The young adult predecessor to Toni Morrison's, "Beloved".

If you haven't read a word of Virginia Hamilton in your life then it is clear as crystal that you have some catching up to do. A children/teen writer par excellence, Hamilton's body of work encompasses a wide swath of African-American experiences and situations. In short, she is one of the best authors you'll ever encounter. She's sweet, and funny, and dark, with a deep-abiding sense of cultural history and an intelligence as sharp as a whip. If you find that you are one of those pitiable souls who've not yet read her wondrous works for yourself, I have good news for you. "Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush", is waiting for you. A dark ghost story/mystery that delves into the family history of Sweet Teresa and her brother Dab, the tale weaves together the best of Black American storytelling and the contemporary world. It's stunning.

The book begins with one of the greatest opening paragraphs in an American novel. "The first time Teresa saw Brother was the way she would think of him ever after". It takes her three weeks more, however, to figure out that he's a ghost. Living with her older brother alone in their home with the occasional spotty appearance of their overworked mother M'Vy, Tree's life is difficult. For example, her brother, Dab, isn't quite right in the head. He's never been especially smart as it is, but recently he's been getting even worse. There are pains and chills and some instances of Dab recessing back into an infantile state. And then there's that mysterious ghost Brother Rush who keeps appearing to Tree in a small room in her house. With the aid of Brother, Tree is able to go back in time to see the past and understand the present. What she discovers shocks her but gives her the knowledge she'll need when she's hit with the greatest loss of all.

The book originally came out in 1982 and won, incredibly enough, a Newbery Honor. I say "incredible" because this is obviously a very adult story. Preceding Toni Morrison's similar, "Beloved" by a couple years, it knows how to tell a ghost story and tell it well. Brother Rush isn't malevolent, but his very appearance is frightening. To Tree he appears as a sharp dressed (hence her love of him) but dead body. There's a creepiness to his standing, staring, immobile body that gives even the most complacent of readers the shivers. And like the accomplished writer she is, Hamilton ever so slowly draws you into the story. You don't even know that there IS a mystery until she reveals little pieces of it a chapter at a time. Then when you get a hint of what it might be, she hits you over the head with a gigantic breath-taking plot point. Reading this book is something like taking a walk at night, turning a corner, and finding yourself facing sixty bright blinding spotlights. You never know what'll happen next.

Her main character, Tree, is great too. Though she was slower to anger than I would have anticipated, when her temper gets going she's a handful and a half. Up until the last few chapters of the book, I was on Tree's side all the way. What she felt, I felt. Her tender care of her elder brother is touching and real. And that leads perfectly into my sole objection to the novel. For most of her life, Tree's mother M'Vy has left her kids alone so that she could work jobs as a single mom to give them a stable life. This is all well and good. However, at some point in the book it becomes perfectly clear that M'Vy is having a pretty good time without her children weighing on her. She goes out dancing. She dates a great guy. She buys a car and starts a business. And all the time her fifteen-year-old daughter is left alone to care for an elder brother who eventually becomes dangerously ill. M'Vy eschews her parental responsibilities and foists them on her only girl without apologizing one ounce later. M'Vy has other sins as well that she makes up for in time, but this is one aspect of her personality that I couldn't readily forgive. Virginia Hamilton doesn't appear to think of it as much of a problem though so… there you go.

Otherwise, the book's great. It offers wonderful thoughts on the nature of forgiveness and whether some old wounds cut too deep to ever forget. It establishes how those people we truly love stay with us at all times, even if it's in our memories. It's a deeply moving and powerful tale about a single family's fight against destroying itself. And it's fun. I'm making it sound too dark, I know. That's because there is a darkness in it. But there's also light and happiness and some really interesting ideas. I can't force you to run out and read "Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush". All I can do is to gently suggest you do so as soon as you are able. It's a fabulous and interesting read. Five stars all the way.