Homeward

"Homeward" by Angela Jackson-Brown is a family story. Like the waves of an ocean, good times come and go. What always remains is love for one another. When Rose faces trouble in her marriage,she goes back home to Parson, Georgia. I am glad she goes back home. No one can say what you need to hear more than your parents, grandparents, siblings and friends.

There are so many ways to use the word home. Angela Jackson-Brown's words led me to think about Jasper, Rose's husband. After he leaves the Air Force, Jasper .is looking forward to coming back home to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He knows Rose and his mother will welcome home. There, he will love Rose again and their new baby too. So often it is easy to take these places for granted. Each location leads to our learning how to love and to forgive ourselves as we grow toward a new self.

This is a story of family, heartbreak, loss and healing, and life in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as it begins, but moves to Parsons, Georgia in 1962. It is a time when racism was rampant and everyday, not that it has stopped. A time when those whose job was to protect people from harm were only available to those whose skin was the ‘right’ color. That’s how they saw it. When the color of your skin dictated if you could sit at a counter in Woolworth’s without being arrested, but were happy to give you the opportunity to put your life on the line to honor your country, even when those you fought alongside didn’t keep you in return.

But it is also so much more than that. It is a story of love of family, love of place, fear, war, death, and grief. It is also a story of navigating grief, and allowing oneself to honor the deceased by living fully, once again. Ultimately, it is a story of love, and finding a way to live and love despite the past.

1962 and mainly set in Parsons Georgia and the struggle for civil rights. For those of us who grew up in that era, the tragic events around that period will be familiar. The central character is Rose, a young lady, and with her we experience grief (a stillborn premature baby) tragedy, in the death of her husband in Viet Nam, the strength of family bonds, and her maturation, not only in terms of her evolving views on racial equality, but as a woman ready to love again and to fulfill a life long career dream.
Multifaceted, and well depicted, how even the black people who passively accepted their role became gradually fierce advocates for equality.
For young people unfamiliar with the struggle for racial equality a very good “history lesson” related in the form of an engrossing novel.

Absolutly breathtaking. Different from anything I’ve ever read and def something I’ll never forget! Wow just wow

Homeward by Angela Jackson-Brown is a novel that has the setting of the south during the Civil Rights Movement. The characters are well developed and the reader becomes immersed in their lives. There are family struggles as well as struggles of many of the citizens in this town. This novel entertains and informs. Thank you to Angela Jackson Brown, Harper Muse Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

5 stars

Homeward is a beautifully written book about love, loss, faith, family, hope, and courage. I like how the Perkins family were close and respectful to each other. Rose made a mistake in her marriage, but she had a loving and forgiving husband.

Many times in her life Rose had to pick up the pieces of what was left and move on. She showed resilence and strength in the face of all she went through. She then found her calling in the Civil Rights Movement. She made history and forged new friendships and relationships.

Throughout her life, Rose overcame the odds and all that was stacked against her. She found the courage to follow her dreams. The only down side to this book was the ending. I wanted and felt that an epiloque was needed. I know Rose had an amazing future, but I wanted to read about the beautiful life she finally got to have.

Such a great book! Beautifully written. Impacting. Soul searching. Truth telling. The nineteen sixties in Parsons, Georgia was a hard place to live as a person of color. Come back to it and see Opal and Cedric. Meet their families. They were in the previous book by Angela Jackson Brown. You don’t have to read it to follow this one, but if you haven’t, then you should. Completely absorbing. Loved it!

The reader is engaged in the civil rights fight to register black voters and achieve equal treatment for blacks in Parsons, Georgia. I was transported back in time to the tumult and anxiety of the early 1960s. Brown gave me the opportunity to view things through the eyes of a black family, to understand that not all blacks were opposed to protests and civil disobedience, and to witness the injustices inflicted on fine black people who were simply trying to build a better life for themselves and their children..

This historical fiction novel was a page turner. Following young Rose through mistakes, loss, and eventually finding her own voice amid the din of the civil rights movement across the South. Important educational information is touched upon, as well as the reactions and feelings of a family torn between wanting to be patient and quietly wait for their rights to come to them, or make themselves heard in their small town, while facing great unfairness and even abuse at the hands of the law. Well written story by Jackson-Brown, I will recommend it frequently..