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Rhythms: Part 2

© Nichel Anderson

Eighteen years later, book two begins with Cora’s daughter, Emma, the outspoken, resentful, angry, and spoiled black girl in a white woman’s body. Emma is stricken with being unloved by her mother and the unanswered questions concerning her father pushes Emma to leave Rudell for New York City. She meets Michael Travanti, an Italian, and they fall in love. Emma decides and makes a vow to live as a white woman. Emma does end up meeting her father and the confrontation is rememberable and sad just the same. After her closure of confronting her father and marrying Michael marries she becomes pregnant and her worst dreams comes true; Emma’s child has black features. So Emma takes her baby to Rudell to be raised by Cora and not inform her husband of the true fate of their first child. The cycle continues. Rhythms of choices begin once more. Emma heads to Paris, France hoping to keep her secret of her heritage behind, in Mississippi.

Book three begins with Parris. Cora named her granddaughter because of where Emma said she was going. Parris becomes the binding fabric that brings Cora and David back together after twenty years. Parris leaves for New York City when she grows up on the pursuit of becoming a singer. With her exceptional talents blessed by her grandmother, Parris meets her true love Nick Hunter. The story of Rhythms soothes towards an ending around the time Cora takes ill. Parris returns to Rudell to spend the final days of her grandmother’s life. This is when Cora reveals the secret that Parris mother is not dead but alive and reveal the true reason why the truth was hidden. Meantime, Emma receives a letter from her mother stating that the secret has been unveiled to Parris and for Emma to expect her daughter arrival. Emma in a moment of despair and finally relief confessed to her husband the lie she kept all these years and her unloving isolated past in Rudell, in which, lead her to choose the path she took.

My Reflections:

The story starts off real slow; it was very hard for me to stay alert. The rural south at the brink of the turn of the twenty century would normally entice me but the book of Cora was drawn out and some of the scenes were not only predictable but some not quite believable, for example, the episode where Joshua and Pearl was burned alive in their house. It was too easy for this incident to happen due to the prior build up of showcasing Joshua as a strong black man and an unfearing statue to the White man, in this small Negro community. In addition, the conversations leading to the workers of the NAACP coming to talk to the black men of Rudell and there were no extra protection for a possible attack by the nightriders, left me wondering. I could have accepted it fully if the passing was nature taking it course. Moreover, I did truly enjoyed the scenes where Joshua took centered stage when he was confronted by either a white man or anyone making an interested claim towards his daughter.

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