“Sing, Unburied, Sing” is a powerful and haunting novel set in rural Mississippi.
It follows the journey of a fractured family as they embark on a road trip to pick up their father from prison.
Along the way, they confront their troubled pasts and grapple with the weight of generational trauma.
| Title | Sing, Unburied, Sing |
| Author | Jesmyn Ward |
| Publisher | Scribner; First Edition (September 5, 2017) |
| Language | English |
| File Format | |
| Number of pages | 304 pages |
| Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 13,562 Reviews |
see also – The Very Hungry Caterpillar Book summary by Eric Carle
Sing, Unburied, Sing Novel summary by Jesmyn Ward
The novel is primarily narrated by two characters: Jojo, a thirteen-year-old boy, and his mother, Leonie.
Jojo is a responsible and sensitive teenager who has taken on a parental role for his younger sister, Kayla, due to their mother’s frequent absences.
Leonie is a troubled woman who struggles with addiction and is haunted by the recent death of her brother, Given.
The family’s road trip to pick up Jojo and Kayla’s father, Michael, from prison serves as the central narrative thread.
Along the way, they encounter a series of challenging and supernatural events.
They are joined by Leonie’s friend, Misty, and her own children, but tension and conflict brew among the adults.
Throughout the journey, the novel delves into the complex relationships within the family and explores the scars of racial injustice and systemic oppression that have shaped their lives.
Jojo and Kayla’s interactions with their paternal grandparents, Pop and Mam, provide a stark contrast to their experiences with Leonie and Michael.
As the story unfolds, ghostly apparitions and visions become intertwined with the characters’ realities, blurring the line between the living and the dead.
These supernatural elements serve as metaphors for the unburied traumas and injustices that continue to haunt the characters and the broader African American community.
It sheds light on the brutal realities of the prison system and its impact on African American families.
see also – Malibu Rising Novel summary by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Read Sing, Unburied, Sing Novel summary by Jesmyn Ward
Conclusion
“Sing, Unburied, Sing” hauntingly examines racism, addiction, and family dysfunction with beautiful prose, delving into deep emotional scars.
By blending the supernatural and the ordinary, it mirrors the ongoing impact of historical injustices on modern African American experiences.
The novel received critical acclaim and won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2017.
FAQs
The title “Sing, Unburied, Sing” carries multiple layers of meaning. “
“Sing, Unburied, Sing” confronts the legacy of racial injustice and systemic oppression in the United States, particularly in the context of African American communities in the South.
The inclusion of supernatural elements in the novel serves as a literary device to blur the line between reality and the supernatural, reflecting the characters’ emotional and psychological struggles.
