Taylor Thompson's debut novel, Crowning Glory River's Journey introduces the reader to River Thomas, a young black girl struggling with self-acceptance, in particular, her insecure relationship with her hair. When the melting pomade burns her eight-year-old scalp, she swallows down the pain for she understands her mother is only fixing what is wrong with her hair, making it nice and straight as hair should be. Thsi internalized whiteness is strengthened when every Sunday she smiles up at eh white Jesus painted above the baptisimal bay. She smiles up at him with hiar just as straight as his. This journey to self-rejection is reinforced when as a teenager she has to accept that not even straight hair is enough to win her Elvis' love. Angrily she takes her love from him, stops straightening her hair and starts to wear an afro. Twenty years later, river's doomed marriage to her bland, older husband who can't match her intellect and passion for life, is in jeopardy. As River climbs the cooperate ladder after her promotion to Senior Accountant, she makes the decision to straighten her years-old-afro, hoping to feel less out of place as the only black person in the office. Her relationship with Daryl, the Office Manager, grows strained when she refuses his advances. The author uses this relationship to deeply explore the historical relationships between black women and white men. When Daryl hires Alpha, blond and beautiful, as River's assistant, their past and future relationships prove deatructive to them both, but more so for River. With dramatic urgency, a powerful sennse of self-worth, and a beautifully rendered cast of characters revealing a deep understanding of human nature in all its flawed glory, Crowning Glory is an unforgettable novel about overcoming internalize self-contempt, effects of racism and abuse, and adversity.
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