BookBrowse Reviews Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks

BookBrowse:

A vividly told story of the civil rights movement and more, set in an all-Black Alabama town in the 1950s.

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Jamila Minnicks' debut novel Moonrise Over New Jessup received the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Our First Impressions reviewers appreciated its nuanced look at the civil rights era, with 26 out of 29 readers awarding it 4 or 5 stars.

What the book is about:

Could separate be equal? This striking picture of the civil rights movement, from a Southern Black perspective not so far included in the mainstream white-dominated narrative, raises that question through the compelling emotional struggle of Alice Young, who flees a plantation-minded, nominally integrated and repressive rural Alabama, hoping to find her sister in Birmingham, but ends up in the prosperous all-Black town of New Jessup, where she finds dignity, opportunity, love and hope … citizens fear integration will destroy their freedom to be left in peace, to flourish … though they are still unable to vote, or to separate their town officially from a neighboring white community, so they don't get back their fair share of tax funds for their school. Most feel that's a price they are willing to pay to raise their children with pride and respect. Alice feels that way too—her new home is Eden compared to the brutal treatment, daily insults and injustice she experienced under "integration." But the man she loves is part of a clandestine group seeking to peacefully challenge the status quo. As this work gains urgency, pressures mount, for Alice and for New Jessup (Janice P).

Several reviewers noted that they learned about aspects of American history that were new to them from Minnicks' novel.

Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks is an awakening to the many mindsets around the complexities of desegregation. She presents the nuances of the movement that history books fail to capture (Lorraine D). I was not aware of this phase of the civil rights movement. That a Black community wanted to remain a Black city, but with individual freedoms and governmental freedoms, rather than an integrated municipality was not an issue I'd ever been exposed to in any history lesson (Martha G).

Many mentioned that the book's unique prose style and vivid writing added to their enjoyment of the reading experience.

There is drama, tension and joy in the telling. The events gently unfold, frequently with humor and poetic nuances. One tense moment was descriptively preceded with "The sky vacuumed up the air like it did before a storm." Jamila Minnicks' style and phraseology makes one feel that they are right there (Lorraine D). In addition to fully developed characters, the love story narration and opposing viewpoints of the civil rights movement, the book is beautifully written. "Cool morning air thick with a low autumn fog," "paper with my dried tears and defenses … went up in smoke" and "exhale to release the inside noise" are examples of imagery that fill the pages of this book. I found joy in the imagery and could see and feel and smell and hear as if I were there. Everyone who loves beautiful writing will enjoy this book (Judith M).

A few readers felt the plot was a bit overly ambitious with its multiple storylines…

It felt like there were a lot of different storylines going on, but they were all disconnected from each other (Amber H). I expected this book to come together with its various storylines but there seemed to be too much going on at once. The book presents the mystery of Alice's sister Rosie, the back and forth with the family's involvement with the integration vs. segregation efforts, and local business relationships. There's a good amount of detail related to the various subplots but not enough depth (Melanie B).

...but overall, reviewers found Moonrise Over New Jessup to have profound societal importance, with some suggesting that it is likely to spark great discussions.

While the story is fictional it has great value as socially responsible literature. I recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction, likes pondering why people believe as they do and book clubs who love discussing such (Karna B). I really enjoyed the book and think it would be an excellent book club selection. Also, I predict that readers who liked The Vanishing Half and The Prophets will be fans of Moonrise Over New Jessup (Rosemary C).

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in March 2023, and has been updated for the November 2023 edition. Click here to go to this issue.