Mr. McCane
The Darkest Child is a historical fiction novel that gives readers a look into a Black family during the Jim Crow era. We get to witness firsthand the effects Jim Crow had on the Quinn family. But instead of seeing it through the mother’s eyes, we get the POV of one of her children.
Rozelle Quinn is the worst character I’ve ever read in a book. She’s light-skinned and can pass as white. She has ten children, all by different men. And although she’s horrible to all of them, she targets the darker-skinned children the most. The more I read, the more disgusted I became with her.
Tangy Mae is our main character, and the story is told from her POV. She’s 13 years old, smart, and just happens to be the darkest child in the family. Tangy Mae endures extreme abuse while also trying to stay in school.
The story takes place in Georgia during the 1950s, in the middle of the Jim Crow era. This is a difficult read, so I advise checking your triggers beforehand. The book tackles mental illness, racism, abuse (mental, physical, and sexual), murder, and more. It’s not just one or two awful scenes; this book is raw and will leave you with your jaw on the floor.
I’m glad I read it. It’s a story I needed to experience. I immersive-read it, and the narrator (Bahni Turpin) did an amazing job. She’s probably the reason I kept going. I will never forget the Quinn family. Unfortunately, the author passed away while writing book two. The audiobook includes a few chapters from book two, but the physical copy I had did not.
There were a couple of things I didn’t like, but I’m not sure this story could have been told without them, so I’m okay with it. One issue was that there were too many characters, which made it difficult to keep up at times. But again, Rozelle had ten children, so how else could you write that? There’s no point in going into anything else. This book hurt my heart, and I’m only recommending it to people strong enough for a gut punch.
The Darkest Child is a historical fiction novel that gives readers a look into a Black family during the Jim Crow era. We get to witness firsthand the effects Jim Crow had on the Quinn family. But instead of seeing it through the mother’s eyes, we get the POV of one of her children.
Rozelle Quinn is the worst character I’ve ever read in a book. She’s light-skinned and can pass as white. She has ten children, all by different men. And although she’s horrible to all of them, she targets the darker-skinned children the most. The more I read, the more disgusted I became with her.
Tangy Mae is our main character, and the story is told from her POV. She’s 13 years old, smart, and just happens to be the darkest child in the family. Tangy Mae endures extreme abuse while also trying to stay in school.
The story takes place in Georgia during the 1950s, in the middle of the Jim Crow era. This is a difficult read, so I advise checking your triggers beforehand. The book tackles mental illness, racism, abuse (mental, physical, and sexual), murder, and more. It’s not just one or two awful scenes; this book is raw and will leave you with your jaw on the floor.
I’m glad I read it. It’s a story I needed to experience. I immersive-read it, and the narrator (Bahni Turpin) did an amazing job. She’s probably the reason I kept going. I will never forget the Quinn family. Unfortunately, the author passed away while writing book two. The audiobook includes a few chapters from book two, but the physical copy I had did not.
There were a couple of things I didn’t like, but I’m not sure this story could have been told without them, so I’m okay with it. One issue was that there were too many characters, which made it difficult to keep up at times. But again, Rozelle had ten children, so how else could you write that? There’s no point in going into anything else. This book hurt my heart, and I’m only recommending it to people strong enough for a gut punch.