confession: i’m only partway through mama day. (augh. i’ve failed to finish on time, again.)

confession: i really really like it.

so, i’m going to post jamie’s review with my eyes closed and put in my two cents over this next week once i’ve finished. and if you haven’t finished (or started) yet, you should. because jamie’s got good taste. and she’s funny. (and it’s a mighty fine read.)

The central plot is about two people falling in love, but the story is more than that. It’s about how people become intrinsically joined together — how people become family. After Bernice and Ambush give Mama Day the rocking chair, Mama Day wonders, “Now, what was she gonna do with that chair? So much work, so much caring — could she bear to sit in it? It belonged in the other place, no use lying about that. She looks into Bernice’s eager and hopeful eyes. What kinda destiny is happening here, between you and me?”

Miranda and Abigail agree that the rocking chair belongs in the Other Place. So what is the Other Place? I think it’s like the two New Yorks that Ophelia comes to know. You live in the world, with your job, your day-to-day activities; and then there’s that Other Place. There’s the first New York, with all of the jobs, buildings, money, and parties. People just walking, not really going anywhere. And then there’s George’s New York, which is defined by how people are connected. “It could be one apartment building, a handful of blocks, a single square mile hidden off with its own language, newspapers, and magazines — its own law and codes of behavior, and sometimes even its own judge and juries. You’d never realize that because you went there and lived on our fringes. To live in New York you’d have to know about the florist on Jamaica Avenue who carried yellow roses even though they didn’t move well, but it was his dead wife’s favorite color.” The Other Place is where you aren’t just one person, but a part of a family. A group of people whose fates are connected, where the actions of one person has consequences on everyone else in that same Other Place.

This idea is illustrated in the scene where Mama Day is sewing Ophelia’s wedding quilt out of fabric scraps from past family members. Once she realizes that she has sewn in a piece that represents the tragedy of Ophelia’s namesake, her great grandmother, she thinks, “It was too late to take it out of the quilt, and it didn’t matter no way. Could she take herself out? Could she take out Abigail? Could she take ‘em all out and start again? With what?… When it’s done right you can’t tell where one rings ends and the other begins. It’s like they ain’t been sewn at all, they grew up out of nowhere.”

Whose fabric would be used to make your quilt? Who do we let in to the patterns of our lives? Our ancestors are there, whether we want them there or not, but do we have to know about their stories for them to make a difference? George knows almost nothing about his blood-relatives. (If you are curious, read Bailey’s Cafe.) Do their stories affect his life? How have the actions and stories of your ancestors affected your life? Then there is the family we choose. How do we let them in and it is always on purpose? What drew George and Ophelia together? Ophelia couldn’t get the job, the interview was disastrous, George almost forgot about her (until the thank you letter), Ophelia did not want to go out with him, the first date was also disastrous, and George was dating Shawn at the time. George and Ophelia were two very different head strong people. There were plenty of stumbling blocks to prevent a relationship, so what made them continue moving forward? When we weave someone into our own family, what is the driving force?

What did you think about the mix of magic and realism? I’m never quite sure what to make of it: Bernice and Mama Day in the Other Place; the scene with the chicken where Mama Day helps Bernice conceive a child, and the scene where Bernice carries in her dead son. The task George is asked to complete to save Ophelia. The first two times I read it, even though I loved the book, those scenes always unsettled me. In order to work them out, instead of trying to piece out exactly what they mean, I focus on what they meant for the characters.

Bernice was willing and able to believe in that magic, to “cross that line,” but only in times of desperation. When reality couldn’t give her what she wanted (to have a child), or gave her something she didn’t want (her son’s death), she turned to Mama Day’s magic with pure faith. She knew Mama Day’s magic could get her pregnant just as she was sure that it would bring her son back to life. Bernice bundles up her dead son, buckles him into the car, drives too slow with the same confidence she had when she planted the seeds, churned the butter, and cooked from scratch. Her belief in Mama Day’s magic was the same, both times. Why did she get different outcomes? George is never able to cross that line, even though he tries. Why couldn’t he do what Mama Day required, even though he wanted to? Do you think he could have been saved? George and Bernice were both desperate and willing, what makes them different?

As a believing Mormon, there are many times when religion and reality come in conflict. Do I believe my religion all the time, or only when I’m desperate for something that reality can’t provide, like Bernice? If tested, am I really able to truly believe something that seems so illogical?

There’s so much more to this story than that, but this post is already long enough. There are themes and symbolism from Shakespeare, the Bible, and Christianity. There are interesting feminist implications, with the different type of mother figures, and all of the power that women in the story use and misuse. This is a richly layered story, and every time I read it, I see a different side. As Mama Day watches George paint all sides of the chicken coop, she thinks, “Just like that chicken coop, everything got four sides: his side, her side, and outside, and an inside. All of it is the truth.” So what did you think of the story? What’s your side?

Jamie is 27 and living in Salt Lake City. By day, she’s a low-level cubical dweller. By night, she’s a film buff, book lover, wanna-be foodie, and a reality tv expert. Seriously, ask her anything about Survivor. her vast knowledge will either amaze or sadden you. She loves walking through cemeteries, wearing hoodies, rearranging the batman action figures in her cubical, and discovering new interesting music and gum flavors (current faves: Kings of Leon and Orbit Maui Mint). Her goals for the future include having all of her laundry clean at the same time and learning how to type and send a text message in under 5 minutes.