John Edgar Wideman's gift is an honest portrayal of African American life in a small fading Northern town.

In this final book of his trilogy, the background and deepest feelings of many characters are explored and evolve.

While the descriptor that 'Men work; women cook, clean and take care of children' sets the pace,
the fact of no jobs, no careers, no trades - nothing but dependence on white men's stopping at the corner -
destroys that balance, with the resultant poverty, depression, alcohol and drug addictions,
and increasing street violence and murders.

Friendships are long-lasting and the author involves us in these, as well as into
simply thinking about Silence. He wants us to pay attention to every little thing,
even repeating them until we get it and can't forget it.

From rainbow soap bubbles, to sounds on the train tracks to the slamming screen door and rocking chair,
multiple memorable images are woven into daily lives often dominated by despair and misery,
yet livened by dialogue like French and Wilkes have.

Great to see John French again and Freeda's love for him, plus her entirely different take on The Great Migration
immigrants and their effects on HOMEWOOD. A contrast with Jacob Lawrence. Mize.

Brother's roles - as lover, as a father who should not have trusted the care of Junebug to anyone but himself,
and his unkind betrayal (or was it the dream?) of Wilkes were a surprise.

(Wandering narrators sometimes hard to follow and sure could have lived without the treatment and murder of Junebug.) ( )

I began this novel with some trepidation, having previously read and not enjoyed Philadelphia Fire, but reading this turned out to be a very different and very enjoyable experience.

Set in Philadelphia and the Homewood neighborhood where Wideman grew up, you can tell he is in his element writing about this locale and its residents. Three generations of friends and family populate this novel, beginning with the narrator Doot, reaching back to his grandparents John and Freeda French, and focusing primarily on Carl French, Doot's uncle, Brother Tate, Carl's best friend, and Lucy Tate, Carl's on-again, off-again lover who was raised in the Tate house with Brother Tate. Brother Tate is an albino and and his experience along with that of his son, Junebug, who is also an albino, growing up in a black neighborhood are central to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed how the relationships, the timeline and how events fit into the timeline were slowly revealed as the story progressed. The writing has a lyrical quality that is the one aspect of Philadelphia Fire that I remembered liking. Race, family, friendship and surviving are constants. I would have liked to have met many of the characters, but certainly John and Freeda French. You can see how the neighborhood and the people change over the three generations, but also they are all tied tightly to one another. ( )

dust jacket