The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow

 

In August we held our meeting outdoors at Krauss Park in a quiet, shady spot to discuss The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, by Heidi Durrow. Thank you to everyone who made it, and welcome to yet a few more new faces! On the docket for September is Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, by Lori Gottlieb. Speaking of September, if weather allows, we are tentatively planning on meeting again at Krauss Park on the 14th. However, if we should come into a cold snap between then and now, the plan is to host the meeting both via Zoom and in person in the meeting room at the library~ you are welcome to choose either avenue, but please be advised masks will be required for anyone attending in person. 

 

Without further delay~

 

This debut novel tells the story of Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I. who becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy. With her strict African American grandmother as her new guardian, Rachel moves to a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring mixed attention her way. Growing up in the 1980s, she learns to swallow her overwhelming grief and confronts her identity as a biracial young woman in a world that wants to see her as either black or white.  

This book seemed to bring a good mix of a small handful that really liked it, another small handful that really didn't like it, and a majority smattering of people who were somewhere in between. Those who really enjoyed the read said the author did a good job on character development, especially with Rachel. They commented on finding several passages in the book to have been really well written, offering excellent imagery for the reader. They thought the book was authentic, believable, and relatable. 

Those who really didn't care for the book cited that it was consistently confusing and hard to follow. The open-ended ending left too many unanswered questions; and several people would have liked the book to have had more of an emphasis on biracial perspectives, aspects, and challenges, rather than appearing to cater to more of a "Black-White" racial disparity structure. One member said the book made a point to clearly impart that Rachel was a highly intelligent, biracial young woman, grappling to find her place and identity in a predominately black community, but didn't seem to offer much evidence to support either claim. 

What did you think of the book? If the author should pen a second novel, would you be eager to read it based on what you experienced with this first round?

 

Did you love The Girl Who Fell From the Sky? Fans of this book also enjoyed: The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett, The Leavers, by Lisa Ko, and Of Women and Salt, by Gabriela Garcia. All of these titles are available in Viking~ reserve one today!

 

At the conclusion of every book club discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:

Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"
Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"YES"
Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 
 3 stars