#41 - The Color of Water - James McBride

#41

Title:  The Color of Water

Author:  James McBride
Read by:  Jo Jackson and Susan Denaker

Genre:  Biography

Category:  Non-Fiction

Rating:  B

Published:  1996

Date:   7/23/16 – 7/27/16

Subtitled – A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother, McBride takes us to the public housing projects of New York City where he and 11 brothers and sisters live.  They are all black.  James knows there is something different about his mother.  When asked, she would declare – “I’m light-skinned,” and change the subject.  As years went by, James learned about his mother, her Jewish background and the mysteries of her life that unfolded, bit by bit.  In short, Ruth McBride eventually told him her story of being a rabbi’s daughter, born in Poland and raised in the South, who fled to Harlem, married a black man, founded a Baptist church, and put the twelve children through college.

This book is also on the list of 75 best books in the last 75 years.  An engrossing story and on the best-seller list back in the mid- to late-90s.  It is truly a classic.