RaveIrish Times (IRE)Ferocious and compassionate ... Stringfellow deftly weaves the voices of four women over three generations. Her women are vivid, formidable and funny, exposing the legacy of racial violence not just within the microcosm of family or the titular city, but nationally ... The city shimmers under Stringfellow’s assured prose ... This novel is, in many respects, a Künstlerroman, a portrait of an artist as a young black woman ... Memphis reaches back to literary mothers and towards potential daughters, honouring the strength, creativity and resilience of black women.
Julie Otsuka
RaveThe Irish Times (IRE)From the collective group, Otsuka eloquently singles out one, a swimmer with dementia called Alice. The point of view shifts, now narrated by \'you\', Alice’s daughter, who recounts her mother’s life through fragments of memories both prosaic and profound. The narration here is structured by repeating the clauses Alice remembers and does not remember, repetitions creating rhythmic incantation brimming with both authenticity and heart ... We, us, she, you—Otsuka’s multiple pronouns and points of view blur distinctions. Her wisdom is staggeringly beautiful, implicating each of us.
