During our Feb. 2 discussion of James Baldwin's Just Above My Head, I mentioned a favorite novel by Richard Powers that has some strong thematic similarities: The Time of Our Singing. I didn't get a chance to go into detail about what I meant then, so here, adapted from the back-cover blurb, is an overview:
On Easter Day 1939, at Marian Anderson's epochal concert on the National Mall, David Strom, a German Jewish emigre scientist, meets Delia Daley, a young black woman from Philadelphia who is studying to become a professional singer. Their mutual love of music draws them together and--against all odds and better judgment--they marry. They vow to raise their children--Jonah, Joseph and Ruth--beyond time, beyond identity, steeped only in song.
The siblings grow up, however, during the Civil Rights era, coming of age in the violent 1960s, and living out adulthood in the racially retrenched late 20th century. Jonah, the eldest, "whose voice could make heads of state repent"--and is gay--follows a life in his parents' beloved classical music. Ruth, the youngest, devotes herself to community activism and repudiates the white culture her brother represents. Joseph, the middle child and the narrator of this generation-bridging tale, struggles to find himself and remain connected to them both.
I plan to nominate The Time of Our Singing for our reading list when we go through that annual process this fall, but don't wait until then to check it out if you're intrigued.
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