Sugar by Bernice L. McFadden

The novel opens when a young prostitute comes to Bigelow, Arkansas, to start over, far from her haunting past. Sugar moves next door to Pearl, who is still grieving for the daughter who was murdered fifteen years before. Over sweet-potato pie, an unlikely friendship begins, transforming both women’s lives–and the life of an entire town. Sugar brings a Southern African-American town vividly to life, with its flowering magnolia trees, lingering scents of jasmine and honeysuckle, and white picket fences that keep strangers out–but ignorance and superstition in. To read this novel is to take a journey through loss and suffering to a place of forgiveness, understanding, and grace. McFadden is the author of the novels Gathering of Waters, Glorious, and This Bitter Earth. (goodreads.com)

I want to start by saying that I know I skipped Arizona. I have quit two books set in Arizona. This Read the USA Challenge is just that some days. When I began the challenge, I told myself that I had to read all new books. I am not permitted to reread anything. Well, as you may imagine, after 61 years being alive and 25 being a teacher, I’ve read a few books. So because finding the “just right” book for each state is easier said than done, I have skipped Arizona for the moment. Additionally, I will say again that I am not reading the states in order because I am reading as many books as I can from the Lake County, Florida Public Library System. (#livingonapension, #retiredpeopleproblems)

Now, back to Sugar.  What can I say about this book? It’s disturbing, raw, tragic, redemptive, and, at some points, humorous. It’s definitely not for everyone. It’s brutally honest about the treatment of black Americans and women in the 1940s and 1950s. If you are easily triggered, this is not the book for you.

And in all of that, I truly liked it. Sugar and Pearl need each other in ways they cannot imagine. Sugar and Pearl are good for one another and disastrous for one another. Like all unexpected, or maybe just all, friendships, this one is full of complicated emotions. McFadden does a great job developing these characters. This book is short, just over 200 pages, and McFadden makes the most of character development in that short span.

I appreciated the surface level juxtaposition between Sugar – lady of the evening – and Pearl – prim and proper church lady – that led to the reaffirmation that we are all more alike than different. We all need relationships and love; we all grieve loss; we do what we need to do to survive.

If I have a criticism of the book, it is that the ending may have tied up things too neatly. I was okay with this because I was invested in the women, and I wanted there to be a resolution.

This is the first Bernice McFadden book that I have read. It will not be the last.