Synopses & Reviews
Diane McKinney-Whetstone's lyrical first novel,
Tumbling, vividly captures a tightly knit African-American neighborhood in South Philadelphia during the forties and fifties. Its central characters, Herbie and Noon, are a loving but unconventional couple whose marriage remains unconsummated for many years as Noon struggles to repossess her sexuality after a brutal attack in her past. While she seeks salvation in the church, Herbie gains sexual gratification in the arms of a bewitching jazz singer named Ethel, a woman who profoundly affects both Noon's and Herbie's lives when she leaves with them, first, a baby girl and then later, a five-year-old named Liz.
When a road planned by the city council threatens to break up this South Philadelphia neighborhood, the community must band together. Unexpectedly, Noon rises up and takes the lead in the opposition, fighting for all she's worth to keep her family and community together.
Tumbling is a beautiftilly rendered, poignant story about the ties that bind us and the secrets that keep us apart. With striking lyricism, Diane McKinney-Whetstone keenly guides us through the world of community, family, and the human heart.
Synopsis
Scribner Paperback Fiction's unequaled list of critically acclaimed, award-winning authors provides a wealth of choices for reading groups and other customers looking for intelligent, thought-provoking, entertaining reading this summer.
Take advantage of displays featuring reading group guides, a bookstore promotional kit, national advertising, and special discount to keep your customers reading from May through September, with All the Reading Under the Sun.
About the Author
Diane McKinney-Whetstone:
When I started writing Tumbling, I had not given much thought to the time and place for the
setting of the story. Actually, I didn't even know what the story would be. I was only sure of
this: that I was approaching a significant birthday, that I'd always nursed a passion for writing
fiction, that I was using more energy forestalling my dream of writing a novel than it would
take just to sit down and start.
So I started. I got up at 5:00 every morning and spent two magical hours before it was time to
wake my teenage twins and dash off to my day job. I was unprepared for the unleashing that
happened--like a bottle of champagne uncorked, descriptions spilled all over the page. I soon
realized I was writing about my mother's time--South Philadelphia, 1940s-'50s. I'd grown up
with her stories about her clean, safe, close-knit neighborhood complete with her descriptions
of the stepscrubbing ritual. It seemed like such a vibrant era-the clubs, the music, the
excitement of the end of the war. And even though the era had a tremendous downside of
forced segregation for African-Americans, it was also a time of community connectedness. I
was also raised in the city, in a close-knit neighborhood, so I was able to draw on my
experiences as well.
Once I pinned down the setting, the characters took over--literally. They did unexpected things
on the page, they pulled the story one way, then another. I was losing control of the novel it
seemed. For example, I didn't--absolutely did not--want Herbie to run around with Ethel. I
liked Herbie too much for that, but the attraction between the two was on the page; it was
as if they were saying, "You, author, have no sayso here, just let us be true to our characters."
So I did. I began to trust the process of writing. It became okay for the novel to twist and
turn in directions I had not planned. I even began to welcome those times because the
unplanned actions were emerging as the strongest parts of the story.
For two years between 5:00 and 7:00 in the morning, I put the rest of my life on hold, my job
as a public affairs officer, my children, my husband, my volunteer commitments; I immersed
myself in the world of Tumbling instead. I followed the characters; I learned so much, about
writing for sure, but also about the big human themes--love and hate, good and evil, and
compassion, human nature, myself. What a powerful act of self-discovery writing this book
has been.
Reading Group Discussion Points
Other Books With Reading Group Guides
Reading Group Guide
Reading Group Discussion Points
- What details does McKinney-Whetstone provide that so wonderfully evoke the setting of that South Philly neighborhood during the forties and fifties? How do McKinney-Whetstone's colorful characters, such as Next-Door-Jeanie and Cardplaying-Rose enliven this neighborhood and further evoke the setting? How does the setting help define the themes in Tumbling?
- Compare and contrast the characters of Noon and Ethel, Liz and Fannie, Willie and Herbie. How do McKinney-Whetstone's female characters differ from her male characters? How do her female characters view her male characters and vice versa? For example, what is Ethel's view of men? What is Liz's?
- The family at the center of Tumbling -- Noon and Herbie -- is highly unconventional. Describe the ways in which this is so. Discuss the irony implicit in Noon's raising Fannie and Liz. McKinney-Whetstone writes, "Agreeing to Liz's staying just because that's what Noon wanted would keep his spine erect. Keep it from buckling, warping, even snapping in two from the extra weight he carried in his heart." Discuss the irony of Herbie's acceptance of Liz into the family as his way of counteracting the guilt he feels for his infidelity. What problems does this create that keep the family off balance? Discuss the ways in which the family is ultimately a success.
- Noon spends more than 20 years married to Herbie, unable to consummate their marriage because of a bizarre and cruel sexual attack which took place when she was a young girl. Why doesn't she tell Herbie? Would it have helped? How do you judge Herbie for seeking sexual gratification from other women? Was there anything Herbie might have done that could have helped Noon overcome her apprehensions? At the close of the novel, Noon is able to consummate her marriage. What finally enables her to do so?
- Though Ethel is seldom in South Philadelphia living among the other characters of Tumbling, her presence is felt and a strong, vivid portrait of her emerges. Describe this portrait. How does McKinney-Whetstone create and maintain Ethel's presence throughout the novel? How does Ethel become a central figure in Tumbling despite her near constant absence? Discuss her profound impact on the lives of Noon, Herbie, Liz, and Fannie.
- How does McKinney-Whetstone prepare us for the truth that Ethel is Fannie's mother and Herbie is her father? What clues does she provide?
- Fannie is blessed with a seeing eye -- a "part of her that could see around corners and sometimes into tomorrow." Do her visions have an effect on the other characters? Do they alter any characters' lives? Do her visions alter events? If so, what events? How does Fannie distinguish between her seeing eye and her imagination?
- Liz develops an unusual habit of breaking up and actually eating the walls in her closet. The habit begins when she lives with Ethel and continues after she moves in with Noon, Herbie, and Fannie. Her habit grows over the years, and she becomes more and more devoted to hiding it. Why do you think she eats plaster? What does it symbolize? How does she use this habit as a crutch?
- McKinney-Whetstone does not focus on the subject of racism, yet it is a presence in Tumbling. For example, when the court officer comes to Noon's house to deliver a notice, McKinneyWhetstone writes, "He muttered 'fucking nigger' and pushed past her and was out of the door. 'Got some nerve calling somebody a nigger,' Noon said to his back as she quickly scanned the papers. 'You that, plus a fool....... Where else do we feel the presence of racism in the novel? How does the imminent building of the road become another example of racism? Is there any evidence of compassion between the races?
- What does the building of the road represent in Tumbling? What does it represent to the characters -- to Noon, to Next-Door-Jeanie, to Willie, to Liz and Fannie? Of what larger metaphor might the road be representative? How does the road serve to galvanize and heighten the relationships in Noon and Herbie's family as well as in the community? It turns out that the road is a fraud. What lies beneath this deception? And since the road becomes the central crisis in the novel, the fact that it is a deception casts the story in a new light. What is this new light?
- Secrets play an important role in Tumbling. Almost everyone has one-Noon, Herbie, Willie, Ethel, Liz, Fannie, and Reverend Schell. What are their secrets and what effect does keeping them have on their relationships to one another? By the end of the novel are all the secrets revealed? How are the characters' relationships altered by the revelation of secrets? What effect do secrets have on a family?
Recommended Readings Women, Race, and Class, Angela Davis
July's People, Nadine Gordimer
Killing Rage, bell hooks
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Sarah's Psalm, Florence Ladd
The Serpent's Gift, Helen Elaine Lee
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
Sula, Toni Morrison
The Women of Brewster Place, Gloria Naylor
Possessing the Secret of Joy, Alice Walker
The Wedding, Dorothy West