Hartfield's mother) who grew up a mulatto in the segregated South, then passed for white in Chicago; 2) it is a strong and powerful tribute by Hartfield to her mother, beautifully and lyrically told; and 3) it moves from the personal to the universal, reminding us all of the family continuum we are born into and the remarkable people our parents often are.

This book is a history lesson told through personal anecdote. As it wends its way through Day Rone's journey from South to North, the reader is given an up-close look at the celebrations, achievements and tragic loss of a remarkable American family. Celebrating Day Rone's life will lead you to want to celebrate your own family, too. I strongly recommend this book.

HARTFIELD IS A WONDERFUL WRITER AND YOU FEEL THE STORY. SHE PROVIDES A FASCINATING LOOK AT BI RACIAL AMERICA

This is an informative & well crafted read that allows the reader to glimpse the grace, strength & determination of a family - especially & specifically the women of this faimly - that held them together on 'Hare-Track'/'The Place'/'Down Home' and consequently continues to be the foundation of what is now 5 generations removed. This book does an excellent job of allowing all who read it to experience the sense of family pride that I have known all my life. (Well done Cousin, well done.)

This is a wonderful read. Beautifully written, and a fascinating bio of an exceptional woman whose life spans a time of crucial transition in American history. Everyone should read this book.

I was roped into getting this for a college class. The subject matter was not terribly riveting, due to both a lack of interest and a difficulty getting through the chapters. Definitely not a book I would read for kicks and giggles. I kid you not, one passage in this book has scarred me for life. It involves comparing a pubescent girl's first period to blood colored lightning... something I found extremely unsettling :s Though the book is not my style, it manages to illustrate some valid points about society in Louisiana while sticking with a common theme of family. I didn't enjoy it, but I'm sure some would get a kick out of it. It's well edited and researched, making any historian's fantasy of legitimate sources a reality.

I loved this book, I purchased it for genealogy research, my plan was to skim the book for references to my research. So many times I found myself reading pass my point of reference that I just gave up and read the whole book. Great story, great details. I shared the book with my father who lived in Chicago at one point in his life and he enjoyed both the story and the emotional return trip to Chicago.

I finished this book yesterday, and found myself with tears of gratitude after reading the other reviews. Great, well-written and researched book on a subject that I had never given much thought to previously. We've all known women like Day, and her story was inspiring. At the end of the book, the author writes "This was the kind of woman that someone should write a book about." I'm so glad she did!