Getting Our Breath Back

by Shawne Johnson

Follows the story of three African-American sisters and their witness to the chaos and optimism of the sixties, from would-be southern belle Violet, to ex-Black Panther and writer Lilly, to independent sculptor Rose. A first novel. Reader's Guide available. Reprint.

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

Reviews

[S Badiyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was phenomenal.

Poetically written, the story flows like a ballad. The characters are beautifully woven together, their names, their sisterhood, their family...

(sigh)

This is the only book I could read over and over again (and trust me, I have).

Truthfully, I would question any writer or reader who rated this any lower than 4 or 5 stars. It has been my favorite book for years (in good company, as Gloria Naylor and Toni Morrison are my favorite story-tellers).

Also, it’s not a one of. This author’s second book proved that she has a dynamic range and a true gift for words.

(This review is not well-worded but I couldn’t believe that her rating wasn’t 5 stars, so I wrote this in a rush)

/sba

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished this book! Wished I had enjoy reading it from the start (I did but somewhere in the middle I lost interest in the plot) towards the end, I found myself enjoying the story better. I liked Rose character and her daughter, Imani. Lilly was a hard character to follow but such a sad person/sad life. Hopefully, I can enjoy the next book by this author.

[Myra Scholze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the rhythm and the style of the writing - so beautiful. It pulled me in and held me tight through all the painful, raw, honest sections.

[M R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no intention of getting this book when I went to the library, but I while getting the book that I was actually there for I saw this title and that there was a word of praise on the back from one of my favorite authors, Bernice L. McFadden, and decided to take a chance. First, I will say that the book wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, which is, a book about three different sisters as navigating life as the 60s and 70s unfurl around them. The book was mostly only about one of the sisters, Rose and her daughter, and we see glimpses of the other two sisters through both of their eyes and occasionally through their own explanation. However, although the book wasn't precisely as I imagined I still thought it was a great book. I thought it was a beautiful, well-written and poetic look at life and the things that we do for work, for love, for a sense of escape and acceptance or any and all of those reasons. I love the repetition in the book of in the descriptions of the colors of people and the shape and feel of women and men. I think this is a book about love of all kinds: mother to child, sibling to sibling, current self to old self, man to woman, woman to work. There is so much passion in the work that is being created by Rose and feel that sculpting and carving being created with the descriptions and repetition of said descriptors so that I too feel that I could simply use my hands to let go of heaviness and have the hurt, heaviness, joy, sadness, anguish, delight and everything else be shown in works of art. Since the description did make it seem like the book was going to be about all three of the sisters equally I really would have loved to dive more into what made the sisters tick - what happened other than losing her father, but not the love of everyone, drove Lilly to heroin? And what made Violet so bitter and mean to her mother and sisters, but still desirous of being a perfect woman for a man and to stay so long with a man that clearly doesn't love her? It would have been nice to learn more about the other sisters beyond the small interactions they have in Rose's and Imani's life. And I want to know more about Taji and where he came from. Even still, I thought that this was a book that spoke to themes and feelings that are universal and timeless and although the backdrop involved mentions of Dr. King and free love and Black Panthers and Liberation, this book could be taking place in the present and be just as relevant. It had a freshness and lightness about it that didn't let it get bogged down by some of the times and heavy subjects. What I did really like about this book and the fact that it was written in more recent times is that the author has the ability to critique some of those things from that time, like the Black Panthers/Liberation movements and the fact that women were not all the time valued for their contributions during that time and although they may have been in the room or space - those groups really were quite toxic in their masculinity and often relegated women to no more than a submissive help(meet) or piece of ass. I love how she focuses on women and all of beauty and flaws. Like, I thought I was the only one that focused on scents and smells and how someone smells and not just the surface level perfume/cologne, but the scent of their spirit. How a smell can take you back to a person and a scent can tell a person that something has changed and it's time to go. There were so many women represented in this book even though it only seems to focus on five, but in the background I saw so many women who I have seen and will continue to see. I could go on and on about this, but suffice to say, I thought this was a beautifully written book about strength and weakness and blackness (and was unapologetic in it's Blackness).

[Tiffany]

I love this book!!! I enjoy reading it from the first page to the last. What really captured me was the authours poetic flow. I was so lost in it. the story was a complete emotional journey, I could not help but feel like I was there in that book.


Updated review:

This book is like a blanket. I always come back to it and and wrap myself in the pages. Every word and placement is well thought out. I really enjoy how each character feels like fragmented pieces of one body. Even though the Mother isn’t the focal point of the story, the small glimpses of her life unfolds, her being the center, and artery pumping life into her 3 grown daughters leaning on each other as they navigate womanhood and all its beauty. Rose is the middle child, she hides her vulnerability in her artwork. Her state of internal dialogue becomes the historical backdrop, allowing readers to stitch past and present. The two sister are complex, they feel like limbs weighed down by the misfortune of life.The oldest navigates the challenges of coming to terms with aging, infidelity, and a lost sense of purpose as her sons and husband withdraw and formulate a life separate from her identity as a mother and wife. Lily is the most unfortunate one. She remains infantile, stuck in a loop of a life untraceable and obscured by wrong choices, the markings of trauma both inflicted and self inflicted, and low sense of self worth. You begin to see the character fold into a poetic madness as she is unable to cope with the demands of reality. Even though throughout most of the story she is alive, you realize she is a ghost, a symptom of a dysfunction both her mother and sisters deflect from as they have created walls to block out memories still tender. Unable to reach her, she lily is already dead.Eventually she is castrated.

[Farrah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually couldn't finish this book. Couldn't stand the writing style; found the characters insipid.