Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
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"There are gods in Alabama. I know because I
killed one." This quote becomes quite familiar, appearing often in Joshilyn Jackson's debut novel, Gods in Alabama. Jackson takes us back and forth in time, from "Lena's" present as a graduate student in Chicago with her black lawyer boyfriend, Burr, and back to her past days as "Arlene." For the most part, Arlene Fleet was raised in Alabama by her Aunt Florence and Uncle Bruster, who also once took care of her mother. Their daughter Clarice was more like a sister than a cousin, and the two girls formed an enviable bond. Just as strong was the good-faith deal Arlene made with God, in which she promised that she would never lie again, that she would never fornicate outside of marriage, and that she would never go back to the state of Alabama. In exchange for her faithfulness, God was required to make certain that Jim Beverly's body was never found. For ten years, both sides kept their promises. But the pact comes to an Abrupt end when the dead man's former girlfriend comes snooping around, asking about the night that Jim went missing. To stop the woman from speaking with cousin Clarice, Lena and Burr decide to make the journey home to Alabama. You can imagine what it's like for Lena to take Burr, a black man, back home to the South. Here's a bit of her perspective: "I'd spent my early childhood years living on military bases with friends of all colors, but at Aunt Florence and Uncle Bruster's house, Burr was not going to go over well. It wasn't like they had a closetful of giant oil-soaked crosses and pointy white hats, and I had never heard any of my relatives use the word 'nigger.' But they didn't use it for the same reason that they didn't say 'Pass those shitty-ass peas.' It wasn't nice. The idea that black folks were not like us was such obvious and fundamental truth to the Lukeys, and Aunt Flo's relatives, the Bents, that they did not have to use ugly words to point it out. Their prejudice was so ingrained, it was as much a part of them as the Lukey blue eyes and the Bent women's propensity to take a secret drink." In addition to race, Jackson touches the burning issues of substance abuse, physical violence, rape, and what makes a family. Lying, sex, murder, protection, the subjects of her deals with God, bubble out of her story. To "smooth over" her homecoming, Lena gets practice lying by telling her family that she and Burr are married. Having broken two of the three deals with God, she decides she might as well go for broke: God wouldn't be keeping up his end of the bargain, or would he? Review by Beth Golay, April 8, 2005 |
