Overview
Born in rural North Carolina in 1933, into the last generation before the lines of segregation were broken, the young Mary Mebane felt herself trapped in a "world without options." But even in the face of poverty, racism, and the chilling certainty that her mother's affection would never be won, she vowed to escape.
In this powerful autobiography, first published in 1981, Mebane recalls the joys and chores of her country childhood, the pain of her alienation from her family and community, and her dawning awareness that in her gifts for language and learning lay her key to freedom. With her graduation from college comes a triumph that is both hard-won and bittersweet.
Synopsis
In this powerful autobiography, first published in 1981, Mary Mebane recalls the joys and chores of her country childhood, the pain of her alienation from her family and community, and her dawning awareness that in her gifts for language and learning lay her key to freedom. With her graduation from college comes a triumph that is both hard-won and bittersweet.
Library Journal
Mebane's two-volume autobiography "is told through a series of vignettes of life in a rural black community and of [the] struggle to rise above her environment without repudiating it." LJ's reviewer found that while the "prose is simple, the concepts expressed are complex," giving the duo "historical as well as literary value" (LJ 1/1/81). Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
From the Publisher
What stays with me from Mebane's book Mary are the descriptive passages about day to day life in the rural South .Alice Walker
I can not remember when I have read a book more moving.
Harrison E. Salisbury
A quirky, highly personal, touching book.
Katha Pollitt, Mother Jones
A graceful and subtly crafted autobiography.
Sewanee Review