ePub Sundown at Sunrise: A Story of Love and Murder; Based on One of the Most Notorious Ax Murders in American History by Marty Seifert in History

Description

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Good Lord Bird; winner of the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction; Five-Carat Soul; and Kill 'Em and Leave; a James Brown biography.The incredible modern classic that Oprah.com calls one of the best memoirs of a generation and launched James McBride’s literary career.Over two years on The New York Times bestseller list Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A self-declared "light-skinned" woman evasive about her ethnicity; yet steadfast in her love for her twelve black children. James McBride; journalist; musician; and son; explores his mother's past; as well as his own upbringing and heritage; in a poignant and powerful debut; The Color Of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother.The son of a black minister and a woman who would not admit she was white; James McBride grew up in "orchestrated chaos" with his eleven siblings in the poor; all-black projects of Red Hook; Brooklyn. "Mommy;" a fiercely protective woman with "dark eyes full of pep and fire;" herded her brood to Manhattan's free cultural events; sent them off on buses to the best (and mainly Jewish) schools; demanded good grades; and commanded respect. As a young man; McBride saw his mother as a source of embarrassment; worry; and confusion—and reached thirty before he began to discover the truth about her early life and long-buried pain.In The Color of Water; McBride retraces his mother's footsteps and; through her searing and spirited voice; recreates her remarkable story. The daughter of a failed itinerant Orthodox rabbi; she was born Rachel Shilsky (actually Ruchel Dwara Zylska) in Poland on April 1; 1921. Fleeing pogroms; her family emigrated to America and ultimately settled in Suffolk; Virginia; a small town where anti-Semitism and racial tensions ran high. With candor and immediacy; Ruth describes her parents' loveless marriage; her fragile; handicapped mother; her cruel; sexually-abusive father; and the rest of the family and life she abandoned.At seventeen; after fleeing Virginia and settling in New York City; Ruth married a black minister and founded the all- black New Brown Memorial Baptist Church in her Red Hook living room. "God is the color of water;" Ruth McBride taught her children; firmly convinced that life's blessings and life's values transcend race. Twice widowed; and continually confronting overwhelming adversity and racism; Ruth's determination; drive and discipline saw her dozen children through college—and most through graduate school. At age 65; she herself received a degree in social work from Temple University.Interspersed throughout his mother's compelling narrative; McBride shares candid recollections of his own experiences as a mixed-race child of poverty; his flirtations with drugs and violence; and his eventual self- realization and professional success. The Color of Water touches readers of all colors as a vivid portrait of growing up; a haunting meditation on race and identity; and a lyrical valentine to a mother from her son.