Mama Said
eBook - ePub

Mama Said

Stories

  1. 288 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Mama Said

Stories

About this book

"A celebration of Black family life that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)?
"The collection will reshape what you think about the region and the people that inhabit it." —Debutiful

"Surprising and revelatory. . . . I love this book." —Stephanie Powell Watts, author of No One Is Coming to Save Us
"This book has staying power." —Crystal Wilkinson, author of Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts


Original stories of Black family life in Louisville, Kentucky, for readers of Dantiel Moniz (Milk Blood Heat) and Kai Harris (What the Fireflies Knew).

The linked stories in Mama Said are set in Louisville, Kentucky, a city with a rich history steeped in tobacco, bourbon, and gambling, indulgences that can quickly become gripping and destructive vices. Set amid the tail end of the crack epidemic and the rise of the opioid crisis, Mama Said evokes Black family life in all its complexity, following JayLynn, along with her cousins Zaria and Angel, as they come of age struggling against their mothers' drug addictions.

JayLynn heads to college intent on gaining distance from her depressed mother, only to learn that her mother's illness has reached a terrifying peak. She fears the chaos and instability of her extended family will prove too much for her boyfriend, whose idyllic family feels worlds, not miles, apart from her own. When bats invade Zaria's new home, she is forced to determine how much she is willing to sacrifice to be a good mother. Angel rebels on Derby night, risking her safety to connect with her absent mother and the wild ways that consumed her.

Mama Said separates from stereotypes of Black families, presenting instead the joy, humor, and love that coexist with the trauma of drug abuse within communities. Kristen Gentry's stories showcase the wide-reaching repercussions of addiction and the ties that forever bind daughters to their mothers, flaws and all.

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Yes, you can access Mama Said by Kristen Gentry in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literature General. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Mama Said
  7. A New World
  8. A Satisfying Meal
  9. A Sort of Winning
  10. Origin Story
  11. A Good Education
  12. Grown Folks’ Business
  13. Introduction
  14. To Have and to Hold
  15. Animal Kingdom
  16. In Her Image
  17. Everything You Could Ever Want
  18. Acknowledgments