The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy *****

The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy

 Alice’s Restaurant for the 2020s. Four millennial black women, leading their best lives. Family. Vacations. Travel. An award-winning restaurant featuring grits. A doctor. An influencer. A mother. Life is good, but then things get real. A dark look at 2027.

Desiree is estranged from her father and sister; her mother died when she was young; her grandfather raised her. Nakia is a successful proprietress of a couple of trendy LA restaurants. January is an influencer and a graphic designer. Monique is a university librarian and blogger. The four friends support each other, like when Desiree has family problems or January has a difficult pregnancy.

Monique’s university has preserved the quarters where faculty housed their enslaved servants. Monique protests the university’s plans to remove references to the occupants as enslaved and relocate the building to a remote part of the campus.

After January’s pregnancy, she has a painful prolapse, not recognized by her doctors. Her friends come to her aid. She struggles with motherhood.

The four friends moved between NYC and LA. Nakia went to a restaurant management program in NYC, and her friends joined her on a trip to Chicago for a restaurant convention. The women also traveled to Martinique, Thailand, and Abu Dhabi.

Desiree’s grandfather cajoles her to accompany him on a trip to Paris and on to Switzerland for his assisted suicide.

While the women have relationship challenges, they are together, and over the years, from their 20s in 2008 to middle-age in the 2020s, they are doing well. You might be excused for reading this book as a romance or a black version of Sex in the City. However, like Alice’s Restaurant, it turns dark at the end. It is reminiscent of Octavia Butler. Read it.

Desiree’s family. Her older sister, Danielle Joyner, is a doctor. Her father is Terry Joyner. Her mother, who died of a heart attack at 42, is Sherelle Richard Joyner. Since her father left for a new wife and new family before Desiree was born, her mother named her Desiree Richard. Desiree was raised by her grandfather, Nolan Richard. After Nolan dies, Desiree is alone.

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Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson *****

Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson

 All California 4^th-graders study the 21 California missions, many building models. From San Diego to San Francisco, they have all been preserved/restored, thanks to Helen Hunt Jackson and her book Ramona, published in 1884 and never out of print.

Helen Hunt Jackson campaigned for the rights of native Americans. She published A Century of Dishonor (1881), castigating United States policy, which led to Congress appointing her to a commission to study the issue and publishing her Report on the Condition and Needs of the Mission Indians of California (1883). She was not satisfied with the impact of these reports, so she wrote the novel, Ramona. “If I could write a story that would do for the Indian a thousandth part what Uncle Tom’s Cabin did for the Negro, I would be thankful the rest of my life.”

Ramona was the “daughter of an unnamed Indian woman and a Scotch seaman named Angus Phail.” Ultimately, Señora Moreno took charge of Ramona and her fortune, which Ramona was to receive upon marrying worthily. Ramona was raised in luxury alongside Felipe, Señora Moreno’s only child. She didn’t know her Indian parentage. Señora Moreno planned for her to marry a Mexican aristocrat. Instead, Ramona ran off with the Indian Alessandro Assis.

With Alessandro, Ramona is subject to all the atrocities that the Americans inflicted on the Indians, including having their land and homes stolen, and being starved and murdered. “According to Ramona, those who were victims of Manifest Destiny were not just human beings; they were paragons of industry, gentle creatures who were hardworking, law-abiding, and devout.”

Helen Hunt Jackson died shortly after Ramona was published (August 12, 1885). However, her work was not forgotten. On January 12, 1891, Congress passed “the Act for the Relief of the Mission Indians in the State of California. This bill not only established a fund for the aged and destitute, but called for the appointment of a three-man commission, which, covering the same ground that Jackson had, ultimately set aside approximately 136,000 acres on twenty-six reservations for 3,200 Mission Indians, reservations that still exist today.”

The heroes of Ramona were the Mission Indians, the Mexicans, and the Franciscans, against the Americans. “The American law is different.” “It’s a law of thieves!” cried Ramona. “Yes, and of murderers too,” said Alessandro.” “They are a pack of thieves and liars, every one of them!” cried Alessandro. The other heroes were Capitan, Felipe’s sheep dog; Benito, Alessandro’s horse; and Baba, Ramona’s horse.

Helen Hunt Jackson was friends with Emily Dickinson.

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Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler *****

 Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

“So what are we in for? [2024 President-elect] said that as soon as possible after his inauguration next year, he’ll … suspend “overly restrictive” minimum wage, environmental, and worker protection laws ...” Published in 1993. Read it if you dare.

Lauren Olamina is 18 years old. She lives in a walled community in Los Angeles until a gang of pyros breaks through the gate to burn, murder, rape, and rob. She escapes and begins her odyssey north in search of safety and a better life. “In some places, the rich are escaping by flying out in helicopters. The bridges that are still intact—and most of them are—are guarded either by the police or by gangs. Both groups are there to rob desperate, fleeing people of their weapons, money, food, and water—at the least.”

Lauren has hyperempathy syndrome. She is a “feeler” or a “sharer.” When she observes someone in pain, she feels their pain. If she attacks someone (even in self-defense), she’ll feel their pain (until they die). She shoots to kill because if she wounds them, they will both be incapacitated. In a battle, she might die three or four times.

Lauren creates Earthseed and collects people during her journey to build an Earthseed community at the end of her odyssey. “As wind, as water, as fire, as life, God is both creative and destructive, demanding and yielding, Sculptor and clay. God is Infinite Potential: God is Change. EARTHSEED: THE BOOKS OF THE LIVING.” “God is Power— Infinite, Irresistible, Inexorable, Indifferent. And yet, God is Pliable— Trickster, Teacher, Chaos, Clay. God exists to be shaped. God is Change.”

At one level, this book is a survivalist manual. Do not attract attention. Appear strong. Water: Carry water purification tablets. Filter seawater with sand. Guns: Keep them maintained. Have ammunition. A handgun is not effective against a rifle. People: Those with children tend to be more trustworthy. Suspect everyone. Supplies: Seeds. Money. Dried food.

The book ends with The Parable of the Sower (KJV Luke 8:5-8)

A Sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. And others fell on good ground, sprang up, and bore fruit a hundredfold.

Lauren’s parents are both Ph.D.’s

The author discussed company towns and debt slavery.

Some quotes

“A tree cannot grow in its parents’ shadows.”

“In the night, a woman and three kids might look like a gift basket of food, money, and sex.”

“I drew the gun and held it in my lap. If I needed it at all, I would need it fast. We weren’t strong enough to survive slowness or stupid.”

“Most people suspected it had begun in Los Angeles, where, according to them, most stupid or wicked things began. Local prejudice. I didn’t tell any of them I was from the L.A. area.”

“There was more hunger in those eyes than we could fill with all our food. I thought I had probably made a mistake. These people were so desperate, they were dangerous. It didn’t matter at all that [mother and daughter] looked harmless. They were still alive and strong enough to run. They were not harmless.”

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A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna ******

 A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

Sera is a powerful witch. Too powerful. When she uses a very illegal spell to resurrect her great-aunt Jasmine, Sera is exiled from the Witch’s Guild and loses most of her magic. Her nemesis, Chancellor Albert, is overjoyed. Excellent. All the stars.

Before Sera, the most powerful witch was Albert Grey. He bullied everyone in the British Guild of Sorcery. He controlled the guild’s gargoyle-bedecked castle in Northumberland and its library. He took Sera as his apprentice and did his best to convince Sera and everyone else that he was the strongest witch. Sera moved to Batty Hole Inn in Lancashire to get away from Albert. Their rivalry persisted.

As a young witch, Sera charmed the inn. “The best way Sera could describe her spell was this: if you didn’t need the inn, you’d drive on. (And if you were a d**k, you’d definitely drive on.)” Some of the residents included: “Jasmine (briefly deceased great-aunt), Clemmie (overly opinionated witch doomed to live out her days as a fox), Sera’s young cousin Theo (also a witch, but thankfully not one doomed to a lifetime as a woodland creature), Matilda (geriatric oddball and aspiring hobbit), and newest arrival Nicholas (a knight).” Later, they were joined by Luke, a magical historian, and young Posey, his autistic sister.

Even after Sera lost most of her magic, the inn’s enchantments continued. “Whenever Sera checked, she could see that the inn still glowed bright with the spell she’d cast over it as a child. Spells were supposed to be finite, so there was no reason it ought to still be going strong, but somehow, it was. Unfortunately, it had also evolved. Over time, the spell had developed a most inconvenient propensity for whimsy and mischief. Wildflowers bloomed spontaneously in empty teacups at unexpected moments. The sunlit rooms teased her with echoes of her past selves. Doors opened and closed on a whim. One of the guest bedrooms rained apple blossom tea for exactly one hour every Sunday, after which said tea vanished like it had never been there. And it was anyone’s guess what might come next.”

The restoration spell to return Sera’s magic required three impossible ingredients. “A Strand of Sunset. A Phoenix Feather. A Thorny Heart.”

The conflict between Albert and Sera was about more than who was the strongest. Albert represented the entrenched, white colonizers, while Sera represented the new, diverse generation.

This is a story of love of home, hearth, family, and friends.

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Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor ****

 Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

Onyesonwu is the child of weaponized rape and a victim of genital mutilation. She lives in a world of racism and slavery. As a mixed-race Ewu, she is scorned by all. She is a sorceress, an Eshu (shapeshifter), and the prophecy tells that she “will end their suffering.”

In post-apocalyptic Africa, the light-skinned Nuru enslaved the dark-skinned Okeke and were intent on killing all the Okeke. Below the Okeke were the mixed-race Ewu, often the product of Nuru soldiers raping Okeke women. The Great Book supported this world order. Onyesonwu’s Okeke mother, Najeeba, was violently raped by Nuru General Daib. Onyesonwu is on a quest to kill her father as foretold in the prophecy.

Onye leaves her village, Jwahir, to travel to her father’s village, Dufar. She travels with her lover, Mwita, the three women who were in her genital mutilation group, Luyu, Binta, and Diti, and another male, Fanasi.

Technology: Capture stations collect water from the air in sufficient quantities for drinking, cooking, and bathing. They could build rock fires for cooking and heating. They had devices that could keep time, work like a GPS, play video disks, and read books.

Magic, Juju. Onye could start rock fires, become ignorable (invisible), shapeshift into a vulture, and visit the wilderness. Her father poisoned her by writing on her palm, but she was saved when other sorcerers wrote counter spells. The leader of the Red People controlled the sandstorm.

As part of her sorceress training, Oyne learned the four Mystic Points. The Uwa Point represents the physical world, the body, Change, death, life, and connection. The Mmuo Point is the wilderness (a mystical space beyond the physical world). The Alusi point represents forces, deities, and spirits. The Okike Point represents the Creator.

During her odyssey, Onye encounters the Red People who live inside a sandstorm, a green jungle, nothing like the desert, and a fire lizard, kponyungo (the spirit of her mother).

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