⇒ PDF Free The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner Andrea Smith 9780385336239 Books

The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner Andrea Smith 9780385336239 Books

Download As PDF : The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner Andrea Smith 9780385336239 Books

The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner Andrea Smith 9780385336239 Books

I approached Andrea Smith's "The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner" (2007) thinking it would be a sentimental novel not to my liking, but I found the book endearing. The story is set in a predominantly African American three-county community in South Carolina called the Three Sisters and in a town in the community, Canaan Creek. The community is poor, close-knit and centered around the church. Smith's book focuses upon the lifelong friendship between two women, Bonnie Wilder and Thora Dean. The time of the story alternates between the mid-1950's and the mid-1980's.

The book takes time to unfold. It opens in 1985 when Bonnie receives a mysterious letter from a young, pregnant married woman, Augusta, who wants Bonnie to tell her about her birth mother. Bonnie is reluctant to respond to the young woman or to revisit this area of both their lives. The book juxtaposes the relationship between Bonnie and Augusta with events in the Three Sisters area in the 1950's, when the events leading to the relationship began.

In the 1950's Bonnie had been married for some years to Naz. For some years, the marriage had been happy. Naz had been a pitcher in Negro baseball with a promising future before he suffered a career-ending injury. Naz missed baseball, but Bonnie missed the inability she and Naz had of having a child even more. On a summer day, Naz and his friends find a dead baby abandoned in the waters of Canaan Creek. This sad, mysterious event ultimately spearheads Bonnie and a small group of women to found a group called "The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner" which, outside established legal channels, places abandoned babies and children in homes where they are wanted. Bonnie's marriage comes apart when she learns that Naz has been having an affair with a woman named Lucinda in a community about an hour's drive away.

The novels portrays the tensions and friendships among women in the South Carolina community. The Sisterhood's project, which gives Bonnie, Thora, and several other women an activity that brings renewed meaning to their lives is at the center, but the church, schools, farms, restaurants, and activities of the community are portrayed as well. The book does not have a polemical tone as the male characters are portrayed kindly and with understanding. Bonnie is portrayed sympathetically, with her ambitions and her mistakes, as is Bonnie's eccentric, tough, and flamboyant friend, Thora. I became involved with their lives and cheered for them.

The book tells a simple, unpretentious story. It flows smoothly and picks up momentum after a slow beginning. I read the book in a group that focuses on Black literature and would not have found it otherwise. The novel taught me about places and communities that I haven't known directly. I liked reading Andrea Smith's little book, expanding my horizons, and getting to know this small African American community.

Robin Friedman


Tags : The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner [Andrea Smith] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Canaan Creek, South Carolina, in the 1950s is a tiny town where the close-knit African-American community is united by long-term friendships and church ties. Bonnie Wilder has lived here,Andrea Smith,The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner,The Dial Press,0385336233,56741436240,African American churches;South Carolina;Fiction.,African American women;South Carolina;Fiction.,Foundlings;Fiction.,African American Novel And Short Story,African American churches,African American women,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Literary,Foundlings,Literary,South Carolina

The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner Andrea Smith 9780385336239 Books Reviews

Canaan Creek was a place where nearly everyone knew everybody. However on a normal day something happened that changed the life of Bonnie and Naz Wilder forever. A baby was found. Bonnie being the caring soul that she was wanted a child but God had not blessed her with one. The circumstances that surrounded the child left and her wanting to help another mother if she ever got the chance were strong.
Her and her BFF Thora kept many a secret over the years. Follow them as they and some sister friends help other women and families with difficult choices and decisions. Share the journey as heartache and pain on many levels stomp through their lives. Then watch as a long buried secret come back around and give peace and to a young mother whose life is intricately connected to a baby found in a river over 40 years earlier..
Great read by this author but I cried as this story touched my heart and soul in places I have hidden within my own heart because of secrets.
Ms. Smith, I hope you will write many more stories..Thank you
I had high hopes for this novel but It somewhat fell through the cracks. The premise for a good story caught my attention but it somewhat wondered around and around. What a great friendship between Bonnie and Thora that was priceless. What Bonnie's husband did was unforgivable and she was right to let him go. The story ravel from present to past and sometimes you did not know where you were in the story. This is because the author is not a great storyteller but a better writer. I great writer is a great story teller. There were some poignant reflections in the book which was touching. I am going to give this writer another shot and read another one of her novels and hope the next novel is better.
There are not enough words in the dictionary to describe how very much I enjoyed this book. This book will be one that I return to read over and over again for years to come. When the book opens we are introduced to ladies that are up in years but are very sharp of mind, Thora Dean and Bonnie. They embody the simpleness of the South that I've come to love and enjoy. They remind me of every older woman of wisdom that I've encountered the entire time I've been on this earth and invoked a yearning in the deep parts of my soul for more of that wisdom that seems to be lost in today's fast and ever changing society. We quickly learn that the main characters Bonnie and Thora Dean, possess a strength that is exhibited in very different ways between the two. Bonnie and Thora Dean have been friends from the age of 8 years old and much of their lives are intermingled and intertwined with one another. We get to see how they interacted with each other as young women in their prime as they both experienced pain as women with their husbands and the pain of dealing with day to day situations that only can be seen in a small town. We get a glimpse of women with not much formal education but the wherewithal and strength to seek to make a difference in their small community. There are moments of jocularity, sadness, forthrightness, seriousness, and everything else in between. To say that I absolutely loved this book would be an understatement. I felt myself become transitioned to the time period so much so there were moments that I would glance from my kindle in confusion of all the things that actually surrounded me in my own home. This writer has a skill that many only dare to hope to achieve. I've read everything that I can find by Ms. Smith and am looking for anything else I can get my hands on. All I can say is KUDOS Ms. Smith even 9 years after the original release of this book I'm still just as captivated today as I'm sure the readers were who read it when it first came out!!!
I approached Andrea Smith's "The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner" (2007) thinking it would be a sentimental novel not to my liking, but I found the book endearing. The story is set in a predominantly African American three-county community in South Carolina called the Three Sisters and in a town in the community, Canaan Creek. The community is poor, close-knit and centered around the church. Smith's book focuses upon the lifelong friendship between two women, Bonnie Wilder and Thora Dean. The time of the story alternates between the mid-1950's and the mid-1980's.

The book takes time to unfold. It opens in 1985 when Bonnie receives a mysterious letter from a young, pregnant married woman, Augusta, who wants Bonnie to tell her about her birth mother. Bonnie is reluctant to respond to the young woman or to revisit this area of both their lives. The book juxtaposes the relationship between Bonnie and Augusta with events in the Three Sisters area in the 1950's, when the events leading to the relationship began.

In the 1950's Bonnie had been married for some years to Naz. For some years, the marriage had been happy. Naz had been a pitcher in Negro baseball with a promising future before he suffered a career-ending injury. Naz missed baseball, but Bonnie missed the inability she and Naz had of having a child even more. On a summer day, Naz and his friends find a dead baby abandoned in the waters of Canaan Creek. This sad, mysterious event ultimately spearheads Bonnie and a small group of women to found a group called "The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner" which, outside established legal channels, places abandoned babies and children in homes where they are wanted. Bonnie's marriage comes apart when she learns that Naz has been having an affair with a woman named Lucinda in a community about an hour's drive away.

The novels portrays the tensions and friendships among women in the South Carolina community. The Sisterhood's project, which gives Bonnie, Thora, and several other women an activity that brings renewed meaning to their lives is at the center, but the church, schools, farms, restaurants, and activities of the community are portrayed as well. The book does not have a polemical tone as the male characters are portrayed kindly and with understanding. Bonnie is portrayed sympathetically, with her ambitions and her mistakes, as is Bonnie's eccentric, tough, and flamboyant friend, Thora. I became involved with their lives and cheered for them.

The book tells a simple, unpretentious story. It flows smoothly and picks up momentum after a slow beginning. I read the book in a group that focuses on Black literature and would not have found it otherwise. The novel taught me about places and communities that I haven't known directly. I liked reading Andrea Smith's little book, expanding my horizons, and getting to know this small African American community.

Robin Friedman