And Do Remember Me: A Novel

by Marita Golden

Overview

"An engaging saga of unconditional friendship, love, and foregiveness...Golden's style is modern, refreshing and accurately captures a slice of African-American life." (St. Petersburg Times)

In the exciting, yet frightening days of Freedom Summer in 1963, two very different African-American women meet, each to discover in the other an elegant completion of herself. Jessie, running from her sexually abusive father and distant mother, is a born actress. In the movement she discovers an unknown world of personal freedom that could shape her into an extraordinary talent or destroy her from within. Macon, beautiful, fearless, and brilliant, knows she is too good to settle for less than she's worth, but her activism threatens the man she loves.

In a vital time of politics and passion, dedication and distress, two women struggle to recreate themselves and their world—and learn to love the fight.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780345382719
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/19/1994
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	863,565
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Marita Golden is the author of more than a dozen works of fiction and nonfiction. Her books include After, Migrations of the Heart, Saving Our Sons, and Don’t Play in the Sun. She is the founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, an organization that supports African American writers. She lives in Mitchellville, Maryland.

Read an Excerpt

FREEDOM SUMMER
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "And Do Remember Me"
by .
Copyright © 1994 Marita Golden.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

The compelling opening chapters of this novel that limns the troubled coming of age of a black woman from the Mississippi Delta excite expectations that the rest of the narrative does not fulfill. Initially, readers will find much to admire in Golden's ( Long Distance Life ) depiction of Jessie Foster's flight from her sexually abusive father and her meeting with civil rights worker Lincoln Sturgis, who sweeps her into the movement during the turbulent Freedom Summer--and into a new world where she forms relationships with black and white activists from all strata of society. Golden's portrait of the idealism and exhilaration of people coming together in a conflicted time is authentic and engrossing, but when her protagonist leaves the South and moves to Manhattan, the tale loses dramatic momentum. As Lincoln struggles to make his name as a playwright, Jessie discovers her vocation as an actress, but her transformation is too swift and never becomes convincing. Moreover, when she changes her name to Pearl Moon, the reader's identification with her character is broken. Jessie/Pearl's inability to return Lincoln's love, due to her haunted memories of being raped by her father, makes her emotionally distant and her behavior predictable. Although Golden's command of language in the early part of the book is impressive, the later sections are dry and mechanical, as though she is fleshing out a story in which she has lost interest. The facile denouement involving Jessie/Pearl's psychological breakthrough leaves the novel limping to a close. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Like Golden's previous books-- Long Distance Life ( LJ 10/1/89), Migrations of the Heart ( LJ 2/1/83), and A Woman's Place ( LJ 8/86)--this novel offers an insightful view into the lives of individual African American women. It opens as Jessie Foster escapes incest by running away from home and subsequently becomes drawn into the Civil Rights movement. With the help of her activist/playwright boyfriend, she discovers a love of acting and later becomes a professional actress. Golden offers a resonant description of the consequences of Jessie's sexual abuse, and her characterization and images are skillfully drawn and believable. However, the novel's episodes are strung together with all-too-visible contrivances, and the segment devoted to Jessie's friend Macon is unnecessarily disconnected from the narrative flow. Nevertheless, this is recommended for contemporary fiction collections and is a necessary purchase for libraries with serious collections of African American fiction. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/92.-- Marie F. Jones, Muskingum Coll., New Concord, Ohio

Library Journal