Mudbound by Hillary Jordan: A Hard-hitting,Timely Read

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan is a powerful and relevant read in this Trump era where jingoism and racism is at fever pitch. Jordan’s debut won the 2006 Bellwether Prize, founded by Barbara Kingsolver promote literature of social responsibility, and was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. This powerful and riveting read sheds light on a dark time in American history and reflects on the terror and harrowing consequences of racism. This is the story of a black WWII veteran returning home to a Jim Crow in rural Mississippi.

It is 1946 and city-bred Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband’s Mississippi Delta farm – a place she finds foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family’s struggles, two young men return from the war. Jamie McAllan, Laura’s brother-in-law, is everything her husband is not – charming, handsome, and haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm, has come home with the shine of a war hero. But no matter his bravery in defence of his own country, he is still considered less