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The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
 

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

by James McBride

Order this book ... and please don't be put off by its pallid subtitle, A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, which doesn't begin to do justice to the utterly unique and moving story contained within. The Color of Water tells the remarkable story of Ruth McBride Jordan, the two good men she married, and the 12 good children she raised. Jordan, born Rachel Shilsky, a Polish Jew, ... (read more)

Top tags: memoir,  non-fiction,  nonfiction,  african american,  african-american (all tags)

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Other Reviews

Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Jen N
  • Rated 5 stars

“James McBride discovers who is mother is in this touching novel about race relations, society's misconceptions of what love should look like and the tenacity of a mother.”

Jen N’s full review »
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Didn’t Like It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
margaret r
  • Rated 2 stars

“Interesting story but not worth the time.”

margaret r’s full review »
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Community:
  • Rated 4.082803 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.636364 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Lisa C

    lisa c said:

    “I loved this book! This mother was an Orthodox Jewish woman, daughter of a rabbi who had serious moral failings, who found healing, love, and hope through her relationship with Jesus Christ. She found the acceptance everyone needs in the Black community who loved her as well. I am glad she was able to raise 12 children as that takes an immense amount of courage and faith. Obviously her tenacity and faith kept her going through numerous trials, including the death of her first husband. I can still picture in my mind a short Jewish woman walking with her head held high with 12 Black children in tow, and I have sheer admiration for her. Women like that change the world without ever running for president.”

    posted Tuesday, March 18 2008
  • Amy M

    amy m said:

    “I read this a million years ago, and was reminded of it recently, watching Henry Gate's 'African-American Lives' series on PBS.

    This is a bright, heartfelt, and finely rendered book, offering, I think, a pretty clear-eyed view of some of the implications of race in America.

    Memoir, when it's well-executed, always, always, always brings me to some new understanding of the ways in which we choose our paths, and at their best, they corner me into a better understanding of my own choices. McBride did that for me in this book, and the gentle nudge he gave me -- toward, I guess, the acceptance of ambiguity, the vagueness of identity -- has stuck.

    The writing, as I remember it, is bright and sane and curious, and the lessons are the same; McBride is one of those writers I wish were my teacher, or my friend.



    ”

    posted Monday, March 17 2008
  • ann w

    ann w said:

    “I read McBride's narrative several years ago and recall being strongly affected by the immense obstacles his mother overcame on her journey and what a powerful woman and role model she was for her family. It reinforces the truism that being a mother is the most challenging role in life with the ability to affect so many who one may never know of.”

    posted Saturday, January 19 2008
  • nadiya b

    nadiya b said:

    “i read this long ago.. it was just too hard for me to believe what the mother went through when she was young..”

    posted Sunday, December 2 2007
  • Allie

    allie said:

    “I noticed the talk about how the mother could've used birth control. Let me remind you that she was raised in a Jewish Orthodox household growing up, which prohibits the use of any birth control. The belief is to have as many children as God will grant you; to prevent a birth would be against God's will. Although she became a Christian, I am sure the decision not to use birth control was based on the beliefs with which she was raised and in part on the Christian beliefs she developed. It helps to understand the two different cultures, of Jewish Orthodox and African American, to really understand the life the author had. Many things that at one time didn't make sense I now know stem from her strict Jewish upbringing, which I was not familiar with while reading this. You simply have to look deeper into this book to really understand how amazing the story is. ”

    posted Thursday, November 8 2007 ( | view 2 replies )
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