Published by Algonquin Books
Publication date: March 4th 2008
Genres: Debut, Fiction, Historical, Literary
In 1939, at age thirty-one Laura is considered almost unmarriageable. All of her siblings have married and left the family home in Memphis. She has resigned herself to the fate of spinster schoolteacher when Henry McAllen appears and wants to marry her. He seems like a kind man, even if he is ten years older than her and with a limp from his time in France during the Great War. Unlike her family, he prefers the country and wants someday to move back to Mississippi and have his own farm. Feeling that this may be her only chance for marriage Laura swallows her fears and agrees. World War II changes both of their plans and those of everyone around them, but when the war ends, Henry moves his family, now grown to include two daughters and his father, to a farm in rural Mississippi. The life and people they encounter there shape the narrative of Hillary Jordan’s powerful debut novel Mudbound.
Through a series of unfortunate events Henry and Laura do not get the lovely house and acreage Henry described for their farm. Instead, he is swindled and they must live on their land in a shack with no plumbing or electricity. Henry has not deliberately lied to Laura but it hardly matters; her life has gone from one of gentility to one of drudgery. In short order she has not only two children to take care of, but also Henry’s father, a miserable, belligerent racist, who makes everyone’s life as miserable as the inside of his own twisted mind. Their income is derived in part from their own crops and from another family who lives on a parcel of their land. The Jacksons have the same kind of dreams as the McAllens but as blacks in the 1940s South they are even less likely to achieve them.
Jordan gives all of the main characters in Mudbound a voice, and delineates them so clearly it never becomes confusing. As different as they are two of the most memorable are Ronsel and Laura. He is the hope of his parents, but is unable to reconcile himself to being relegated a second class citizen in the country he fought for with distinction. The intelligence and pride that served him so well in Europe only causes him problems in Mississippi. For Laura, life is a dreary, loveless existence acting as a maid to a bitter, racist old man who, despite having sold his son’s birthright, believes his word is law. That Jordan can slip into the skins of such a diverse and conflicted set of characters means that by the end she has laid her story down so skillfully that their actions, as repugnant as some may be, are the only option. Mudbound is filled with a strong, quiet sorrow that permeates the page the way the mud pervades every aspect of its characters’ lives. It is a portrait of a time in American history that is as shameful now as it was then.
Oooohhhh, Catherine! This is one of my favorite books of all time! I read this not long after its release, long before I had a blog, else I would have reviewed it. This is one of the most powerful books I’ve read. I remember feeling as if it was even more shameful to realize this was common practice, but there is much shame involved in history as well as current practices… I’m so glad to see you liked it, too! I often wonder just how far we have come. Having just finished reading Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist, I’m uncertain of real progress. Rather perhaps the oppression has just moved to the legal and political ramifications of the world stage. Scary what we humans will do to each other.
I think you’re exactly right- not much as changed, just the means by which racism works now.
It wasn’t too long after reading this that I read Attica Locke’s debut novel, Black Water Rising and I also loved it!
I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve owned this book since 2009 and still haven’t read it. Your review has convinced me to pick it up and read it next.
LOVED this book so much. It was a favorite a few years back, and I’m thrilled that you loved it too. It’s one of those I’ll consistently shout from the rooftops.
Adding this one to the TBR…kind of an automatic reaction when I see a 5 star rating from you! Plus, I love my Southern fiction.
PS – just went to Goodreads to add this and the list of bloggers I trust who have rated this 5 stars is pretty long! Must make time, must make time…
I think you’ll like it, but it’s hard reading. Hard as in sad and difficult. I still can’t believe it was a debut!
I loved this book, but I read it so long ago now that I want to read it all over again. Beautiful review!
Thank you! I have no idea how this one slipped by me. I loved her second book When She Woke. She really has a talent for topical subjects. This one felt all too real these days.
You’ve just reminded me how much I loved this book! It was a favorite several years ago and I’ve held on to my copy ever since. Could be time for a reread…