Getting Mother's Body: A Novel [Paperback]

Suzan-Lori Parks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2004

Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks’s wildly original debut novel, Getting Mother’s Body, follows pregnant, unmarried Billy Beede and her down-and-out family in 1960s Texas as they search for the storied jewels buried—or were they?—with Billy’s fast-running, six-years-dead mother, Willa Mae. Getting Mother’s Body is a true spiritual successor to the work of writers such as Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker—but when it comes to bringing hard-luck characters to ingenious, uproarious life, Suzan-Lori Parks shares the stage with no one.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Like a country quilt, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks's spellbinding first novel, Getting Mother's Body, is pieced together from rags: short and slanted scraps of narrative recounted by various friends and members of the hard-luck Beede clan of Ector County, Texas. These sad, wily, bickering voices tell the story of Billy Beede--poor, unmarried, and pregnant--and her dead mother, the "hot and wild" blues singer, Willa Mae Beede, who may or may not have been laid to rest with a fortune of diamonds and pearls in her coffin. When a letter arrives announcing that a supermarket is being built on the ground where Willa Mae was buried, Billy determines to dig her up and get the jewels. But Willa Mae's embittered female lover, Dill Smiles, is just as intent on keeping the corpse in the ground. Deeper and richer than a typical quest novel, Getting Mother's Body is also the story of an African-American family, of beauty winding like bright thread through long-held grudges, hopelessness, and greed. --Regina Marler --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

With credentials including the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama (Topdog/Underdog) and a feature film directed by Spike Lee (Girl 6), Parks makes an impressive foray into fiction writing. This superbly recorded audio adaptation of her debut, replete with instrumental interludes and blues songs sung by the author (who's also a songwriter), is further enlivened by Parks's own compelling, unabridged reading. Her voice is clearly invested in the book's downtrodden African-American characters, and she portrays their grim realities with indelible humor. Pregnant Texas teenager Billy Beede has been raised for the past six years by her aunt and uncle in a mobile home following the death of her conniving mother, Willa Mae, from a botched abortion. Billy gets the disconcerting news her mom's remains must be moved for construction of a shopping center, and Willa Mae is rumored to have been buried with a fortune in jewels. Billy's just discovered she's inherited her mom's knack for seeing "the hole," or blind spot that lets you get what you want in people, so she sets off for the Arizona grave site. Set in the summer of 1963, and recounted in a slow, Southern drawl befitting the mood, the story unravels from a myriad of viewpoints, including the no-good custom coffin salesman who's fathered Billy's unborn baby, the one-legged neighbor in love with Billy, and her deceased mother's feisty lesbian lover.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (April 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081296800X
• ISBN-13: 978-0812968002
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Mother Only Knew..., May 12, 2003

By 

Phyllis Rhodes (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Getting Mother's Body: A Novel (Hardcover)

Playwright Suzan-Lori Parkss debut novel, Getting Mothers Body, has an affinity to William Faulkners classic, As I Lay Dying, only this time, Parks has flipped the script in a couple of areas. First, instead of taking a body home to be buried, the characters are planning to exhume the remains of one high-strung, party girl/singer, Willa Mae Beede; and secondly, the characters are African American, the setting is 1963 rural Texas, and the lead character is Billy Beede, a poor pregnant, unwed, high school dropout.

After her mothers (Willa Mae) untimely demise, Billy returns to Lincoln by her mothers lesbian lover, Dill Smiles, to live with her maternal uncle, Roosevelt, and his wife, June, in their trailer behind a gas station. Billy becomes pregnant by a married man and believes an abortion will solve all of her problems. To get the money for the procedure, she plans a journey back to Arizona to recover the small fortune (a pearl necklace and diamond ring) which according to Dill adorns Willa Maes corpse. Billy is accompanied by an eccentric cast of characters, each with selfish desires for the treasure, each hoping it will fill a hole. These holes run deep ranging from pride, envy, debt to lust, unrequited love, childlessness, and spiritual loss. Billy becomes an expert in recognizing holes, i.e. finding ones weaknesses, and uses her gift to manipulate her family and strangers to get what she wantsunknowingly becoming more like the con artist mother that she despises.

This novel, told in first person by each lead character, causes the reader to experience the journey from differing viewpoints. Often times, the chapters represent character perspectives of the same event granting the reader the opportunity to hear multiple sides of the story. The author even interjects observations, blues songs, and ominous passages by the deceased Willa Mae. The use of monologues allows the reader to learn firsthand each characters motivation, vulnerabilities, and haunted pasts; these elements contributed to the novels well developed characters. This reviewer also enjoyed the writing style and the extensive use of regional dialect to add realism to the dialogue.

Without a clue on how this story was going to end until the end, I was happy that the journey ultimately brought about some semblance of absolution and redemption for the motley crew, which was a welcomed relief for an otherwise dismal tale. There is a lot more to this story than this review covers; one has to read to appreciate all the author has to offer. Ms. Parks shows great promise and if you enjoy deviating from the relationship drama of modern contemporary fiction, you may enjoy this book. I think readers who enjoyed eclectic works like Lolita Filess Child of God and Olympia Vernons Eden might appreciate this novel.

Phyllis
APOOO BookClub, The Nubian Circle Book Club

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Rollick, July 30, 2003

By 

Elizabeth Hendry (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Getting Mother's Body: A Novel (Hardcover)

Susan-Lori Parks' Getting Mother's Body is an entertaining story of Billy Beede, a pregnant sixteen year old who is convinced that she must travel from Texas to Arizona and dig up her mother's grave to claim the jewels she is buried with. The only problem is, she has no money and no way of getting there. How she gets there, and the people she lies to, cheats on, and cons make up this uproarious read. Parks' novel is narrated by a number of characters, some central, some not and its just a fun, funny read. Parks is certainly creative and a skilled writer. Have fun with this one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Adventurous novel, July 15, 2004

By 

Azizi (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting Mother's Body: A Novel (Paperback)

Full of gossip and adventure, Getting Mother's Body is the story of a few small-town folks with big dreams. Billy Beede, the daughter of six-years dead Willa Mae Beede finds herself in this novel. Pregnant and given a deadline of one week, Billy needs abortion money fast. Uncle and aunt in tow, they set off on a mission that leads from Texas to Arizona to dig up Willa Mae's body and the rumored treasure that was buried with her. Along the way this sad group of Beedes reminise over the life and tragic death of Willa Mae and how their own lifes have changed over the years. Dill Smiles, Willa Mae's lover, has a secret of her own though, and with murder on her mind sets off hot on Billy's trail.

This book was a really fun read. I enjoyed each and every page. Good authors make their characters real and Parks does this grandly, I could even feel the Arizona heat and Texas dust. Don't browse over this novel. Superb!