Her

by Cherry Muhanji

"Her is a novel whose words refuse to be constrained by the boundaries of its pages. Like jazz that reaches out to both heart and gut. . . . From a central core of strong women characters, Cherry Muhanji experiments and elaborates, playing variations, solos, and combinations up and down the register. Her creation is both eye—opening and sensual."-Erica Bauermeister, author of 500 Great Books by Women

This rowdy, irreverent novel explores relationships among a community of black women-mothers and daughters, friends and lovers-who came to Detroit in the late 1950s to work the lines at the Ford Motor plant.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Lesbian, LGBT, Queer, Novels, Queer Lit

220 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Cherry Muhanji is the pen name of Jannette Washington (born April 26, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan), an American writer.

She is best known for her novel Her, which won a Ferro-Grumley Award and a Lambda Literary Award in 1991, and the anthology Tight Spaces, which she copublished with Kesho Y. Scott and Egyirba High and which won an American Book Award in 1988. She has also published poetry and short stories in literary magazines and anthologies and is currently working on a memoir.

Muhanji holds a doctorate in English, anthropology and African American World Studies from the University of Iowa. She has taught at various colleges and universities, including the University of Minnesota, Goddard College and Portland State University.

Muhanji's only novel, Her, was released in 1990. It explores the relationships between a community of black women in Detroit.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

All American whites are from the South.

2.5/5

It's difficult to handle in writing the more intense of the grotesqueries that haunt the halls of human history. You see it done well in Morrison and (Gayl) Jones and (Cormac) McCarthy, but more often than not, one feels voyeuristic rather than sympathetic, and the we're-all-in-this-together tone that attempts to tie it all together can come off as sentimentally inadequate for coping with the motions of catharsis that are usually wrapped up in such scenes of horrific tragedy. One review mentions this text attempting to do what Faulkner did without his level of prose, and all I can say to that is, Faulkner is more enjoyable obfuscated than otherwise. With Muhanji, I did very much enjoy certain flashes of queerness, a promise of which was what drew me to acquiring this book in the first place, but certain themes escalated far too quickly and far too near the end for the narrative to hold together. I appreciated the rare view of 60's industrial US that reminded me of nothing so much as Dhalgren, but that book gave itself a great deal of room to stretch in, and I have to wonder what directions Muhanji's writing would have taken had she made use of, or had access too, a similar breath of canvas.

This book was one thing in the beginning, another thing in the middle, and yet another thing at the very end. I liked the middle the most for how closely it adhered to the promise of this edition's cover, but the last twenty pages followed up a bit too hastily and dramatically on the foreshadowing established earlier on. While I do acknowledge the histories of both US slavery and the Euro rise of Nazis, both together in the space of less than 180 pages is a little much if the narrative, surrealistically or otherwise, can't support the process. I don't regret picking this up on a whim (I missed that particular amazing library sale this year ; - ; ), but it's just not a world I have much experience in, and it was hard to engage outside of the brief mentions of suits and Malcolm X. I'm still interested in Aunt Lute, the publisher: anything that specifically focuses on queer women lit is worth pursuing.

So, this wasn't the most successful read under the sun, but I sure wish there was more written in this particular confluence of themes. History is all too often fed to us piecemeal: black people over there, queerness over here, and the only bridge often mediated solely through whiteness and/or cishetness. Even more rare is fiction that draws from such primary sources, and when the writing is good and the experience is rich, it is an invaluable resource for someone like me. The fact that this wasn't a favorite of mien is more indicative of my lack of experience in this work than anything else, and I do hope others read this in order to experience reality in more unique terms than is what usually portrayed in 20th century literature. Regardless of my own personal preferences, this is a worthy addition to Queer History Month in general.

Goodness they questioned. They could never trust it. Evil they understood and made room for...Better to have what you knew, and the Tempter they knew.

[Bek (MoonyReadsByStarlight) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am still trying to wrap my head fully around this read. It was intense and fractured, at once surreal and shockingly vivid. There's so much to meditate on around community, place, trauma, and so much more.

[tatterpunk · Rating 4 out of 5]

FOUR STARS: Pretty sure I'll read this again, if only to hopefully understand it better.

Something of a fever dream, weaving in and out of the lives of the Black men and women living in Detroit city just before the tide of civil rights really hit. It has the same poetic sensibility and loosey-goosey take on linear time as one of my favorites, Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen, but without that book's clear-eyed vision and overall surety of self. It's a fascinating scattershot pattern: so artless as to tempt you to think it needs serious revision, but when you try to think how to distill its essence you realize a lot of its power lies in how much it doesn't care about fitting into expectations.

Weird. Kind of wonderful, though.

EDIT: I failed to mention, because I was still kind of processing, the book's issues with colorism. So I'm in no way in a position to speak with authority on those issues, being white. But after years of reading and listening to BIPOC women's discussions, I can't help but notice Her evokes some of the same trends that garner criticism in these circles. It's clear the book was aiming for a holistic, "we are all of the same tribe regardless of variations in color" message. In practice, though, it feels more uneven. The women we get the most insight into, have the most narrative-guided sympathy for, are the "high yellow" Sunshine/Kali and the easily-mistaken-for-white Wintergreen. Meanwhile the darkest woman of the cast, Charlotte, is Sunshine's bully and Wintergreen's ex-lover who now refuses to acknowledge her. So, RIGHT AWAY, that complicates the usual tropes of "mean dark-skinned girl," and the book goes to lengths to show that even Sunshine and Charlotte's wrangling is more complex, possibly fueled by similar attraction to each other.

But although Charlotte is beloved by the narrative voice -- she is the titular Her -- I can't ignore that she's the most opaque of all the characters: her inner life is a deliberate mystery. Meanwhile the lightest women, Kali and Wintergreen -- their suffering and struggles define Her. Kali's a mess and no angel, but her journey to be accepted by the other women as one of their own, despite her features, creates the through-line of the book. Similarly Wintergreen is the sympathetic soul that gives Kali solace when she needs it, and it's Wintergreen's suffering which finally cracks Charlotte and makes her something more than an impenetrable antagonist. And yes, both of them are lusted after -- by men and women -- in terms which border on the fetishistic.

I feel like it would be easier to give this a pass if there was any acknowledgement of how misogynoir affects darker women in particular. But all the focus is on how mean, mean, mean Black girls have been to Kali all her life for things she can't help, and similar themes. It's a shame.

[K.S.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prose as poetry.

[Andrea Blythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very complex book about the women who live on John R Street. It is more about the relationships between these black women and men, whether as friends, family, or lovers it is always very human and very messy.

I read it twice, while taking part in proofreading the new printing, and it has some absolutely delectable prose. There were sentences and passages I could read over and over again, just to experience the taste as they rolled off my tongue.

[Patricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seemed to me that a novel set in Detroit, with, specifically, recent Black immigrants from the South, was a perfect follow-up to The Warmth of Other Suns, plus, reading about Detroit in the 60's, knowing that Dan was a kid there then, intrigued me. But the book wandered around and was too disjointed. I felt as though I was reading Faulkner w/o the beauty that he brings to his work.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of the people who left oppression in the South and moved to Detroit to realize a new life and a new way of being. Author's language is poetic, hard beat musical.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it hard to work my way into the rhythm of the narrative, but I did, it was worth it.

[Shannon Wyss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good story of a young Black woman in 1950s-1960s Detroit and the community around her. The end is especially gripping.

[Nayelly]

Just received a notification that I won this Book!!! So excited and happy can't wait to see it in my mail box!!!
-Review soon!!

[Mills College Library]

Fiction M952h 1990

[Mills College Library]

Fiction M952h 2006