** spoiler alert ** Okay this is second time writing this review. I wrote it the first time and it all deleted.

This book was a book that was apart of me and my granny’s book club. This book has a few trigger warning that I will include at the bottom of this review.

This book has a few POVs. While reading I did not find the jumping of POV hard to understand or difficult to follow. The POVs that are worth mentioning are Thelma (young Black woman), Luther (young Black man), and George (young white man). You follow the story of how their lives become intertwined.

Luther and Thelma are siblings. However, Luther is angry, rightfully so and Thelma is more forgiving. Thelma’s forgiving nature could be due to her role as a Black woman in her community. However, Luther is about that life and do not care for White folks at all.

When Thelma and Luther were children. Their father was lynched by a white man who was upset with their father for not selling him the biggest pig in the town. Their father was also wealthy and had a car. The white men in the town could not phantom a N-word living well. So they killed his father and invited the town to see. We know things like this is true and has been historically documented. Specifically with the lynches that happened via the KKK.

Thelma was such a kind soul that she befriend a white woman that she should have not due to the white woman’s partner violence. Thelma agreed to let the white woman live in her home to help protect her. The woman’s partner Earl, did not like this. So he retaliated against Thelma for her “taking his wife.” When it was Earl’s behavior as to why his wife left him.

George was a white man who would visit Thelma. It appeared that he was smitten with her but didn’t know what to do. He was also a very religious man. He and Luther joined the military, although Luther was forced to. Reading about their different experiences in the military bought up a few hard emotions in me. I remember hearing stories about it via my step father and grandfather.

This is a story about how the lives of Black folks at this time were treated but also White folks responses to those treatments. This is must for AMERICANS to read.

TW: Rape, violence, Inner partner violence, abuse, sexual abuse, discrimination, racism, sexism, and many more.