Customer Reviews

The Roux in the Gumbo

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed traveling through history from 1800 to 1994 with Kim Robinson's family in The Roux in the Gumbo. Each member has a back-story and Kim gives us just enough to keep the book moving. There are trials and triumphs throughout the clan, some dangerous, and some today's families are still experiencing. No doubt, the Negro community back-in-the-day survived because they stuck together, and helped each other through hard times. Still, I had difficulty keeping up with the many names and relationships, but I guess that's to be expected in this type of write. Negroes had large families then. The women in the story raised their children with mother wit and determination. The colorful individuals and the mischievous children entertained me. Melvin hiding money in the back of the China cabinet and thinking it was safe, and the children taking bits over the years, was hilarious. And great grandmother Annie was a force to be reckoned with when you messed with family. I felt Mother's spiritual walk during her funeral reminiscing. That was a wonderful touch and probably happens more often than we know. Kim wasn't afraid to expose her skeletons, and some were almost unbelievable. I think this book could easily become a saga if expanded. What a wonderful gift to family that would be. I thank Kim Robinson for sharing her family history. I give The Roux in the Gumbo four stars. Minnie E Miller, Author

Author Kim Robinson has written a remarkable account of her family's history gathered from stories she was told as she was growing up. The life stories of her great grandmother, Annie Thomas and her grandmother, Helen Simpson are the roux in this gumbo; a very rich and entertaining read. The author acknowledges that a lot of people in her family helped her to write this book by giving her their memories. More African American families should share memories such as these. Rich in culture and historical events it's a perfect course assignment for Black History classes.

The story opens in the early 1800s, near Lake Charles, Louisiana where a young slave girl has escaped from the Sunrise Plantation. She is laying under a magnolia tree in the driving rain; scared, tired, hungry and sick. Asking the Lord for mercy, she is determined not to return to the horrors of living on the plantation. As the story unfolds and the young girl remembers how life changed for her on that dark night, you are reminded of the many slave narratives written long ago. Ending in 1997; this book is a journey in Black history told in bits and pieces, sewn together like a patchwork quilt. I really enjoyed it.

Her visions of later day New Orleans are rich in the bayou land as Kim's family lives as farmers, toiling the land and as entrepreneurs running every type of business from midwives and medicine women, root workers and hoo-doo men and livery services and prohibition time night spots complete with good food, gambling and home-made liquor. Kim's ancestors were some very colorful personalities. But, they worked hard and were basically good people who stuck together and helped out a neighbor. Their dealings with the [...] and racist encounters in other parts of the South were also portrayed. They stood up for themselves and soon relocated to California for a better way of life.

I laughed and cried with this family as good money went bad and troubles touched the lives of the large and sometimes dysfunctional tribe. But; they always found a way to make ends meet and to support one another through their trials.

Great Grandmother Annie and Grandmother Helen were two very strong Black women who although did not have a formal education, used mother wit to overcome their lack of schooling.
Annie did not hesitate to pull out her trusty blade to defend herself or her family from violence and good deeds gone bad. Trouble did not last always for this family and on the whole, they lived and loved well. Always respected in the community of Compton, California; they carved a life out of their situations that left a legacy for the future generations.

The Roux in the Gumbo is a book that you will enjoy. It is both entertaining and interesting. It is also a saga of African American life told from the viewpoint of four generations in American. I found it good reading, and especially appreciated Kim's grandmother's recipe for Gumbo in the front of the book. The recipe makes a great pot of Gumbo.

Idrissa Uqdah for [...]

The Roux in the Gumbo is a classic memoir of a family's heritage dating from the early 19th century. It is the phenomenal literary work of a modern griot that brings to remembrance the mixed heritage that many African Americans share. Throughout the book, you are able to identify with characters that bear similarities of your own family members. It's all the details that you wanted to know from History class, but were never able to find. With each chapter, the history intensifies and the characters become even more real to the reader. The book includes many climaxes that provoke a variety of emotions, drawing you in even closer to the characters. Mrs. Robinson does an excellent job of preserving the lives of her ancestors and the rich legacy they've left behind. I'm anticipating her next book as well as trying the gumbo recipe detailed at the beginning of Roux in the Gumbo!

Gizelle reflected back on her days at the Sunrise Plantation. She thought about the harsh working conditions in the fields and about the overseer who began raping her at the age of nine. Her memories took her back to the night in 1850 when she decided to run away from Sunrise. The entire time she was running, she was thinking that she would rather die in the swamp than to ever go back to that plantation. That night in the swamp she was so scared and alone. She was afraid of being caught, but soon she fell asleep on a pallet of moss. Gizelle dreamed of a beautiful woman who washed her tired body and fed her the best tasting soup she had ever eaten.

Tallulah was a French and Indian woman who was nearly five feet eleven inches tall. Even at the age of fifty she was statuesque. She had been tending to wounded slaves for years, so she didn't mind taken care of this lost and tortured young girl. She carried Gizelle to her home from the swamp to revive her and nurse her wounds. From then on she took care of Gizelle and never took her back to the Sunrise Plantation. As far as any one knew Gizelle was Tallulah's slave. A mentor and apprentice relationship began between the two of them. Gizelle became Tallulah's assistant and Tallulah taught Gizelle to read and write. They lived together like mother and daughter for almost twenty years. When Tallulah died she left Gizelle her land and property. In her mid thirties Gizelle had never been with another man since being forced upon by the overseer back at the Sunrise Plantation. Now she found herself all alone again. That was until fate sent her Grayson who she met and married. He would become the father of her three children; Jimmy, Jerry, and adopted daughter Annie Thomas. Annie would become the mother to Helen Simpson.

What a wonderful tribute to a family! "The Roux in the Gumbo" is written skillfully with attention to detail! It is a realistic account of Kim Robinson's family as told to her by her grandmother Helen Simpson before she past. This historical fiction was a pleasure to read. Chapter after chapter each family member's story added a spicy ingredient to this tale. Kim Robinson deserves to be recognized for this heart-felt and inspirational book! As an added bit of spice Kim has included her family's Gumbo recipe for all to enjoy!

Reviewed by H. Renay Anderson
for BBW Reviews

I have been reading this book for too many days and I am all mixed up with characters. It appears to be a family history, going back to the 1700's. I find it hard to keep track of all the characters in books like this. It is a learning experience to read about the horrible things that were done to "blacks" throughout history. This family endured many violent and inhumane tortures. As a Northerner, I did not realize how people just like myself could have so much hatred and how mob centered it was. I like the book but I am only into 1930 at this point and I do not know how much more tragedy I can read about. I will finish it, as I am not a quitter. I am not sure if I recommend this to others but if you like to learn from others mistakes and get a feeling deep in your heart that you want to do things to make life easier for all, read it.

Kim Robinson has done a wonderful job compiling her family's history in The Roux in the Gumbo. The events are well organized, her characters well described. The reader definitely gets to know Kim's family. You'll take an emotional rollercoaster ride reading this one! I was especially impressed with the diligence of all of her family...and the clear message is to not ever give up! I'm sure everyone who reads this book will be reminded of a "Mother" in his or her own life. I enjoyed this book very much, and look forward to reading more from this author.

Reading this book was like hearing the stories of my own family tree. With a mother who grew up in southwestern Louisiana, and a father whose parents moved from the same area to Oklahoma as teens, I am a product of the mixture of races, life in the swamp land, and the determination to be and do more than what is expected. As an author and publisher of multiple books (Writing Your First Book: A How-To Guide for First-Time Authors, Quick Reference Guide for Self-publishing, The Track Star, Me and My First Day of School), I know what makes a good story. If you really want to know about Creole/Cajun history, read this book!

The lineage of an African American family from the bayou of Louisiana is traced all the way back to a French man who is shocked to find that his wife has given birth to a half Indian child that couldn't be his. Fused with anger and betrayal (despite the fact that he had fathered children all over town) he makes an example out of her, killing her, and he thinks he kills the child as well. When the true father avenges the death of his true love the sage begins, and oh what a saga it is!

As I read this book I was truly reminded of Roots. The author tells the family lineage in a way that is engaging and gives the background of every family member involved. I really started to have a vested interest in each character despite the length of the book. The fact that these people were real and their real names were used made me feel even more connected, I love true stories! I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good period novel being as it spans from the 1800's to the late 1900's. I really escaped in the times where speakeasies took precedence. I love the 1930's and this story was so vivid I could almost feel myself sitting in the back of that smoke filled room, getting some good food, waiting for my time to dance. I think that this book was really well written and would easily read it again. It didn't focus on the hard times but what this family did to make the hard times work for them.

There were only a few things that I would suggest be corrected in future printings. There were minor editing errors, nothing too much to take away from the story but they were there nonetheless. There were sometimes when the story would fast forward and rewind that could make it confusing. For example, the explanation of how the judge died from gaining so much weight form eating Annie's cooking made it seem like he died early on but he seemed to remain in the story for another hundred or so pages. I would suggest moving that part to the time that he actually died as an explanation versus so early on in the story. Outside of that the book read smoothly and was very intriguing.

Reviewed by:
Nikkea Smithers
RWA Bookclub President
www.rwabookclub.com
rwabookclub@yahoo.com

Ever wondered what your family went through to get you where you are today? Did you pay attention when the elders of your family were telling you of their past, your family history? Kim Robinson not only listened, she took notes and turned it into a book of drama, and unbelievable strength to persevere against all odds, the story of one family's survival, in Louisiana and California, The Roux in the Gumbo.

Robinson introduced what seemed to be every person that has ever come in contact with someone in her family from the early 1800s until 1997, including all the members of the family but the main focus were the two strongest women, Annie Thomas and Helen `Mother' Simpson. Annie was the mother of Helen, the oldest of all of Annie's three children, and she too turned around and had a number of children.

Annie was just a child when her parents died; her only brother, Buddy, left the plantation when he was seventeen. Annie also left the plantation her family worked on at the age of eleven. She eventually began working at another plantation cleaning the upstairs of the house. That is where she fell in love with Helen's father, Willie Simpson III. Once Willie's mother realized Annie was pregnant her life took a different direction than she first imagined. Determination was what kept her going even when she did not want to. It was this that helped her to raise her children, and be there for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, teaching them how to survive in the world as they knew it to be back in those times.

Helen learned a lot from her mother. At the age of seventeen, she married Melvin Paul Broussard, a man she stayed married to for twenty-one years. They had many children together; Melvin even had some with other women, but that was before Helen. The Broussard family went through it all, anything you can think of they experienced. They still kept on striving for great things, the way they went about getting it was not always legal, but they did what they had to do. Helen's daughter, Anna Lee, married a man named Clyde, and together they created a baby girl. This child was named Kim. She is the person who took the time, to listen and take notes as to how her family came about, and the struggles they faced before and after slavery.

Kim Robinson put together a lifetime worth of blood, sweat, and tears in "Mother's memories." The good times and the bad, if anything was missed you would never know. The emotions came to life on the pages. Robinson also added some things that did not happen to keep the book entertaining, thus making it fiction. I am not sure which part was make-believe; she did a great job of tying it all together. Although, at times, Robinson would backtrack to a time she had already wrote about, as if she had a second thought about something she had missed. There were a few mistakes in grammar, but they did not hinder the story. I recommend this to a person interested in genealogy, family history and a fast-paced easy read.

Jennifer Coissiere
APOOO BookClub

How many of us really know where our roots
evolved? Family history is very important in shaping
our own being and the "The Roux in the Gumbo"
shares its stories with us. Delve into generations of
history from slavery to freedom. You'll cry and even
laugh as this emotional book entertains you.


Kim Robinson has written an exemplary documentary
about her family. This extraordinary book highlights
her talents and her ability to transform true
narrative stories to non-fiction. After reading this
amazing book you'll want to interview your
grandmother and ask her if there is roux in your
gumbo.-Journee, LLC