Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile

About this book: (from the publisher) When Charley unexpectedly inherits eight hundred acres of sugarcane land, she and her eleven-year-old daughter say goodbye to smoggy Los Angeles and head to Louisiana. She soon learns, however, that cane farming is always going to be a white man’s business. As the sweltering summer unfolds, Charley struggles to balance the overwhelming challenges of a farm in decline with the demands of family and the startling desires of her own heart.

About the author: Natalie Baszile has a master’s degree in Afro-American Studies from UCLA, and an MFA from Warren Wilson Program for Writers, where she was a Holden Minority Scholar. An early version of Queen Sugar won the Hurston Wright College Writer’s Award, was a co-runner up in the Faulkner Pirate’s Alley Novel-in-Progress competition. Natalie grew up in Southern California and lives in San Francisco with her family.

Genre: Fiction

Why I read this book: for the opportunity to read a work of literary fiction from an African-American perspective.

First impressions: I was drawn to the cover, which makes me think of long, hot, Southern summer days and offers the promise of love. It speaks to me of both grit and romance.  

If this book were a movie, I would rate it: R. For occasional but startling profanity, and some mature themes. 

Reminds me of… Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

Will especially appeal to… readers of literary fiction with Southern themes of race and place.

This story matters because…it provides an illuminating look into contemporary Southern life.

My take: Okay, here it is: at first I couldn’t get into this novel. With the likes of O, The Oprah Magazine, Joshilyn Jackson and Karen Joy Fowler raving about it, it left me wondering, What am I missing?

So I persevered, and I’m mostly glad I did. It gave me a new glimpse into today’s South, and it felt particularly relevant as, unlike so many big books on black/white relations (The Help, Calling Me Home), this one is written by an African-American woman. (Another notable exception: The Secret of Magic by Deborah Johnson, also recently reviewed here).

I also have to say I was initially put off by a particularly foul profanity–which I’ll add was the first of its kind I’ve ever encountered in my reading. And seemed unnecessarily gratuitous. It certainly served to let me know I was in for a fairly gritty read. That said, the foul language was not vanilla-spread. It came and went, and for the most part was reasonably appropriate. Although I still say it wasn’t absolutely necessary. It rarely is.

Anyway.

Here’s where it gets better. Queen Sugar has plenty to recommend it: its sense of place. Its true-to-life characters. It’s portrayal of family. Oh my–yes. It reveals in a loving but no-holds-barred way how complex and heartbreaking, yet how ultimately necessary and redeeming family relationships can be.

Oh, and I have to say I found the very last line particularly satisfying.

[Tweet “A gritty and powerful portrayal of contemporary Southern life.”]

Thanks to Penguin Books for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.

After words: This isn’t the first time, nor (I’m sure) will it be the last when I raise the issue of profanity in my reading. I personally am by no means a anti-profanity kind of reader so long as it’s appropriate to the story, although I will say that I prefer it mild and rare. What are your thoughts?