Oprah Book Club® Selection, October 1999: Breena Clarke's first novel takes place in Georgetown in 1925, where a large and close-knit African American community took shape beneath the shadow of segregation. At the center of the story is baby Clara, who is swallowed by the Potomac as her sister, Johnnie Mae, cools off in the brackish water. It's the only place the girls can find relief--they're banned from the new, clean swimming pool the white kids use.
After Clara drowns, the river is never the same, and Johnnie Mae hovers on the edge of womanhood wondering if she'll be able to get past her guilt and emptiness. In an eloquent passage, Clarke writes, "Losing a loved one, a family member, is like losing a tooth. After a while, those teeth remaining shift and lean and spread out to split the distance between themselves and the other teeth still left, trying to close up spaces."
Bits of wisdom like this are the book's charm. Most remarkable are the church scenes, which Clarke renders almost purely in the give-and-take of voices: the booming preacher's sermon ("The people we love, we only borrowing them"), and the congregation's "Praise Jesus, Amen" exclamations. The author based her novel on stories passed down in Georgetown--tales of that area's first black churches, founded when people decided they wanted their own place of worship, and implicitly their own God. In church the novel takes flight. Elsewhere River, Cross My Heart suffers from clumsy, purple prose, and a plot that moves forward in labored fits and starts. Clarke painstakingly tries to re-create this past world, but sometimes it seems her duty to history is holding her back, bogging her down in period-piece details. In the effortless church scenes, history loses its gravity and is absorbed by grace. --Emily White
"Little Clara Bynum has fallen into the river." Within the hour the
African American community of Georgetown had heard the tragic news and
ran down to the murky banks of the Potomac River. The men searched
while the women gave refuge to the fallen five-year-olds mother and
big sister Jonnie Mae.
Jonnie Mae was an excellent swimmer. She immediately took to the
water in the creeks of North Carolina with her Grandfather. She had a
moxie for water ever since. But, she could not get Clara out of the
river.
Set in the mid summer of 1925, Jonnie Mae Bynum and her family
struggle with the death of baby Clara. The family, Willie and Alice
Bynum and Aunt Ina, learn to cope with the loss and show the community
that no matter what life does go on. All the while Jonnie Mae, a
young girl, learns about many coming of age lessons. One of those
lessons she learned about was segregation. Had she and all the black
children been able to swim in the white's only pool, they would not
have had to go to the Three Sisters to swim that day and little Clara
(or Rat) would still be alive.
Breena Clarke brings to life old stories she heard as a child in
"River Cross My Heart". After the death of her own fourteen year old
son in 1989 she wanted her first novel to explain the grief she felt
without drawing full attention to herself. Chosen as one of the
selections in Oprah's Book Club in 2004, this story still has a review
on the popular website. Which I believe it is safe to say it must be
a favorite of Ms. Winfrey's.
When I opened the first page and began reading, I knew this book was
to become a favorite of mine. I was captivated by the rich African
American history that she created in fictional form. The plot
surrounding a family loosing a child placed me in their shoes being a
mother myself (Jonnie Mae and little Clara are the same ages as my own
two daughters). Jonnie Mae, the main character, reminded me of my own
adversities I had at the age of twelve. How, no matter what
circumstances one has to face, it's okay to follow your dreams and
achieve the moxie that's burning deep within your soul. I would
recommend this book to anyone of any age with a passion for a great
reading experience.
"River, Cross My Heart" by Breena Clarke is a heart warming and sweet read. But it is also a tale of courage and strength in the face of adversity. It's a story that says, believe in yourself, even if you feel that no one else does.
Johnnie Mae,is a pre-teen on the brink of womanhood in the 1920's. The neighborhood of Georgetown, just outside of Washington, D.C. seems to be a place where blacks could go and be accepted by their white neighbors. In realty, although outwardly, the white population sees themselves as progressive and 'tolerant', they will not even allow the black population to swim in the neighborhood swimming pool.It is as though they really tolerate the black people so they will have good workers!
To Johnnie Mae, it is incomprehensible, and what's more she can't help but to be drawn to the beautiful pool, even picturing herself being the best swimmer they ever saw there.She's a born swimmer ,and loves the water. She and her friends, are forced to do their cooling off and swimming in the murky river nearby. It is there, during a fun-filled day of diving and splashing around, that her little sister Clara, while under the charge of Johnnie Mae, is lost to the flow of the river.
It is the next year in the life of Johnnie Mae,her family, and the neighborhood characters we follow, from grief to recovery. The trials they must face, and the guilt Johnnie feels deep down. In her we see the strength that a young Rosa Parks may have possessed, as she defies the rules,her parents,and discrimination, and fulfills her dreams of swimming in the 'white pool'. In the trouble that follows, we get a glimpse of where her inner strength has come from. And, personally I thought it ended just right.
It's a wonderfully charming story, with exceptionally interesting and colorful characters. A good look at what life must have been like, for people who were not too far descended from slavery, and a taste of the beliefs and superstitions of the era. A good one time read, a feel good story, and one I would highly recommend especially to teenage girls, who may be inspired by Johnnie Mae's tenacity.
