These Bones

These Bones is a gothic tale filled with folklore and poetic prose. Multiple vignettes follow the Lyons family and other members of the Bramble Patch, a Black community. Set in a fictional midwestern city whose descriptions of segregation ring true to history. We read about Jessup, a lady of the night, her sister Esther who is a bit touched in the head, Jessup’s daughter Wanhope, and the Kincaid family, a White family from the other side of the river. As well as the Barghest, pimp and overlord of the Bramble Patch, who is a demon incarnate.

The description of this book did not do it justice. This is really a gothic horror tale with paranormal undertones and folkloric elements. Though the writing itself is grandiloquent, I had a hard time discerning metaphor from literal which made this a difficult read. The vignettes themselves did not flow well from one to the other, and the introduction of the characters was not complete. Some of the characters were well-rounded and others seem to be missing elements that would help the reader understand where they were coming from. The end, at least, was satisfying. I really wanted to like this, but in my opinion, it really was just OK.