Synopses & Reviews
"Makeda is a soaring, wrenching, and ultimately revealing glimpse into the roles within a powerful matriarchal family. . . . A must read for anyone who wants to appreciate history, the role of women, and the significance of transferring ideas, goals, and ambitions from one generation to the next."Charles J. Ogletree Jr., author of The Presumption of Guilt
"In Robinson's majestic prose and sweeping historical vision, the tongues of Virginia Woolf, Gabriel García Márquez, and Toni Morrison blend to remind us that we can renew our souls in the eyes of ancestors who return to us in whatever way our lives demand."Michael Eric Dyson, author of Know What I Mean?
Makeda Gee Florida Harris March is a proud matriarch, the anchor and emotional bellwether who holds together a hard-working African American family living in 1950s Richmond, Virginia. Lost in shadow is Makeda's grandson Gray, who begins escaping into the magical world of Makeda's tiny parlor.
Makeda, a woman blind since birth but who has always dreamed in color, begins to confide in Gray the things she "sees" and remembers from her dream state, and a story emerges that is layered with historical accuracy beyond the scope of Makeda's limited education. Gradually, Gray begins to make a connection between his grandmother's dreams and the epic life of an African queen described in the Bible.
Part coming-of-age story, part spiritual journey, and part love story, Makeda is a universal tale of family, heritage, and the ties that bind. Randall Robinson plumbs the hearts of Makeda and Gray and summons our collective blood memories, taking the reader on an unforgettable journey of the soul that will linger long after the last page has been turned.
Randall Robinson is the author of An Unbroken Agony and the national bestsellers The Debt, The Reckoning, and Quitting America.
Review
"Eloquent and erudite, Robinson's oft-times mystical coming-of-age saga teems with rich and evocative historical insights."
--Booklist
"A controversial novel on history and race that may interest readers of African and African American history."
--Library Journal
Synopsis
The debut title from the new OpenLens imprint: a universal tale of family, heritage, and the ties that bind.
Synopsis
"Eloquent and erudite, Robinson's oft-times mystical coming-of-age saga teems with rich and evocative historical insights." --Booklist
"Robinson writes with erudition about strange and wonderful matters." --Kirkus Reviews
A selection of the Open Lens imprint.
Makeda Gee Florida Harris March is a proud and graceful matriarch, the anchor and emotional bellwether who holds together a hard-working African American family living in 1950s Richmond, Virginia. Embattled by the social ills of the day and the deferred dreams of Makeda's son David and his wife, the hopes of the March family are pinned on their elder son Gordon and the seedlings of change that will grow into the Civil Rights Movement. Lost in the shadows is Gordon's younger brother Gray, who is also bright and perceptive, but doesn't quite measure up in his own eyes, or in the eyes of his father.
While struggling to survive the emotional vacuum of his household, Gray escapes into the safe and magical world of his grandmother Makeda's tiny parlor. Makeda, a woman blind since birth but who has always dreamed in color, begins to confide in Gray the things she "sees" and remembers from her dream state, and an increasingly detailed story emerges that is layered with historical accuracy beyond the scope of Makeda's limited education. Gradually, Gray begins to make a connection between his grandmother's dreams and the epic life of an African queen described in the Bible . . .
Part coming-of-age story, part spiritual journey, and part love story, Makeda is a universal tale of family, heritage, and the ties that bind. It is about the people who help to shape and mold us, and lead us into the light. Appealing to the deepest sense of who we are, Robinson plumbs the hearts of Makeda and Gray, and summons our collective blood memories, taking the reader on an unforgettable journey of the soul that will linger long after the last page has been turned.
Synopsis
Makeda Gee Florida Harris March is a proud matriarch, the anchor and emotional bellwether who holds together a hard-working African American family living in 1950s Richmond, Virginia. Lost in shadow is Makeda's grandson Gray, who begins escaping into the magical world of Makeda's tiny parlor.
Makeda, a woman blind since birth but who has always dreamed in color, begins to confide in Gray the things she "sees" and remembers from her dream state, and a story emerges that is layered with historical accuracy beyond the scope of Makeda's limited education. Gradually, Gray begins to make a connection between his grandmother's dreams and the epic life of an African queen described in the Bible.
Part coming-of-age story, part spiritual journey, and part love story, Makeda is a universal tale of family, heritage, and the ties that bind. Randall Robinson plumbs the hearts of Makeda and Gray and summons our collective blood memories, taking the reader on an unforgettable journey of the soul that will linger long after the last page has been turned.
Synopsis
"In Robinson's majestic prose and sweeping historical vision, the tongues of Virginia Woolf, Gabriel García Márquez, and Toni Morrison blend to remind us that we can renew our souls in the eyes of ancestors who return to us in whatever way our lives demand."Michael Eric Dyson, author of Know What I Mean?
Rich and detailed . . . Makeda is a lively and irresistible story about family and the coming-of-age of an intelligent black man in twentieth-century America. At once tender, intellectually daring, and emotionally unsettling, Makeda joins that short list of great American novels.”
Kwame Dawes, award-winning author of Shes Gone
I have always loved Randall Robinson, and with Makeda I love him more.”
Bertice Berry, author of Redemption Song
Above all is Robinsons way with language; his development of characters who float mythically through a story of epic proportions.”
Herb Boyd, author of Baldwins Harlem
Synopsis
"Makeda teases, provokes, challenges, and illuminates the complex, painful, and joyous personal and collective journeys in search of family, identity, love, and place that define us. Like the protagonist Makedas many incarnations, this haunting novel of return reminds us that we are all part of something far greater than ourselves, or this moment."
Jill Nelson, author of the New York Times best seller Volunteer Slavery
"Randall Robinson is not only a legendary freedom fighter, but also a towering public intellectual and powerful novelist. His fascinating new work, Makeda, has great mind, heart, and soul!"
Cornel West, author of Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, A Memoir
"Makeda is brilliant and path-breaking, filled with passion and compassion. It took hold in my heart and wouldnt let go. A scholar and a poet uncompromisingly committed to justice, Randall Robinson is a rare and exquisite writer. This novel will burn in your brain long after you have left its haunting pages."
Susan L. Taylor, former editor in chief of Essence magazine
"Makeda is a soaring, wrenching, and ultimately revealing glimpse into the roles within a powerful matriarchal family . . . A must read for anyone who wants to appreciate history, the role of women, and the significance of transferring ideas, goals, and ambitions from one generation to the next."
Charles J. Ogletree Jr., author of The Presumption of Guilt
"Luminous and magical; in Makeda, Robinson has created a brilliant and well-imagined work."
Bernice L. McFadden, award-winning author of Glorious
Synopsis
"Eloquent and erudite, Robinson's oft-times mystical coming-of-age saga teems with rich and evocative historical insights."
--Booklist
"Hypnotic . . . one of the finest novels this year . . . [Robinson] is a gifted storyteller."
--Essence
"Makeda is beyond ambitious and imaginative . . . well written and powerful, with an ending that is equal parts tragic and romantic in nature . . . a breathtaking revelation, weighted with romance and lovely passionate prose."
--New York Journal of Books
"Robinson is not only exploring what it means to be black. His theme of knowing the past before planning the future applies to all cultures, all people. Pick up this odyssey of family drama, history and love, and be prepared to consider your own beginnings."
--Shelf Awareness
Makeda Gee Florida Harris March is a proud matriarch, the anchor and emotional bellwether who holds together a hard-working African American family living in 1950s Richmond, Virginia. Lost in shadow is Makeda's grandson Gray, who begins escaping into the magical world of Makeda's tiny parlor.
Makeda, a woman blind since birth but who has always dreamed in color, begins to confide in Gray the things she "sees" and remembers from her dream state, and a story emerges that is layered with historical accuracy beyond the scope of Makeda's limited education. Gradually, Gray begins to make a connection between his gr
Part coming-of-age story, part spiritual journey, and part love story, Makeda is a universal tale of family, heritage, and the ties that bind. Randall Robinson plumbs the hearts of Makeda and Gray and summons our collective blood memories, taking the reader on an unforgettable journey of the soul that will linger long after the last page has been turned.
About the Author
Randall Robinson is the author of
An Unbroken Agony and the national best sellers
The Debt, The Reckoning, and
Defending the Spirit. He is also founder and past president of TransAfrica, the African-American organization he established to promote enlightened, constructive U.S. policies toward Africa and the Caribbean. In 1984, Robinson established the Free South Africa Movement, which pushed successfully for the imposition of sanctions against apartheid South Africa; and in 1994, his public advocacy, including a 27-day hunger strike, led to the UN multinational operation that restored Haiti's first democratically elected government to power. Mr. Robinson lives with his wife and daughter in St. Kitts.