The Girl at the Back of the Bus
Set in Alabama and Georgia, this empowering novel–tender, warm, harsh, heartbreaking–addresses the legacy of slavery, its effect on all future Black generations, and systemic racism which, incomprehensibly, we are still struggling to eradicate. It also speaks to the astonishing bonds between women, family and friends alike.
In 1955, sixteen-year-old Mattie Banks, pregnant by a white boy, has few options. Seated at the back of a bus, she witnesses “Miz Rosa” refuse to give up her seat to a white man. This encounter is life-changing. Mattie’s mother, Dorothy, supports Mattie’s wish to keep her baby. She proudly encourages Mattie’s education and is adamant that being a domestic for a white family, as she is herself, will never be Mattie’s fate. In the present day, thirty-something Ashlee Turner is a Black lawyer passed over for promotion for a white man because the firm has to “strategically position” itself for “upward progression.” Ashlee is about to re-evaluate her life. She goes home, unsure about her future, and risking a relationship with a white man who loves her deeply. Surrounded by parents and grandparents, she finds closure and peace as she unravels her family history and comes to terms with herself.
Harrison’s beautiful family story is fluid and emotional, and whether writing of love or hate, turmoil or happiness, she pulls no punches. Some sections had me involuntarily wincing, but she does not dwell gratuitously on less savoury facts. Her characters extend themselves off the page as they brave the hardships of segregation without understanding what to many of us is the inexplicable. I felt as if Mattie and Ashlee were friends, and their stories are equally engrossing (rare in dual-timeline novels). The overwhelming love and support in both stories, despite many setbacks in Mattie’s, is so uplifting to read. The prose is direct, honest and open. I was and am deeply moved. An exceptional novel for exceptional times.
