One Summer in Savannah: A Story of Trauma, Healing, and Forgiveness

This is the second of Harris’ novels that I have read this week. And this one, challenged me in unexpected ways — finished in two days! 📚 :::: As a debut novel, 𝓞𝓷𝓮 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓢𝓪𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓪𝓱 is an ambitious effort to examine ‘forgiveness’ in the context of intimate violence, pain, community, family, love, grief and possibility. And, Harris meets this challenge. She presents to the reader a journey of forgiveness that is neither linear nor certain. :::: 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: Birdie: I consider her character the most tragic. Her insistence on living out an untruth, inability to grieve, show affection and simply be kind —- greatly costs her. Hosea: His poetic dialogue is beautiful. Harris skillfully presents and interprets his words into the novel. I would have appreciated seeing more references to poets of color and women. 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:: I am impressed by Harris. The ease of her writing midst the complexities of her novels captivates me. Her writing is vivid, disarming and quite lovely. There is something about her style that makes me trust her in handling sensitive/intimate harms 🤔. This novel is still living within me —- such a good thing. I am certain I will continue to reflect on 𝓞𝓷𝓮 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓢𝓪𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓪𝓱 for a while. Read it! Let’s talk about it.