A'Lelia Bundles

This book is part biography but more so a history of the upper echelons of Black life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Essentially, Reconstruction through World War I). As a history major in college, this period of history was one of my focuses, and while I know a lot of the names of prominent Black intellectuals, artists, musicians, writers, leaders, I do not recall ever having heard of Madam C.J. Walker or her Harlem Renaissance-goddess daughter, A’Lelia Walker, even in my Black history classes. I am glad that is remedied now. The historical details were fascinating and primary source material for some of Ms. Walker's life story added rich flavor (Ms. Bundles is a descendant of Ms. Walker), but there were many suppositions that filled gaps in sources for the story that sometimes seemed forced. Nevertheless, that there is a record at all of the early years of this enterprising millionaire and her program of uplifting those less fortunate, particularly Black women, is a gift. It is no surprise that there were holes that had to be filled with guessing.… (plus d'informations)

Things I liked: written by a descendant of Madam CJ Walker. That is amazing. The story of Madam CJ Walker's life, in general, and the emphasis on her commitment to giving back to the community. She is a tremendous figure, and an astonishing woman.

Things I wasn't so sure about -- there's a lot of assumed emotion that is written into the book, and a lot of things that are glossed over. Example of the first -- the book talks about how joyfully her family celebrated her birth. Entirely possible! But how do we know that? It's followed shortly thereafter by the deaths of parents, with no death certificate, so the author goes out of the way to mention that we can't be sure how they died, but is perfectly comfortable attributing emotions to the family. This is a small weird thing, but it adds up throughout the book and begins to strike a false note.

On the whole, a fine book, but I didn't feel very engaged by it.
Liked it better on second reading.… (plus d'informations)