Author Goldie Taylor comes of age in this harrowing memoir set mostly in impoverished East St. Louis, Illinois. Young Goldie is a smart, bookish Black girl who excels at school and church, but who also endures all kinds of abuse as a boarder in her aunt and uncle’s home. The loss of her father and separation from her mother weigh heavily on her as well. The reader knows that Goldie not only survives but triumphs at the end, but over the course of the narrative, that outcome seems by no means assured.

I wanted to like this memoir more than I actually did. While the subject matter is affecting, there are too many characters and the writing style is undistinguished. Still, this brief, inspirational story is worth reading. ( )

Goldie Taylor's coming-of-age compelling memoir The Love You Save shares Goldie's story growing up in a tough East St. Louis neighborhood in the 1970s. After Goldie's father was murdered and her brother beaten and robbed, her grieving mother took Goldie and her two older siblings from their home near family in a mostly Black East St. Louis community to a mostly white St. Ann.

Her mom worked long hours at a hotel, and Goldie and her siblings were left alone for long periods of time. When she was eleven years old, Goldie was raped by a neighborhood boy and found little comfort from her mother.

She was sent to live with her Auntie Gerald and Uncle Ross back in East St. Louis. Gerald and Ross' home was filled with all kinds of relatives, many of them younger. The younger children had to scrounge for space to sleep on the floor and food to eat before it was all gone.

Auntie Gerald was a deeply religious woman who kept a clean household, but she had a temper that she frequently took out on Goldie. Ross was kind to all the children, he gave them the love many of them didn't get from their own parents. They did their best to keep everyone on a good path in trying circumstances.

Goldie's saving grace became the gifted classes she was put into at her middle school. The school was falling apart and at times violent, but a few of her teachers took Goldie under their wing and believed that she had a special talent, especially in the area of speech, for which she won many awards.

While the rest of her life was chaotic and sometimes dangerous, Goldie shined in her classes. She taught herself math from her older sister's books, and her refuge was the many books she borrowed (and appropriated) from the library, Jane Austen a favorite.

Eventually Goldie became entranced by James Baldwin. His writings spoke deeply to her, and she hungered to learn about him and others like Toni Morrison and Martin Luther King Jr.

Taylor's writing is striking and she pulls the reader in from page one with her vivid portraits of Auntie Gerald and Uncle Ross. She makes the city of East St. Louis come alive on the page, and shares its history of how Blacks moved there from the deep South for work in factories and the white flight that followed that. The scourge of crack cocaine in the 1980s left many families and neighborhoods broken.

Goldie Taylor shows us the resiliency of the human spirit, and how education can be a lifeline for those who reach for it. Readers of such books as Sarah M. Broom's The Yellow House, Jesmyn Ward's Men We Reaped and Tara Westover's Educated should put The Love You Save at the top of the TBR list. I read it in one sitting and found it incredibly moving. It makes a great book for Black History Month.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Goldie Taylor's tour. ( )

With amazing strength and elegant, truthful, and heartfelt execution, Goldie Taylor recounts her tumultuous childhood through to her high school years. As a young black woman growing up in Missouri in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Goldie lives through neighborhood changes, racial changes and desegregation of schools. Goldie’s personal life is full of many ups and downs. Beginning with her father’s death, then being raped at a young age and dropped at her Aunt’s house, Goldie begins to self-destruct. However, a teacher at her new school recognizes Goldie’s potential and intense emotion. Goldie begins to excel academically and finds an outlet for the pain she has carried with her for so long.

Written with amazing authenticity, Goldie reflects on her childhood. The long-lasting effects of generational trauma and racism were palpable. Even as Goldie is abused and begins to inflict pain upon herself, I could see the sparks of hope in what Goldie found joy in. It was very interesting to see Goldie’s thoughts on her family members and their dynamics, especially the Aunt and Uncle who raised her. I was amazed at Goldie’s power to forgive and see that the adults were just as troubled as the children. Goldie also gave a unique perspective on her community and the differences she saw in her community and predominantly white communities. Though Goldie’s life was difficult, she is a survivor and found her strengths to persevere through extreme circumstances. The Love You Save is an eye-opening memoir of childhood, race and hope.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )