Reason for Reading: I love books set in 1930s Southern USA.
Summary: Ludelphia Bennett is ten years old, her family is part of
a sharecropping community. Ludelphia wears a patch over one eye as
she accidentally went blind in it when a tiny sliver of wood flew
into it when she was younger. She has a passion for quilting and is
working on a special quilt now for her Mama that will tell
Ludelphia's story to her. Mama is ill with a terrible cough and
large with a baby on the way but when Mama goes into labour early
and the baby is born healthy after 3 previous stillborn, Mama's
health turns worse. She can hardly breathe and now she's coughing
up blood. Ludelphia decides she must do more for Mama and embarks
on a 40 mile journey to get the nearest doctor and medicine to save
Mama's life. It's a dangerous journey for one-eyed, ten year old
Ludelphia, who has never been out of Gee's Bend, and never seen a
white person before but she takes her quilting with her to keep her
hands busy and on the way comes across scraps of cloth to add to
the quilt and her story.
Comments: This is a sweet, touching story. I fell in love with
Ludelphia from the first page. She is a feisty girl, full of
questions, not one to accept an answer without fully understanding
and agreeing with it. She has a fine heart, loving all those around
her and giving all the benefit of the doubt, she has a way with
animals and is the only one who can get along with the stubborn
mule they own. A very enjoyable character to read about.
The book takes the reader inside the daily life of a struggling
sharecropper family during the depression. How the small rows of
houses form a community and everyone looks after each other. They
share the good times and they weather the strife and hardship
together. I read this book quickly and really enjoyed it. It is a
heart touching story and one roots for Ludelphia as she works her
way through each challenge ultimately not only to save Mama but to
save Gee's Bend itself. The story presented here is fictional but
the author has woven a real life event from Gee's Bend's history
into the novel.
The only thing that I felt book needed was an illustration at the
end of Ludelphia's finished quilt. It's making is so integral to
the book's plot, I felt a bit let down not being able to see the
finished product and search within it for some of the pieces of
cloth she found along the way.