Don't Cry for Me
A Novel
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4.4 • 78 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Don't miss Daniel Black's next novel Isaac's Song coming January 2025
*From the Georgia Author of the Year Award Winner*
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK IN ESSENCE MAGAZINE, THE MILLIONS AND BOOKISH
"Don't Cry for Me is a perfect song."—Jesmyn Ward
A Black father makes amends with his gay son through letters written on his deathbed in this wise and penetrating novel of empathy and forgiveness, for fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates, Robert Jones Jr. and Alice Walker
As Jacob lies dying, he begins to write a letter to his only son, Isaac. They have not met or spoken in many years, and there are things that Isaac must know. Stories about his ancestral legacy in rural Arkansas that extend back to slavery. Secrets from Jacob's tumultuous relationship with Isaac's mother and the shame he carries from the dissolution of their family. Tragedies that informed Jacob's role as a father and his reaction to Isaac's being gay.
But most of all, Jacob must share with Isaac the unspoken truths that reside in his heart. He must give voice to the trauma that Isaac has inherited. And he must create a space for the two to find peace.
With piercing insight and profound empathy, acclaimed author Daniel Black illuminates the lived experiences of Black fathers and queer sons, offering an authentic and ultimately hopeful portrait of reckoning and reconciliation. Spare as it is sweeping, poetic as it is compulsively readable, Don't Cry for Me is a monumental novel about one family grappling with love's hard edges and the unexpected places where hope and healing take flight.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Black (The Sacred Place) chronicles a father's confession of his failures in this heartbreaking narrative. Jacob Swinton writes to his estranged gay son, Isaac, in an effort to, in Jacob's words, provide a "record of a poor Black father's appeal... what any dying daddy might say to his son." Jacob recounts his years growing up in Arkansas, where he bullied a queer classmate, and describes his courtship with his wife, Rachel, and their move to Kansas City, where they had Isaac. He also offers insight on Black history and the power of reading, and writes eloquently about the country versus the city, but the core is about how Jacob treats Isaac—having asked him, for instance, "Do you wanna be a sissy, boy?" at the breakfast table after deriding his son for resisting sports, kissing a doll, and performing in a school play. Jacob's shame is made palpable in his alternately hurtful and supportive correspondence ("I wonder how to fix you"; "You weren't the son I wanted"; "Be the kind of man you are, but be a man"), and the wisdom he gains along the way brings him to concluding remarks that are poignant and moving. The painful narrative of regret can feel preachy at times, but it is consistently powerful.
Customer Reviews
Visions of a Reconciliation
Reading through this novel reminded me of what it must feel like to have a daydream come to us while resting in a forest. Which I imagine is what the author and also the recipient of these fictionalized letters partly experienced when composing this novel. Each revelation is like the light breaking through the trees. Each section of luminescence holding a memory and a wish of closure.
The unique narrative style really enhanced this reading for me. So many walls are broken in the experience. We the reader experience the journey from a first person perspective and a one direction conversation. The missing response is filled by our imaginations which further enhances the overall story. We are reacting and imagining the reaction of the author at the same time. While the author is imagining the entire experience from the onset.
Philosophically, this is an excellent experiment and Daniel Black did not waste a single opportunity to add in additional social commentaries through the imagined voice of his father. Race, sexual, patriarchal, and economic realities are not shied away from and are thoughtfully critiqued. At the same time, the author gives enough context to allow room for understanding on the most sensitive topics.
Impactful
This is one of the most impactful books I’ve ever read as a father. I have gifted it to so many people and any man who is expecting to their first child I tel them to read this.
It teaches you don’t have to be prefect as a parent to make long steps to healing with your children.
Powerful read!
A Great Read
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The way Daniel broke down the character of this story, and wrote it in such an eloquent way, had me glued to this read. The only thing I wish I could see is the conclusion with Isaac. Just needed closure I guess lol