This Side of the Sky [Paperback]

Elyse Singleton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2002

In her funny, moving, and ambitious debut, Elyse Singleton introduces us to two inseparable and hard-minded idealists. Young Lilian endures the tribulations of Nadir, Mississippi, on the purity of her faith in people and her growing belief in herself. Her best friend, Myraleen, gets by on her sharp tongue and her unwillingness to give in-and perhaps because Lilian is always with her.

In this lifelong story, Lilian and Myraleen struggle through dramatically changing times: From the stark realities of life in rural Mississippi, through the different sort of racism they find in workaday Philadelphia and France during World War II. For these women, the road to maturity in the messy American century is long and ragged. Along the way, Myraleen falls for a Tuskeegee flier and Lilian for a German prisoner of war. And each time they reassert their oldest ideals, everything they believe in is tested again--most of all what love requires in such a world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is a sprawling, ambitious saga about two women, lifelong friends, who live through World War II and its aftermath, and the men in their lives. That may sound overly familiar, but the novel offers a very important difference: the two women are black, from rural Mississippi; they spend the war as WACs in London and later in Europe and the lover of one of them is a thoroughly decent German prisoner of war sent to work in the fields in the Deep South. Lilian, the woman with the German lover, is very black, and also resolute and hard-working; her best friend from school days, Myraleen, is a light-skinned beauty who can, and often does, pass for white, and who is sharp, sardonic and unforgiving. Debut novelist Singleton has an economical, restrained style that is particularly effective in moments of high drama and wartime action, but which is otherwise a little laid back for the emotional punch her story often delivers and her chapters from the point of view of Kellner, the German POW, lack the conviction of the rest. Still, this is an often warming and poignant story of a seldom-visited side of the war, one that is well worth knowing.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This lengthy debut novel by an award-winning journalist tells the life story of two independent-minded black women, Lilian and Myraleen, who were born in the early 20th century in Mississippi, where "being poor in Nadir didn't mean being starved to death; it meant being worried to death." The two become close friends and eventually move away from the restricting Southern environment to Philadelphia, where they discover the veiled segregation of the North. They work at menial jobs, refuse offers of marriage, and enlist in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. Events such as the bombings of London and life in postwar Paris are presented from their unique perspective. Myraleen eventually becomes romantically involved with a black pilot, while, in an odd set of circumstances, Lilian pursues a German POW she befriended in Nadir. Although this book presents an informed glimpse of segregation before and during the war, the characters are never completely developed, and many events feel too contrived. All the facts are here but not enough of the feelings. An optional purchase. [This book is dedicated to librarians, specifically those at the Denver P.L.-Ed.]-David A. Berona, Univ. of New Hampshire, Durha.
--David A. Berona, Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: Blue Hen; 1ST edition (September 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399149201
• ISBN-13: 978-0399149207
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,501,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical Fiction at Its Finest, February 19, 2004

By 

R.E.A.L. Reviewers (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Side of the Sky (Paperback)

While the above title may not sound interesting to some, Elyse
Singleton's This Side of the Sky, is a glimpse into the complex lives of Black women during the 1930s and 1940s. Singleton creates an epic story of the lives of two women, capturing their tumultuous childhood and adolescence and their remarkable lives as adults.

Throughout their childhood, Lillian and Myraleen believe that there is more to the world than what Nadir, Mississippi can offer. As Lillian says, "...Mississippi was just the slow, painful way of spelling hell." Lillian's inquisitive spirit cannot soar to it's full potential with the limited
opportunities that life in rural Mississippi offers. The customs and expectations of life in Nadir continually stifle Myraleen's feisty and headstrong nature. What Nadir lacks in opportunity, it is enriched with characters who shape Lillian and Myraleen's lives - Mudear and Mercy, Lillian and Myraleen's well-intentioned mothers; the Taylors, the only Black family in Nadir to own their own farm, and Kellner, a mysterious German POW, who works on the Taylor's farm.

At 26, Lillian and Myraleen act on the realization they have held since childhood, and head for Philadelphia. Here they find the hustle and bustle of city-living exciting, but still encounter the harsh realities of life in the North as Black women. When the opportunities in Philadelphia do not meet their expectations, they take another bold step, and join the Army, towards the end of World War II. Although they spent their time in the military away from the battlefield, the lessons learned in war leave an indelible impact in their lives. At the end of the War, Lillian stays in Europe, going to school and searching for a lost love, while Myraleen returns to Philadelphia, regretting the marriage proposal her willful nature would not let her accept.

Singleton is truly a gifted writer. The structure of this book held my attention and kept me turning the pages to find out what happens next. Her descriptions were so vivid that the heat of Mississippi, the confines of tenement living, the exhilaration of doing the jitterbug for the first time, the fear and exhilaration of falling in love, and the war-torn streets of London came to life as I read this book. In fact, I strongly believe that this book would make a wonderful television movie or miniseries.

Tameshia
R.E.A.L. Reviewer

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Look into African American History, November 14, 2002

By 

Zane "NY Times Bestselling Author" (Maryland) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: This Side of the Sky (Paperback)

I just completed this novel and I must say that it was excellent. It was quite obvious that the author had done extensive research into her subject matter. It was a poignant look into history and how African American women had to struggle in a world where they were often looked upon as inferior. Everything from the descriptions to dialogue was well-written and I look forward to reading more of Ms. Singleton's work.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique part of Black History, August 12, 2005

By 

Mycatsandme "Deb" (Salt Lake City, Utah United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Side Of The Sky (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed this book very much. As other reviewers commented the characterization could have been stronger but put that aside and this book stands out. It's well written. The little known history of the Black WACs was fascinating. Ms Singleton was able to swiftly take the lives of two little girls all the way through to their 80s with little to no effort at all. The novel breezed along! Myraleen and Lilly's lives spanned decades but never once bogged down. Really, a great book!