Don't Cry for Me: A Novel
Don't miss Daniel Black's next novel Isaac's Song coming January 2025
From the Georgia Author of the Year Award Winner
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK IN ESSENCE MAGAZINE, THE MILLIONS AND BOOKISH
"Don't Cry for Me is a perfect song."--Jesmyn Ward
A Black father makes amends with his gay son through letters written on his deathbed in this wise and penetrating novel of empathy and forgiveness, for fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates, Robert Jones Jr. and Alice Walker
As Jacob lies dying, he begins to write a letter to his only son, Isaac. They have not met or spoken in many years, and there are things that Isaac must know. Stories about his ancestral legacy in rural Arkansas that extend back to slavery. Secrets from Jacob's tumultuous relationship with Isaac's mother and the shame he carries from the dissolution of their family. Tragedies that informed Jacob's role as a father and his reaction to Isaac's being gay.
But most of all, Jacob must share with Isaac the unspoken truths that reside in his heart. He must give voice to the trauma that Isaac has inherited. And he must create a space for the two to find peace.
With piercing insight and profound empathy, acclaimed author Daniel Black illuminates the lived experiences of Black fathers and queer sons, offering an authentic and ultimately hopeful portrait of reckoning and reconciliation. Spare as it is sweeping, poetic as it is compulsively readable, Don't Cry for Me is a monumental novel about one family grappling with love's hard edges and the unexpected places where hope and healing take flight.
From the Georgia Author of the Year Award Winner
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK IN ESSENCE MAGAZINE, THE MILLIONS AND BOOKISH
"Don't Cry for Me is a perfect song."--Jesmyn Ward
A Black father makes amends with his gay son through letters written on his deathbed in this wise and penetrating novel of empathy and forgiveness, for fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates, Robert Jones Jr. and Alice Walker
As Jacob lies dying, he begins to write a letter to his only son, Isaac. They have not met or spoken in many years, and there are things that Isaac must know. Stories about his ancestral legacy in rural Arkansas that extend back to slavery. Secrets from Jacob's tumultuous relationship with Isaac's mother and the shame he carries from the dissolution of their family. Tragedies that informed Jacob's role as a father and his reaction to Isaac's being gay.
But most of all, Jacob must share with Isaac the unspoken truths that reside in his heart. He must give voice to the trauma that Isaac has inherited. And he must create a space for the two to find peace.
With piercing insight and profound empathy, acclaimed author Daniel Black illuminates the lived experiences of Black fathers and queer sons, offering an authentic and ultimately hopeful portrait of reckoning and reconciliation. Spare as it is sweeping, poetic as it is compulsively readable, Don't Cry for Me is a monumental novel about one family grappling with love's hard edges and the unexpected places where hope and healing take flight.
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Readers say *Don't Cry for Me* offers a poignant, emotional exploration of father-son relationships, generational trauma, and Black family history. Ma...
This story is so beautifully written. This story touched my heart in so many places… I understand the father’s struggles through life and how he raised his son. But struggled with the father. It being able to break the generational curses he endured before his end came. The love he had for his son and his son for him but they couldn’t never connect
This was truly powerful and although not my normal read I am so glad I got to read it. It's difficult to form words to really express my feelings without someone getting offended but I will start with an obvious statement that I am neither black nor African American and of course I cannot image the struggles that is meant to be expressed in this book in a lot of areas; however I will express what it made me feel as a parent, a daughter, a Hispanic woman but above all as a Human being.
The journey that this father goes through and sums it up in some letters for his estranged son is, I want to say heartbreaking but not because I feel sorry for the father in the sense that I would personally cry for him but I feel sorry that he didn't realize the mistakes he made a lot sooner.
I will say that this book although fictional really made some things sink in further in my own personal experiences with my own parents, children and life overall. We always try to do better than what our own parents did in raising us and sometimes don't always succeed. But let that be a lesson in it self that we need to continue to grow and get better.
Many of us live our lives not fully thinking of the consequences our decisions will have on not only our lives but in the lives of those we come in contact with.
Jacob, in his way did his best at least in his perspective he meant well and did the best he could, I am sure he did he didn't realize that it was up to him to break generational misguided teachings, instead he made some of them as a parent himself. However, his son also didn't take it upon himself to try to educate his father and maybe try to mend things. I understand why and can even relate, man can I ever relate.
I highly recommend this book, it touches on some deep topics that so many people still till this day can't discuss without hate or anger. It really opens your eyes and heart to things you may already be aware of and things you may not.
With Father's day this month, although I normally do not celebrate it I am thankful to have read it. I can't remember who recommended this book to me but I am thankful, it really is a 5 star rating.
“I find it funny that, at funerals, all dead people go to Heaven, regardless of how they lived. Perhaps this is black people's way of rewarding themselves simply for having been black and survived - even for a while.”
“You must learn to uproot unwanted seeds without destroying the entire harvest. This is the son’s lesson. Nurture good sprouts, Isaac. Toss weeds aside and never think of them again. Just remember that sprouts and weeds are planted together, and weeds have a valuable function. They teach you what to avoid, what not to embrace. There is no good planting without them."
The journey that this father goes through and sums it up in some letters for his estranged son is, I want to say heartbreaking but not because I feel sorry for the father in the sense that I would personally cry for him but I feel sorry that he didn't realize the mistakes he made a lot sooner.
I will say that this book although fictional really made some things sink in further in my own personal experiences with my own parents, children and life overall. We always try to do better than what our own parents did in raising us and sometimes don't always succeed. But let that be a lesson in it self that we need to continue to grow and get better.
Many of us live our lives not fully thinking of the consequences our decisions will have on not only our lives but in the lives of those we come in contact with.
Jacob, in his way did his best at least in his perspective he meant well and did the best he could, I am sure he did he didn't realize that it was up to him to break generational misguided teachings, instead he made some of them as a parent himself. However, his son also didn't take it upon himself to try to educate his father and maybe try to mend things. I understand why and can even relate, man can I ever relate.
I highly recommend this book, it touches on some deep topics that so many people still till this day can't discuss without hate or anger. It really opens your eyes and heart to things you may already be aware of and things you may not.
With Father's day this month, although I normally do not celebrate it I am thankful to have read it. I can't remember who recommended this book to me but I am thankful, it really is a 5 star rating.
“I find it funny that, at funerals, all dead people go to Heaven, regardless of how they lived. Perhaps this is black people's way of rewarding themselves simply for having been black and survived - even for a while.”
“You must learn to uproot unwanted seeds without destroying the entire harvest. This is the son’s lesson. Nurture good sprouts, Isaac. Toss weeds aside and never think of them again. Just remember that sprouts and weeds are planted together, and weeds have a valuable function. They teach you what to avoid, what not to embrace. There is no good planting without them."
Man this book really hit home for me. As a black man who had a hard working father, who didn’t show that much love and emotion I could definitely relate. I enjoyed the pov of the man character telling his story in the letters. Many times I felt sorry for Isaac, at times I caught myself wishing his father would just show some type of emotion or just tell him how he felt. The story shows how many black men or men in general before us never knew how to show emotion or connect with their sons if it had nothing to do with being a hard worker and provider. Definitely can’t wait to start Isaac’s Song.
My thing with Jacob is he never really tried to be better. He was on his dying bed down to the last pages thinking about himself and how others would perceive him and that’s exactly why Isaac didn’t want anything to do with him. The letter was for him not for Isaac!
As I read, I couldn’t help but think of my own brother and father who have no relationship. Being a first hand witness to such a strained dynamic made this book a bit realer than I would have expected. Of course, as a woman I never spent much thought on the expectations a man has of his son, therefore I would have never fully understood. As the child of an emotionally avoidant father, my daddy issues were triggered.
By the end, I found myself almost sympathizing with Jacob. Almost. Do I think a man who consciously passes on generational trauma deserves the end Jacob received? Yes. Do I think a man who justifies that by saying he meant well, because he did want a father is supposed to do? Still yes. Admittedly, he waited until it was far too late and he passed the point of no return.
This trope—letters? deathbead? (Idk, I’ll look that up)—made its first introduction to me here. I expected less dialogue, however, I became more appreciative of that. Usually, I wouldn’t like the mention of every small detail in books, I did not mind that here. All in all, I enjoyed every minute, I really can appreciate when a book makes me shed a few tears.
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