Mourner's Bench: A Novel

by Sanderia Faye

At the First Baptist Church of Maeby, Arkansas, the sins of the child belonged to the parents until the child turned thirteen. Sarah Jones was only eight years old in the summer of 1964, but with her mother Esther Mae on eight prayer lists and flipping around town with the generally mistrusted civil rights organizers, Sarah believed it was time to get baptized and take responsibility for her own sins. That would mean sitting on the mourner’s bench come revival, waiting for her sign, and then testifying in front of the whole church.



But first, Sarah would need to navigate the growing tensions of small-town Arkansas in the 1960s. Both smarter and more serious than her years (a “fifty-year-old mind in an eight-year-old body,” according to Esther), Sarah was torn between the traditions, religion, and work ethic of her community and the progressive civil rights and feminist politics of her mother, who had recently returned from art school in Chicago. When organizers from the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) came to town just as the revival was beginning, Sarah couldn’t help but be caught up in the turmoil. Most folks just wanted to keep the peace, and Reverend Jefferson called the SNCC organizers “the evil among us.” But her mother, along with local civil rights activist Carrie Dilworth, the SNCC organizers, Daisy Bates, attorney John Walker, and indeed most of the country, seemed determined to push Maeby toward integration.



With characters as vibrant and evocative as their setting, Mourner’s Bench is the story of a young girl coming to terms with religion, racism, and feminism while also navigating the terrain of early adolescence and trying to settle into her place in her family and community.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Book Club, Religion, Adult, Coming Of Age

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[Dr. Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mourner’s Bench, a novel by Sanderia Faye, is an amazing, heartfelt story about Sarah, a young girl growing up in a small rural town in Arkansas. The story is focused on her journey to religious salvation during the highly turbulent times of the civil rights movement. Sanderia Faye does an awesome job providing insight into the mind of this young girl and capturing the essence of her inner struggles with family dynamics, and her relationship with God. Sarah is a young girl with an old soul and a witty sense of humor which she uses to navigate her way through numerous adult situations she is subjected to by family and friends. This young girl’s plight is emotionally moving, and will have you laughing and crying at the same time. Sanderia Faye gives us a unique perspective of what it’s like growing up as a young child during a time of civil rights turmoil and racism in the south coupled with her rite of religious passage. This is a must-read novel by a new author with great potential.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

My longtime friend (not kin) Keith Miller, who 57 years ago was my classmate in Neil Daniel’s Black Literature class at Texas Christian University, became a recognized authority on that subject during his tenure with the English Department at Arizona State. One of his students was Sanderia Faye, whose novel, Mourner’s Bench, Keith has called “the best novel about the Civil Rights Movement.” So, I checked it out.

Delightfully, the narrator is eight-year-old Sarah, who lives in a rural community in Arkansas. The story moves slowly, at first, as Sarah develops vivid descriptions of her Granny, her grandmother Mozelle (“Muhdea”), and her mother Esther, as well as members of her church (particularly the preacher), civil rights workers who have come to town on behalf of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the NCAAP lawyer, and the white school superintendent, sheriff, store owner, and other residents. She frames her tale with her earnest desire to be baptized and her desperate frustration in fulfilling that goal. The title of the novel comes from the row of seats during the summer revival where those who share that desire sit while they wait for “a sign” from God to stand and give their testimony as a prerequisite for immersion.

Her Baptist preacher leads the church members in resisting changes introduced by the Civil Rights Movement. As Professor Keith Miller summarizes, "Long accustomed to segregation, many elders feared losing the jobs that they had struggled mightily to secure, while also growing anxious that white racists would violently attack their children.” At first, Sarah accepts this point of view as the gospel. Gradually, however, as the plot unfolds, and through the influence of her mother (who has returned from going to college and working in Chicago and has brought home feminism along with civil rights values), Sarah changes her mind.

In addition to highlighting the anxious reluctance of the Black middle class to embrace civil rights, the novel draws attention to the concurrent, and sometimes competing, movement for women’s rights. A woman who is an ordained Methodist minister is not allowed to sit or stand on the platform of the Baptist church during the revival with the other clergy, most of whom are not ordained. Sarah’s mother marries one of the SNCC workers who has come from Mississippi. Assuming it's his right to do so because he’s a man, he abuses her verbally and physically, but because she stands strong, he leaves. The women in the story, even those who have long bowed to patriarchy, emerge as the breakthrough leaders for civil rights in the community.

With few exceptions, white people in Sarah’s world are hateful bigots who violently reject the social changes taking place in cities such as Little Rock and Atlanta. One of the exceptions is Gail, a white SNCC worker who has come from New England to teach and organize along with Sarah’s mother. The Black characters in this novel are much more multidimensional and complex.

Mourner’s Bench will probably wear well with readers. I’ve avoided spoilers, mostly, but I assure you, there’s plenty of excitement in this powerful novel. I know many of my friends will enjoy it just as I have. I thank my friend, Professor Keith Miller, for the recommendation.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book on Goodreads

This is a very interesting book! I highly recommend this book to everyone. Take the time to read it you won't be sorry! I received an advance readers copy before the book was released. The story is set in the south and the author moves effortlessly through the story drawing you in and making you feel like you are there. This is a book I will read many times. It is the kind of story that stays with you long after the last page is read!

[Jessica]

A phenomenal debut novel that seamlessly blends research with narrative. I learned so much about the Civil Rights movement from this book, but the narrative was so compelling it never felt didactic. I also had the privilege of hearing the author give a reading from the book and she is a spellbinding reader and speaker. Highly recommend!

[Beverlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

If one thinks about the Civil Rights Movement, what images/thoughts come to mind? Mourner's Bench is a work of historical fiction that presents a real, unfiltered look at how the Movement affected the lives of African Americans in the rural South. 4 generations are at the center of this story. Sarah is 8 years old and her single goal is to be baptized in the summer of 1964. Her mother Esther is a SNCC volunteer and artist who is not in favor of Sarah being baptized. Muhdea, Sarah's grandmother and Esther's mother is a staunch traditionalist who disapproves of Esther's behavior. Granny, Muhdea's mother, appears to be much like her daughter though she's keeping something secret.
What I like the most about Mourner's Bench is that there is no sugarcoating about how African Americans were treated before integration. Maeby, AK wasn't as rough as Birmingham, AL or anywhere in Mississippi, but the lack of outright violence doesn't equate to African Americans being accorded common courtesy and respect by its white citizens. Several topics are covered in this novel, from the divide between who's seen as acceptable in Sarah's eyes-the members of her church, First Baptist-to who's not-the SNCC volunteers. The divide between the Nation of Islam and Christians in the South (Sarah's Uncle Robert joins the Nation and this leads to an irreparable divide between him and Muhdea). What I found to be most compelling was Esther's character. She is presented as fighter, but she doesn't fade into the background as women were expected to do. Esther is the leader and her eventual husband Rutherford doesn't take kindly to Esther's independence and strength. I was surprised and disappointed that she would even consider marrying him considering his portrayal as an alcoholic abuser.
Sarah, the protagonist of Mourner's Bench is a handful. Some may call her disrespectful and irritating. I admit to having to remind myself several times that she is a child and that I'm simply a reader. Mourner's Bench is a story that forces the reader to move out of the comfort of reading in 2019. I think the author's intent is to introduce a clear picture of what the Movement represented for a community. All Black people were not in favor of integration and those that were against it were often church members. Another perspective Ms. Faye presents is that fighting for equal rights for some meant having equal access, not necessarily being in the same room (making "separate but equal" work). This divide is framed around school desegregation with Sarah being one of a large number of children selected to enroll at the whites only school. Esther's effort is met with resistance and the end result is not quite what I expected.
4 stars because I think this book presents an honest representation of how African Americans may have felt about the Civil Rights Movement. There were some who had fought for years and others who felt powerless to change their environment and more who wanted better for the future. I think it's always welcome to read from a perspective that's not necessarily my own so that I and other readers can hopefully understand life's why.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a powerful story of how Sarah, the eight-year-old narrator, is affected by being chosen to be part of school integration in small-town Arkansas. We get perspectives of the four generations of her family. The beautifully rendered coming-of-age story is told by Sarah, and occurs during the 1960s in small-town Arkansas, where even a child eventually questions the audacity of adults to put ‘children in harm’s way’ as part of school integration.

We are immersed in the small town, from the community store to the central position of the church, the glue that binds them together. Before her mother returned, Sarah had only been consumed with being saved and getting baptized, and keeping a list of “Things I’ll Know When I Get Grown”. But the first hint of the change coming is when Uncle Robert leaves home and joined the Nation of Islam; he wants to remove all the Biblical depictions of white people from their walls and replace them with ‘colored folks’.

But the arrival of her mother, Ester, back in Maeby brings change to town from her mini-skirts to her ideas on integration and voter registration. SNCC sets-up shop to assist with the movement. Even though the family of women appears slow to embrace the new ideas, eventually, they all see the way forward is to change. Sarah’s mother is the catalyst but discovers her grandmother had also been part of the movement to organize farmers decades earlier.

This story blends known history such as the Little Rock Nine, marches in Alabama, and lesser-known facts such as the Elaine Massacre and the use of Japanese internment camp barracks as colored schools.

The ending is bittersweet and well worth the read to get there, whether you lived through this era or not.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a child's point of view, integration conflicted with the Baptist way of life. That's the inner turmoil that troubles 12 year old Sarah White whose mother Esther wants her to attend the all-white school in their rural Maeby, Arkansas. Author Sanderia Faye, a native of Arkansas, writes her novel The Mourner's Bench through the eyes of a very bright black girl. Instead of her mother caring for her, Sarah has been lovingly cared for by her grandmother and great grandmother with whom she sleeps and helps tend two other babies in the tar-paper house. Sarah's mother moved out of the home and went to Chicago where she became involved with the civil rights movement. Later when she does return home, Esther organizes the community with assistance from Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) with the purpose of integrating the schools. Sarah only wants to be saved and baptised in the Baptist Church which Esther opposes. Sarah and her best friend are drafted to integrate the public library which always results in being escorted out of the building by the local law enforcement officials very much opposed to anything that mixes the races. Sarah's house is burned and their church next door to them is also burned. Was the fire deliberately set? What will happen to Sarah's salvation if her mother makes her attend the all-white school? What kind of pressure did the children of the early 1950-60's Civil Rights movement have to withstand? ....a lot more than I could handle at that age and in that kind of uncivil climate.

[Linda Klager · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the author's first book. One of the reasons I wanted to read this book was that a friend of mine was reading it with a local book club. The other reason I wanted to read this book was that the author is a local writer. There was a lot of detail within this read. I thought the author did a good job portraying the characters, their life in the turbulent racial 60's, and what life entailed in rural Arkansas at that time. I have never heard of chairs where you sit in the front of the church until you get saved. This was a hard concept for me to understand. It is almost like someone forcing you to "get religion". I do understand that there was a lot of injustice done to the black community back in the day. That is very sad and hard for me to read

[Pamela Hutchins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wise beyond her years, strong-minded Sarah must come to terms with growing up in a household of independent woman in her rural Arkansas black community, including a grandmother and great-grandmother who aren't speaking to each other, and a often-absent mother bucking church and family as a leader in the struggle to usher in a new era of equality. Set in the turbulent 60s and strongly evocative of To Kill a Mockingbird, Mourner's Bench is a textured and nuanced look at often unexplored angles of the civil rights movement. But more than that, it's a heart warming story that will have you wanting to give Sarah a great big hug.

[Wiebke Kuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this book, but it was well worth the effort for me. This story brings an unusual perspective (for me) to the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Focusing on a 12-year-old black girl growing up in rural Arkansas, raised by her grandmother and great-grandmother, the story shows the resistance to civil rights activists, even when they come out of the community, the power of religion and its way to control and hold back rural communities, and the intricate power connections between the influential black and white leaders of such a small community. And the power of women.

[Susan Watrous · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a look at desegregation from a grade schooler’s point of view

She lives in the country outside of Little Rock being raised by her maternal grandmother in a poor but supportive place. Her issues begin with wanting to be baptized to being one one of the children selected to march into a white school to make a difference

Her mom is off doing things...

The civil rights unrest comes to her rural town after we have been introduced to The characters, the issues, the methods.

The people involved are intense, driven, planful, and ready

Well written

Very interesting

[Cynthia Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the summer of 1964 in a Black community in a small town in Arkansas. Sarah, who is 8, tells the story. And I would follow her anywhere. She is studious and wants to sit on the Mourner's Bench, but make her mad enough and you will see what she's made of. And that is a long line of feisty women--Esther, her mother; Muhdea, her grandmother; and Granny, her great-grandmother.

You also have lines like this to look forward to:
"I vowed to never cry again. I was going to stay mad from now on."
AND this: "When I got back from Little Rock, I was hotter than fish grease."

[Alan Lampe · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of Sarah getting her religion never really grabbed hold of me and pulled me into her world. A majority of the book focus' on integrating the white school in town and only at the end do we get back to Sarah and her religion theme. To me the ending was anti-climatic. It didn't affect me one way or the other. The book was well written and I have nothing about that, but it really didn't draw me into her world and keep me entertained.

[Kim robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is where the struggle was carried on

The historical story told through a young girls eyes, much like scout.
The writing had me sweetimg and swatting mosquitos right along with the charactets.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I write short reviews, because long reviews I usually skip over. The research is exceptional, the descriptive scenes at times way too long. The ending disjointed and hurried, but I still give it a 4 because you can picture the town, the people, the stores, the feelings.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great revealing story of a family in the 60’s fighting for their civil rights. I enjoyed the novel being told through a young black girl’s point of view. Excellent writing, and the history told through the character’s experiences was revealing and educational for me

[Carol Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story and the writing. There were some slow spots but overall it was good and presented a different view of the civil rights movement that I was not familiar with.

[Corbett Buchly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faye chose a terrific perspective, that of a young black girl, to tell this small-town version of the civil rights movement in Arkansas. The characters were certainly multi-dimensional and engaging.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow start but eventually turned out pretty good. I really struggled with the family dynamics at first.

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not love this book so didn’t finish it.

[M.L. Dumars]

Absolutely love this book. Young black girl coming of age in a Southern town set in its ways.

[Betsy]

Recommended in Washington Post article about libraries under fire from Trump administration

[Read In Colour · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children that talk out of turn irk me, so initially it was difficult for me to get into Mourner's Bench. Told from the point of view of 8 year old Sarah Jones, it's the story of the civil rights movements' arrival in small town Maeby, Arkansas. At the center of the movement is Sarah's mother, Esther, with whom Sarah is on a first name basis. Like I said, children that talk out of turn and don't know their place aggravate me.

Sarah is an old woman in an 8 year old's body. At a time when she should be outside playing and living carefree, she's more concerned with getting off of the mourner's bench at revival. Mind you, she put herself there, but she felt it was time, given who her mother was. For those not familiar with the mourner's bench, it's where people who've not yet been baptized but feel they're close to getting a sign that it's their time sit during church or revival. In some churches, it's believed that parents are responsible for their children's sins until they turn 13. Esther's big city ways keep her on church prayer lists all around Maeby. Figuring Esther has enough sins to carry, Sarah is determined to get her religion so she can become responsible for her own sins.

Left behind by Esther when she went off to Chicago, Sarah lives with her grandmother, Muhdea, and great-grandmother, Granny, along with a host of young cousins left behind by their parents to be raised by their older relatives. Her close relationship with Granny is a big factor in Sarah's life. Her disrespect of her mother is in part due to her relationship with Muhdea. While neither Muhdea or Granny cottons to Esther's idea of integrating the local schools, and using Sarah to do so, it's their dismissal of Esther's opinions that lead Sarah to think she can speak to her mother any kind of way.

There are enough plot twists and revelations to keep the book interesting, but there was also enough to call the story line into question. I had a hard time believing that adults would allow two 8 years to go house to house signing up black potential voters in 1960s Arkansas, especially when the threat of the local authority loomed so heavily over them. Having had grandmothers from the South, I also found it hard to believe that either of my grandmothers would have tolerated any sass that way Muhdea and Granny did, and they certainly wouldn't have encouraged me to go against my mother so blatantly. At almost 400 pages, Mourner's Bench is a decent read, but it takes far too long to get to the meat of the story. That being said, it's a decent debut novel from Faye and I'd definitely give her work another try in the future.

[Elizabeth Marro · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important story, well told. Mourners Bench takes readers inside the early days of the civil rights movement by showing how residents of a small Arkansas town respond in the wake of mandated school integration and the marches led by Martin Luther King, Jr. The details of life in that town are rendered vividly and provide a rich backdrop for the action of the novel: the return of Esther who intends to take up where the town's aging activists are getting ready to leave off.

The story is told by the eight -year -old daughter of Esther., Sarah, who is an old soul despite her age. This makes for wonderful moments and a unique take on major events. The choice to use such a young narrator , however, also created challenges from time to time especially because she had to provide lots of background that a child would not necessarily do on the course of telling a story. I loved her though. I loved watching her move from suspicion and resentment where Esther was concerned to understanding of what her mother was trying to do. And choosing Sarah to tell the story makes this story attractive to both young and adult readers

Mourner's Bench shows the struggles within the town's black community. Change is feared and resisted for reasons the writer makes perfectly clear. The first two thirds of the book seem to focus more on the details of daily life and this resistance while the final third moves into more dramatic confrontations that lead to an ending that is really just the beginning for Sarah. I would have liked to get to these later parts a bit sooner but this is a quibble. The book is a wonderful read with lots to say. Great for all ages and great for discussion.

[Darin Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intimate look at life in 1960s Arkansas through the eyes of a young protagonist precocious enough to recognize the social trends and injustices around her but also still naive about many of the details Faye communicates through secondary and tertiary characters and events. The sheer scope of the communities and families at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, and their conflicts within and around its issues, is boggling, and the strength of Sarah, her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother lends a personal humanity to an intersectional novel that achieves a great deal by not trying to at all.

[Kristine Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the early 1960s in Maeby, Arkansas, and eight-year-old Sarah Jones is wise beyond her years in assessing the worlds of race, religion, and family drama. There is so much to think about in this story, and one can't help but think about how far we've come in some areas and how little progress has been made in others. Full review on Hall Ways Blog http://kristinehallways.blogspot.com/...

[Janet Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book. It is a unique look at the beginnings of the civil rights movement in a small town in Arkansas as seen through the eyes of four generations of African American women in one family. The narrator is an 8 year old girl and her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother are in disagreement as to whether to stay out of trouble or engage in fighting for their civil rights. It is heart warming, well written and a moving read.

[Lea Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ambitious undertaking, to weave so many cross currents into one story, but that, in itself, mirrors how multi-layered the fight for civil rights was/is. The voice of the eight-year-old narrator was a stretch for me, but otherwise, I found the story compelling.

[Michelle Wallace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. It has all the right ingredients. But it's just too much to slog through.

[Shayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh..