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September 7, 2021

Three Girls from Bronzeville


"Sometimes you have to step back to see what up close tends to distort." ~ 14% 

Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood lives up to its title. Dawn, Debra and Kim live in Chicago's historic Bronzeville community. Their lives are shaped in the three square miles that are the epicenter of Black business and culture. Doctors, lawyers, street vendors, Black entrepreneurs and impressionable children make up its residents. In this coming-of-age memoir, forces bring three black girls closer while other events cause their friendship to falter at times. Dawn chronicles the dramatic turns their lives take over the decades. 

"When it's time to move on, you simply do." ~ 55% 

Parts of this memoir brought back memories. Dawn Turner's writing is so descriptive that when she mentioned "bags of sawdust for absorbing vomit," my mind immediately went to the distinct smell and circumstance because I was that kid that vomited with every migraine in school. I couldn't always make it to the waste bin or restroom fast enough. Hence, the sawdust.

Another memory sparked when Dawn would describe the close-knit community of Bronzeville. I have a close friend that lives there now and it all sounded familiar through her words. She crafted a story for fellow city girls to relate and reminisce of their own best friends and sisters growing up. 

Yet Three Girls from Bronzeville lacked the riveting factor that the summary promises. There were more slow parts than interesting. But ultimately the miss for me was the distant narrative. For the author to be one of the main girls, it felt very outside-looking-in-ish. Perhaps the author had to distance herself from the memories in order to write about them but it unfortunately came across as an observer's judgment rather than recalling own experiences. Nevertheless, whether you are a black city girl or like to read memoirs, then try reading it.

Happy Pub Day, Dawn Turner! Three Girls from Bronzeville is now available.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.

Title: Three Girls from Bronzeville
Author: Dawn Turner
Published: September 2021
Pages: 336
Edition: Galley
Rating: 🖤 🖤

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