27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Journey, October 29, 2004
Waiting to be conceived, the narrator in SOME PEOPLE, SOME OTHER
PLACE watches Earth with great interest, especially a young lady
named Eula Too, the narrator's future mother.
Born to a dirt poor family in a dirt poor town a hundred miles south
of Chicago in the early 1900's, Eula Too had no life of her own.
Instead, she was made to care for her numerous younger siblings, her
mother-who acted as if her job was to have babies, and the household
which was barely more than a run down shack. By the time she was
fifteen, she was burned out. So when her mother tells her she is
pregnant, yet again, she walks out to find her own life.
Over the past year an impotent man has been giving Eula Too money to
allow him to rub up against her. She's been saving her money and
plans on using it to get her start in Chicago. The man, a chauffer,
drives to Chicago twice a week and agrees to take her with him on
his next run. On the ride to Chicago, the man allows his friend to
rape her, then the men leave her stranded on the road.
Eula Too is found along the road by Madam Lafon, owner of a high-
class brothel just outside of Chicago. The madam takes Eula Too in
and nurses her back to health. Something about this young girl's
innocence touches the madam's heart. She gives Eula Too a job as her
personal assistant and over the years the two become friends.
Now in her thirties, Eula Too realizes she still does not have a
life or anything of her own. Even her spoiled child, a result of the
rape and the narrator's sister, considers herself to be better than
her mother and disassociates herself from her family. When Eula Too
is in a town named Place helping Madam Lafon make funeral
arrangements for her mother, she decides she will stay in Place and
start a life of her own.
Madam Lafon is jealous of this new life of Eula Too's. She'd kept
her close to the brothel so she wouldn't have to share her. And now
there is a man interested in Eula Too. What if her only true friend
falls for this man? The older woman can't bear the thought of dying
alone. She must make Eula Too see that this man is beneath her and
stop this relationship before it gets out of hand.
Simply put, SOME PEOPLE, SOME OTHER PLACE is a masterpiece. In all
of my readings, there is only one other book that I have given this
accolade. As an editor, I enjoyed watching Cooper smoothly
intertwine the narrator and Eula Too's journeys, the use of everyday
language to depict the often times complex and convoluted, the
development of character and plot. As a reader, I enjoyed the
journey from the heavens to earth, the emotions stirring within me
as I grew to know Eula Too, the enlightenment of the lives of
African-American families in Depression-era America. I could go on
and on about this novel and still not do it justice.
Reviewed by Deatri King-Bey
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
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