Customer Reviews

Grand River and Joy (Sweetwater Fiction: Originals)

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

 

 

This is a grand, joyful novel. Susan Messer is a superb artist, using the written word like a skilled painter or sculptor. The finely crafted, entertaining story that Susan has woven is obviously sourced from the deep well of her most heartfelt feelings. Susan has breathed such life into her protagonists that I came to view them not as acquaintances, but as dear friends. The tale irresistibly carried me to its fateful, ironic, and wistful conclusion. Perhaps most impressively, Susan gives voice to characters of the racial and economic underclass that is, frankly, at least the equal of Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man.

After a two week reflection on Susan Messer's Grand River and Joy, the words "wisdom" and "nuance" describe my most enduring impressions. The book describes the events leading up to the Detroit race riots of the mid 1960s. Each scene is a gem in and of itself, defining a sparkling whole of texture and complexity. The narrative is crisp, vivid, funny, poignant. There is no judgment here. The reader can feel the weave of personal history and struggle for each character, each ethnic and racial group, and for the historical period as a whole. With courage, Messer characterizes both racial groups, along with differences of generation and economic standing. The reader feels for each character, could be each character. The author's wisdom and maturity shine through the narrative, as she describes ways in which individual lives, marriages, and racial struggles are a symphony of good impulses and bad, weakness and strength, hope and desperation. While defining a particular historical event, Messer's viewpoint could usefully inform a much broader set of issues. In our time, beset with a search for simple answers and with a tendency to demonize and oversimplify the other, this book shows a way. The characters also expand beyond the historical events, as they embody the messy process of personal evolution and growth in a complex world.

A blockbuster about blockbusting. Best novel I've read in years. If you liked _Middlesex_, you'll love this one! It explores the ambiguities and disconnects in the postwar Detroit experience of white flight to the suburbs, and illustrates, through the experiences of two interacting Jewish and African-American families, what happened in the Motor City. Meticulously researched in historical detail, it sheds light on a dark subject from a human perspective. Gripping characterization, scene-setting and dialogue. I'm writing this from the perspective of a life-long Detroiter who still lives downtown, and who is sharing in the struggle of a city to reinvent itself after economic devastation. If you want to know what happened to Detroit, read this book. I did -- in twelve hours. Couldn't put it down.

This wonderfully written book gets everything about Detroit in the 60's right. It does not come off as a history book but gives life to a pivotal period in a complicated city. It is hard for me to say if non-Detroiters would appreciate this novel since I did grow up there, but I believe it stands on it's own.

With all the contemporary fiction around that's made of sticks and straw, it is a true pleasure to read a current novel that's made of bricks. Grand River and Joy is substantive rather than sensational; it is gritty rather than slick. Susan Messer's characters are real people--our relatives and neighbors. They seem to have walked right out of the Detroit of the 60s into the pages of the book. Though the story ostensibly revolves around race relations and the growing tensions of the period, Messer's characters struggle with fundamental, universal issues: how to relate to people who are different from you; how to cope with a changing world; how to maintain personal integrity despite your fear. Messer offers no simple or pat solutions to these issues, but her characters wrestle with them in the heroic manner of ordinary people and, if they are not transformed by their experiences, it is clear that they are the better for them. The book is nicely plotted and nuanced with subtle humor, and contains some very memorable scenes. I'd recommend this novel to anyone looking for a good, solid read.

I had the good fortune to meet the author of this book several years ago through mutual friends. When I recently heard she had a book out, I had to read it. And I am glad I did! It paints a very accurate picture of the turbulent 1960's, with ethnic and cultural character development. Susan Messer's style of writing is engaging, as she inserts parenthetical commentary that furthers the psychological understanding of the characters. This is a book that has historical significance along with good writing. It belongs on Oprah's list!

My favorite reading is a well-written hitorical novel. In Grand River and Joy Susan Messer has created an outstanding piece of history infused with the life of the times. The history is told with skillfully created characters who intertwine to bring the Detroit Riots into human multi-dimensional color. She continually surprised me with her narrative from many perspectives that skillfully move the plot along while bringing out the many dimensions in this complex time. The reflections of the time moved me to tears. I recommend this book as a piece of history and a fulfilling read.

As one who has lived in Detroit all my life, I thoroughly enjoyed Susan Messer's book. It describes the Jewish neighborhood I knew so well and the riots of the 60's that changed everything. It tells how an ordinary family faced the racial tensions in their neighborhood and business. It tells about the pain between people who thought they knew each other and then realized they didn't. They watch as their neighborhoods and city are torn apart. The confusion and hurt are so real. There are also lovely parts describing the blossoming of a mother into a community activist and the small sights of the pink hollyhocks in the alleys of Detroit. I recommend this story of a Jewish family facing the dramatic changes that faced Detroit in the 60's. It brought it back to me, so real. It's a wonderful thoughtful read.

This was quite an amazing book -- especially if you know Detroit. The author did an excellent job of capturing the undercurrents that ran through the city during the 60's -- and the motivation behind the riots.

Characterizations, settings, social issues evoked by this novel resonate with the truths and values of the 1960s period of revolutionary reform. A talented novelist. Try it and see.