I loved this novel and how it handled multiple perspectives of Ivoe and her family's journey. I think the history behind the themes is often overlooked and I was really happy to see that real newspaper articles from the time period were incorporated into the text. The descriptive prose is beautiful and the love in character's relationships is developed so well. Going into reading this book I didn't know it included queer romance/ relationships so that was a great surprise and it is especially nice to see this representation in historical fiction. ( )

An interesting glimpse at an aspect of African-American history we don't pay attention to. The novel itself is good, but I really wanted it to be great. ( )

I wanted to like this book better than I did. It's a historical novel about an African American lesbian journalist, spanning the years between about 1897 and 1915, taking place in Texas and Kansas. Barnett obviously did a lot of research, and it's a fascinating time period, but there were so many details in the book, and honestly it felt poorly plotted, so I had a hard time reading it.

However, I read for a book group, and opinions were mixed. Some agreed with me, others really enjoyed it and found it a page turner. ( )

i really liked this early on, and at the end, but the middle was largely a slog for me. what first pulled me in was the quality of the writing ("Quiet enough to hear a mouse pee on cotton." "'I seen rivers run less than that mouth of yours.'") and that kept me going for a while. and the end kept me going because of the themes that really held my interest, and that are so important. her writing is really good and i'd definitely read her again.

but in general, i think this was way too long. there were a lot of extraneous bits and parts that just went on for too many pages. i think it could be tightened up and made to really shine. i'd shorten the parts that take away from the focus, because the focus is great. the history of african american newspapers in the south, with a great main character that the reader wants to cheer and root for. the subtle and overt racism and the power of the written word to bring people together and make change. i love the message and the information and the strong black women that fill these pages. the historical perspective is also quite well done. the lesbian relationship the main character, ivoe, has, is incidental and handled nicely. i especially liked when ivoe asked her mother why she felt she could ask about her relationship when she didn't ask about her brother's or sister's relationship. and that was it. so much was handled well in these pages, so it was particularly unfortunate when it was overly long or unnecessary.

"...anyone could see that her people had been holding up the sky while white folks walked through the world for a very long time."

"'America will not give equality just because we behave and wait for it patiently.'" ( )

Ivoe, an African American girl around the turn of the century, is fascinated by newspapers. Her community pulls together money to send her to college, where she meets -- and falls in love with -- a teacher who never stops encouraging her to write for the paper. As the years pass, she works to find a job as a black woman, and hits a series of roadblocks that culminate in her starting her own paper -- and all the challenges that go alongside.

I found myself undercaptivated by the story, but this book had historical flavor and insight that I loved. I also particularly liked its use of perspective, shifting between characters like children and adults and what each perceived in the same situation, to illustrate Ivoe's world -- I found it well and powerfully done. ( )