THESE SAME LONG BONES CL [Hardcover]

Gwendolyn M. Parker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 1994

After bank president Sirus McDougald's daughter dies, he must recover from grief in time to prevent white power brokers from destroying the cohesion of his middle-class, segregated, southern black community. A first novel. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this somber debut, Parker considers community loyalty, racism and the grieving process. The three-part narrative, incorporating flashbacks and flash-forwards, concerns a middle-class black neighborhood in Durham, N.C. The story opens in 1947 with funeral preparations for young Mattie, killed in a fall from her backyard slide. Mattie's father, Sirus McDougald, is a respected local banker and insurance man who is light-skinned enough to pass for white but has recently rebuffed a proposition from white businessmen seeking to profit from a housing project for blacks. Looking ahead, Parker reveals a debilitated Sirus who, having accepted the project, has discovered substandard buildings on the site. Sirus knows that going through with the deal means abandoning his heritage and honor. There is no appeal for racial harmony here; Parker's characters are given no cause to trust white folk, a narrative fact reflected in their blunt observations and readiness to suspect that whites may be behind Mattie's death. But the circumstances of Mattie's death turn out to be incidental in this story that never takes flight and in which events and characters are used mainly as devices to prompt reflections on larger issues.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This first novel is set in Durham, North Carolina, on the eve of integration. Sirus McDougald is a family man, bank president, and pillar of a small, middle-class black community. When he loses his beloved daughter, he is forced to come to terms with several uncomfortable aspects of his life: the deterioration of his marriage, the uneasy coexistence of the black and white communities in Durham, and changes in several longtime friendships. Besieged by grief and self-doubt, Sirus must somehow find the strength to protect his close-knit community from opportunistic white investors. In this hauntingly beautiful portrayal of love and loss, Parker brings to life a community in all its vivid multiplicity of detail. The tale is peopled by exquisitely drawn characters. Highly recommended.
- Cynthia Johnson, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; First Edition edition (April 27, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395671728
• ISBN-13: 978-0395671726
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #639,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and emotional, March 4, 2007

By 

Barb Mechalke (in the lovely Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: These Same Long Bones (Paperback)

This is a compelling and emotional story. I thought it was very well written. The characters are very realistic the dialogue was very believable. Gwendolyn Parker is wonderful at describing the intimate relationship between Sirus and Aileen, the parents of Mattie the little girl who dies. And she does an equally good job describing their grief. I really enjoyed this novel and found it absorbing while I was reading it. My only criticism is that the ending seemed hurried and not as well told as the rest of the story.