The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips is one of the most heart wrenching and disturbing books I've read in a long time. It is also one of the best books I've read in a long time. Thirteen year old Tangy Mae Quinn narrates the story of her adolescence in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the south. She and her 9 siblings are being raised in abject poverty by her mentally unstable mother Rozelle. None of the children have the same father or the same skin tones. Tangy Mae is the darkest and therefore considered to be the most worthless and ugliest by their mother. As a result she becomes the recipient of much of her mother's abuse and unleashed craziness and fury. The horrors of what Tangy Mae endures is unfathomable and the fact that Tangy Mae manages to graduate high school is a testament to her unbreakable will and determination. The many issues that are covered in this novel; poverty, race relations, child abuse, and racism within a class,gives the reader much to think about and digest long after you are through reading. It is not a book you will soon forget.

There are books that I read that I will long remember for how they moved me.
This book is definitely on that list now. Tangy Mae Quinn is a character I do not see myself forgetting any time soon. The book takes placein the last 50s/early 60s in Georgia with Tangy as 1 of 10 children to a variety of fathers and skintones. She is the darkest and accordingly the most ugly/worthless to her mother.
She knows better inside herself and fights to be seen and respected. The mother very obviously is struggling with mental illness at a time it was not much discussed. The struggles of the family are heartbreaking. To say much more would be spoiling a book that while heartbreaking is still an amazing read.
I so wish the author had not passed before she finished the proposed sequel. I wanted to know so badly how Tangy fared.

This book was so sad! Every page I read tugged at my heart strings and when I believed it couldn't get
any worse for our poor Tangy Mae something changed and it did. This story was written through Tangy's
point of view so you saw things from a child perspective which I really enjoy in novels. What I thought
was so sad was not only did Tangy Mae have to deal with the racism of the people in the 50's she also
had to deal with her Mother. Her mother is light skinned and because Tangy Mae is the darkest of her
children she automatically dislikes her. Not only does she berate her daughter verbally and emotionally
she also harms her physically. This was a story all about poor Tangy had to face the terrors of her life
just because of the colour of her skin but she also had to deal with more troubles when suddenly the
schools mixed and she becomes the first black child in an all white school. Can she break leave her mothers
abuse or is she going to have to follow in the prostitutes footsteps? I really enjoyed the character Tangy she
was very likable and you really felt for her through all of the struggles that she had to go through. Its
heartbreaking to think that someone actually had to live through all of the pain that she went through and
for no reason. I'm so glad that she survived and was able to write this book. I hope that her adult lie was
better than her childhood. Great read and I highly suggest it to anyone who likes memoirs this is one you wont
regret getting. Not only was the story amazing but the language that the author picked was perfect it wasn't to
full of slang that were hard to read and you could really see the racism but see if through a child's eyes.
Perfect. The best part had to be the end.. man I can't say anything without spoiling a surprise, but it was
amazing!!! I love this book!

Set in Georgia in the 50’s Tangy Mae is part of a dysfunctional family and one of Rozelle Quinn’s ten (or so) children. She realizes at an early age that there is something wrong with their mother. Although Tangy loves her mother, she sometimes wonders if the wrong woman took her home from the hospital.
Her siblings all have very different personalities (and fathers) including Tarabellle with the cold, black eyes of a corpse and Mushy who escaped to live life in another town. Tangy is the darkest skinned and the smartest one of the whole family. She dreams of a better life and one that is full of books. When she is selected for a scholarship, her heart nearly bursts with excitement. Obtaining Rozelle’s permission will be the biggest barrier to continuing her education
I don’t have children but I still cringed at Rozelle’s way of making sure they would not forget to do something and that poor little baby…Tangy’s comment “if nothing else their mother taught them resilience” made me feel very sad. What hope do children have in that sort of environment? I desperately wanted Tangy to escape from what seemed to be her destiny.
Sometimes I wonder how far we have come as a society when I read in the news of the shocking treatment some parents dish out to their children. Even though this was a novel, it felt real as I turned each digital page.
This story strongly highlights the different way blacks were (maybe still are in some ways?) treated compared to white eg segregation in schools and treatment by law enforcement. All I can say is this is a powerful, compelling and heartbreaking read, which I thoroughly enjoyed. There is more to this book than I can mention here and it is definitely worth reading.
Thank you very much to the publisher for providing a digital copy of the book via Netgalley in return for a review.

This book should be a movie! I would watch it over and over. I didn't want this book to end. I almost cried when it was over because I wanted it to keep going. I cannot wait for the next book.

Tangy Mae Quinn is the sixth of ten fatherless children born to Rozelle. She bears the brunt of her mother's cruel attitude and outlook on life. Tangy Mae may be dubbed the ugliest in her mother's eyes because of her dark skin, but she is also the brightest. Rozelle pulls all her children out of school at the young age of 12 to earn their keep. Tangy Mae, of course, wants to be the exception to that rule. It is 1958 and she is selected to be one of the few black students to attend an integrated class at a white high-school. (And sadly as I re-read this book in 2018, racism based on the color of skin still persists today. The world is not so integrated all these years later.) Nevertheless, Tangy Mae is schooled in and outside of the building's walls.

I recommend The Darkest Child for literature lovers. I am talking those that love the writings of Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison. It is a difficult read with scenes that force a reading break to get through. There are passages that warrant multiple gasps. And with every page turn, you peel back layers of the story. It is a deep tale told well.

But even this second go-round did not make me like the book more than a 3-heart rating. It was hard for me to relate to the too intense characters. Is this a black family's reality somewhere? Because I still have a major disconnect with Tangy Mae and 'nem. However, The Darkest Child is a classic novel that literature lovers should read at least once.

Happy Re-Pub Day to the late Delores Phillips! The Darkest Child re-release is now available along with an introduction by author Tayari Jones and an excerpt from the unfinished sequel.

LiteraryMarie

"The Darkest Child" was an interesting novel to read, the writing is really good and it was hard to put the novel down. At the same time, the subject matter was really hard to deal with at times, with domestic and sexual assault being at the forefront of the narrative.

The author does not shy away from such difficult subject matters and the novel dealt with these subjects without pulling any punches which I really liked. There were no easy solutions, no characters without flaws, and, even more importantly, no characters without redeeming characteristics.

I would have loved to see how the story continues but I'm happy with the ending the novel went with. Therefore, I didn't read the chapters from the unfinished sequel included in the copy. The novel ended on a note that I could respect and was just as compelling and complex as the rest of the novel. and I am weary that an unfinished excerpt could keep up with a novel that was compelling and morally complex from beginning to end and never took the easy way out.

The 400 pages of this book are shoved full of poignant references to the time and place where Tangy Mae was growing up. Segregation, integration, racism, child abuse, familial loyalty, mental health, sexual abuse, and sexism are all represented. But, for every reader, their perspective brings to them a different book. While the other issues were important, I could not get past the abuse that Rozelle Quinn rained down upon her children, and Tangy most of all because she was her darkest skinned child. Ms. Phillips tries to lay some blame for the abuse on Rosie's mental state, but the story still highlights how no one intervened, even when she prostituted her daughters out. Combine this with the societal problems in the late 1950's (1960's, 1970's, etc, etc) and The Darkest Child packs a powerful punch.

Arresting, truly riveting African American historical drama! The story of the Quinn family, told by Tangy Mae (one of the darker complexioned of Rozelle's 10 children), grabs the attention from the start. The intricacies of the Jim Crow South, mixing the hate, love, mental and physical anguish/abuse with hope for a better life is all brought together in this heartbreaking narrative. Rozelle, in her diminished mental state, offers what she can to her children, including horrendous abuse. Touched on many areas needing discussion today in America: separation along color lines, why Black Lives Matter, understanding history and separation in the Black community. This is the kind of book needed in junior/senior high school history classes!
Voluntarily read ARC, thru Netgalley and Soho Press, for honest review.

I knew that The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips would be a special book from the minute I turned the first page. The writing drew me in to the last page. The book took me to 1958 and into the lives of the Quinn’s family. The story is set in a small town, at a time when racial tensions were high although change was looming. Naturally, there was resistance especially from the white supremacists. Readers get to meet the Quinns, a black family struggling to survive the drama at home and prejudice in the town.

Although racism is one of the main themes in this story, it is not the only one. The Quinn family consists of single mother Rozelle and her ten children. Rozelle has never been married and her children all have different fathers. She is the cause of most of the drama and tension in her home. This lady is mean as hell and I disliked her. However, there are other sides to this woman which made it hard to completely judge her. I really sympathized with her children, especially Tangy Mae, her darkest child. You see, Rozie is a black woman but she is light skinned. She considers her light-skinned children beautiful but not Tangy Mae. It was easy to sympathize with Tangy Mae and also root for her especially in her quest to get educated and escape the crazy hold of her mother. My heart broke so many times because of her.

Prostitution is one of the themes in this book. The blurb hints at this but I still wasn’t prepared for its portrayal in the book. Don’t get me wrong, the book isn’t graphic. The author just drops hints that let you know what is happening without painting the picture. However, just knowing what was going on really turned my stomach. You need to read this book to understand why this theme was the most-heart wrenching part of the book despite all the prejudice that was going on.

I fell in love with this book and ended up getting through it in two sittings. It’s a powerful read with characters that forced their way into my mind and heart and claimed their spot. I can’t stop thinking about them. Some I really liked but others I totally disliked. The story was so moving and beautifully written. It reminded me of some of my favourite reads such as The Help and The Secret Lives of Bees. I do hope that this one too would be made into a movie.

The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips is a book that I recommend to everyone. I can’t remember the last time a book affected me this much. I was so angry at some point that I even wished death upon one of the characters. Yeah I know it is fictional but still… On the other hand, I wanted to take Tangy Mae from the story and just shield her. The ending was beautiful although it left me yearning for more. As you can probably tell by now, I really liked this book!

The Darkest Child is being released today by Soho Press so you can now buy your copy of this remarkable book.

I have to start with how much I enjoyed this story. It is wonderful. Full of detail. Full of actual history.
The Author knows how to touch your heart, bring tears to your eyes, and even feel anger and horror. I can't give enough praise for the novel. One of my favorite.
The children depicted in this story are strong, abused, angry, but determined to make something of their lives. And in their own separate ways, the may have done just that.
5 Stars

Oh I am so glad to be done with this book. It was very well written, but so dark, so depressing and full of such awfulness that I did not enjoy it at all. I kept reading hoping for some redemption to save the story and the poor children, but its seems to sadly be a cycling story of alcoholism, mental illness, and abuse. Everything in it was so horrible. I am so in the minority on my feelings for this book. I can see why her powerful writing could elicit higher reviews, I just hate to read something that is so depressing and shows so little chance of change or redemption.

I would high recommend this book if anyone were to ask my opinion. In several places I was choking back tears, or experiencing seething anger.

Though Tangy is the darkest skinned and by her mother's estimate worthless, she is anything but. She seems, at times, to be the glue that holds the family together. She is automatic in her responses as to not raise her mother's ire and endure punishment, though the most severe seems to fall on her older sister who was born both deaf and mute. Her mother calls this child 'the dummy'. Tangy and her other siblings have taught her sister to sign so they can communicate with her.

Tangy desperately wants to pull herself away from her mother, as her oldest sister, Mushy, did. Her mother demands that she quit school and go to work to help support her siblings.

This is a novel that makes you wonder just how cruel a parent can be and just how angry it can make you.....even when it is just a character in a book.

Tangy's skin is the darkest of her siblings, and she feels it acutely. This young teenager struggles to survive a volatile period in American history with a mother who values her children based on the color of their skin. As Tangy says herself, "there's something wrong with Mama."

Oh, is there ever something wrong with Mama!

I knew this would be a hard novel to get through, however, I didn't realize just how disturbing it would become. Early on in the novel, Tangy relates how her mother, Rozelle, ensured none of them would touch a particular box: she slams an ice pick into one of her daughter's hands. And the abuse heaped on the children worsens from there.

The more I read, the more horrified I was with Rozelle's actions. Of course, the time period this was set, there was little the children could be done and if there had been someone they could have turned to, I don't think they would have due to their mother's manipulative behavior. What made Rozelle so unsettling were the moments when she acted like a caring mother.

Tangy herself at times seems to be just the tool for us to observe this mother's actions. It was difficult to really pinpoint her personality. (Also, the moment when she is chosen to attend an all-white school happens, I expected to have more impact on the story and to happen sooner than it did.) She's smart, but perhaps as a result of her mother, she keeps herself suppressed to protect herself.

The author's narrative was effective. I felt like I was there, living the horror with Tangy. There were moments of strong language, no doubt appropriate for the time and situation, but distasteful to me. Also when Rozelle decides Tangy is old enough to "work" (sells her for sex), the details were more than necessary.

Many of commented on the ending. It does feel open-ended, as though nothing were really resolved. I suspect the author was trying to keep to real life. Not everyone gets what they deserve, but it is still disappointing.

Overall, this is a book I would only recommend to those who are prepared for the abuse detailed within. Even if the author had lived long enough to complete the sequel, I don't think I would have been able to read it.

How can you love a book that was so disturbing? Delores Phillips is such a talented writer. Her prose is simply beautiful. The book traverses the life of Tangy Mae growing up with an abusive mom and ten siblings in a home that to say was poor would be a gross understatement. The book takes place in Georgia in the 50's when racism was at its height, schools are being desegregated, and her town is resisting tooth and nail. Racism takes place not only in the town Tangy Mae lives in but also in her own home where her mother, Rozelle, rates her own children on the lightness of their skin. Tangy Mae is the darkest of these children and seems to take a heavier load of the abuse heaped on all the children.
Rozelle was such a complicated character. Looking into her own childhood, and her having been kicked out of her home at 13 had to contribute to her fear of her own children abandoning her. Her means in supporting them and her ways of keeping them home was unforgivable and complex.
Philips writes each of her characters in such a memorizing way. I was so attached to each of their stories and so sadden to know that she died while writing the sequel to The Darkest Child.
I would love to read the rest of the story and how Tangy Mae and her sisters continue in their lives. I am sadden I can not. This was a beautifully written story of tragic and hopeful family love and betrayal. Perfect for book-groups, there is so much to talk about.

An exceptionally well written, highly emotive read. Utterly compelling and heart wrenching from start to finish. This book was both hard to read, yet one that I could not put down!

My first thought when I heard about this book was "Yes" I need to read it. What an experience this book was. You will feel every emotion that the main characters feel. So sad, so intricate, this book shows the beauty and the horror of Human nature. So well written, this author is a great storyteller.

This book left me with so many emotions and stayed on my mind days after I read the last page. Tangy Mae's character endured so much and I rooted for her to find happiness as I read. As this book tells a tale of abuse, it was very raw, but also an amazing read. This is one book that I wish would be turned into a movie, as it was such a good story.