'Sing, Unburied, Sing' Review

Sing, Unburied, Sing

By Jesmyn Ward, narrated by Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chris Chalk, and Rutina Wesley

Genre: magic realism, fiction

Content warnings: racism, death, incarceration, police brutality, child abuse

Description: “Jojo and his toddler sister, Kayla, live with their grandparents, Mam and Pop, and the occasional presence of their drug-addicted mother, Leonie, on a farm on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Leonie is simultaneously tormented and comforted by visions of her dead brother, which only come to her when she’s high; Mam is dying of cancer; and quiet, steady Pop tries to run the household and teach Jojo how to be a man. When the white father of Leonie’s children is released from prison, she packs her kids and a friend into her car and sets out across the state for Parchman farm, the Mississippi State Penitentiary, on a journey rife with danger and promise.”

Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing is a powerful novel that explores the complexities of grief, family, and childhood within the context of systemic racism and anti-Blackness in the United States. The book is haunting and beautifully written, with profound explorations of all the characters involved and their actions. 

What I enjoyed:

-Ward writes the characters and their relations to one another poignantly. Each character carries a complexity and nuance that challenges assumptions and encourages empathy. Leonie and Jojo’s complicated mother-son relationship is particularly well-written, where you can feel so much for both characters as they negotiate their understandings of and feelings toward one another. While this book focuses on family, Ward avoids divorcing the context of generational trauma from the wider context of systemic injustices. Grief is a significant part of the story, specifically in how it relates to family, anti-Black racism, and the US incarceral state, and Ward deftly examines grief both through the ghosts and through those who live.

-Ward’s prose is masterful. The scenery and the various places the characters travel to are described viscerally, and the most painful parts of the novel are depicted sensitively yet powerfully. Narrators Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chris Chalk, and Rutina Wesley convey the emotions of each scene with passion and care.

-The magic realism melds with the realistic elements of the novel very effectively. The addition of the ghosts brings the present and past together in integral ways and enhances the book’s messages on the relationships between memory and reality and the continuation of systemic violence and their impacts on grief and family.

-Since I listened to the audiobook, I have to give a special shout-out to Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chris Chalk, and Rutina Wesley for their reading of the book. They portray the characters with attention and compassion.

What I thought could be better:

-I had no major concerns while reading this novel. I appreciated listening to this book and immersing myself in its stories and messages. 

Overall, Sing, Unburied, Sing was a powerful read that I highly recommend to anyone looking for an engaging novel that thoughtfully and meaningfully grapples with family, grief, and systemic racism.