Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
This stark, realistic and heart wrenching novel is about a time period and setting I have never read about in tandem – soldiers returning from WWII to the south. For Ronsel, going home is bittersweet. In Europe his tank division were hailed as heroes and treated as such. At home on his family farm in Mississippi he is treated as less than human. Ronsel is a black man living in the pre-Civil Rights south.
Told in short chapters each narrated by a different character you really get into the minds of the people of Mudbound, the farm at the center of all the action. The perspectives are each unique, and similar. There are two farmers, one black and one white. Two mothers and wives, again, one black and one white. And finally, two soldiers returning from the war in Europe, one black and one white. These six viewpoints construct the story to great effect. Wonderful for book clubs and for those looking for some unique historical fiction.
