I just finished a book that is distinctly more serious than the last one I talked about. It's the Color of Water by James McBride. The subtitle is A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother. It's partly autobiographical and partly biographical in that he set out to discover who he was and in the process learned who his mother was as well as his grandmother.

His grandmother was a crippled Orthodox Jewish emigree from Poland. His father was a travelling rabbi-travelling because he was not well-liked and his contracts were never renewed. Finally he bought a large rickety barn-like building in Virginia at the end of one of his contracts and became a shopkeeper. Not only was he not well-liked by his synagogues, he was not beloved by his family either. He abused and tormented them alI.

The store was in the black section of town and their daughter left home as early as possible and found herself drawn to Harlem in New York. She met a kind, caring, solid black man who felt the call to become a preacher and start a church. They loved each other and after several years of being together braved all convention and got married. Her family had long since disowned her but the black community welcomed her with open arms. In the process she also converted to Christianity and was passionate about it her whole life. Her first husband died, however, she was fortunate enough to meet another good man, also black, who took care of her. In all she had 12 children, all of whom attained graduate degrees.

James, the author, is a writer, composer, and saxophonist. He spent years pulling his mother's story out of her, frequently meeting with the answer that he should mind his own business. She had had a hard life in spite of having been lucky in love. Her childhood left many scars and she was not eager to talk about them or pass them along to her son. James was not even aware of his Jewish heritage until adulthood. He just knew he was different. His skin was dark, his mother's was light, and everywhere they went they created a scene because of the size of the group! His mother's response to his race was that he was a human being and without an education he would be a nobody. The most important things in her life were education and the church. The most important thing to remember was that God's spirit was the color of water.

The book is masterfully written, interspersing chapters about his grandmother and mother with his own life. The book is not long but it took me a long time to read it because I felt the need to take frequent breaks and read easier, less mentally and emotionally challenging books along the way. However, it's now time to hand it back to my mother who loaned it to me so that she can send it back to the friend who loaned it to her! If anyone else has read this book I would love to know what you thought about it.