On the Rooftop
Near the end of this outstanding historical novel, an outsider says, “…amazing…the way you take care of each other.” On the Rooftop is, above all, about how one family, one community, takes care of each other. Set in the Fillmore District of San Francisco in the 1950s, then a self-sufficient Black neighborhood, this superbly written novel of love and caring centers on a family of women: matriarch Vivian and her three daughters, Ruth, Esther, and Chloe.
Stage mother Vivian has turned her girls into an accomplished singing act, The Salvations, who with great professionalism perform the jazz and pop tunes of the day. When not practicing on the rooftop, the young women perform at local nightclubs and at their version of a pop-up supper club in their basement. Vivian makes clear her aspirations for The Salvations and pushes hard to achieve them, ignoring her daughters’ desires.
The four women work ceaselessly, but beneath the constant motion, rebellious thoughts grow. The two older sisters veer off their mother’s path, Ruth by choosing family life with her boyfriend, Esther by choosing to work as an activist songwriter organizing demonstrations against the buyout of all the homes and businesses by the groups of middle-aged white men, suddenly seen everywhere. Chloe, the youngest, is secretly choosing a different life also, but one that includes singing.
Sexton creates the place and era, with its sights, tastes and sounds, and writes the feelings and thoughts the four women have versus their behavior with brilliant insight and perfect pitch. Everything between the family members and within the community comes to a head, but the love and the caring remain, as all four women find their own voices.
