Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward

 

Published: First in US in 2008 then in UK 2016 by Bloomsbury

Genre: Fiction

Themes: Mississippi Gulf Coast, family, drug culture, employment issues

My rating (out of 5): ❤❤❤

The style of writing in Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward is as hard and unyielding as a sheet of steel.  It forces us to look closely at a lifestyle that most of us will never experience, but is a true representation of how it is to live in some communities of the American South.

Christophe and Joshua are twin brothers who have been raised by their grandmother Ma-mee after their single mother took off to try and find a better life in Atlanta.  They have had very little contact with either their mother or father, but the wider family of uncles and aunts has supported the boys as their grandmother gradually lost her sight to diabetes.

After graduation the boys must look for work, but the only options available to them are fast food restaurants or heavy manual work down at the docks.  Joshua is the more grounded of the two, and he understands that he must earn money to help Ma-mee put food on the table so he makes more of an effort with his application forms and is eventually successful.  The job offer for Joshua makes Christophe angry, as he always assumed they would find work at the same time and continue to be together in the same way they had always been.  He is encouraged to keep trying, but without the steadying influence of his brother it is not long before he falls into dealing drugs to make money.

The boys live in a community where smoking pot is commonplace and many unemployed men spend their days doing nothing but getting drunk and taking drugs.  It is clear from the writing that making the move into dealing is far too easy when other options start to close off and a solution intended as a temporary fix can all to often become a dangerous lifestyle.

Jesmyn Ward effectively evokes the heat and dirt of the summer months, and despite the dreadful reality of the effect the drink and drugs have on the community, she also shows the softer side of the young men as they help their grandmother with household chores.  Deeply flawed families still have their rituals and bindings and days such as July 4th bring them all together in great celebration when they all share food together.

This is a difficult read as it is harsh and real, and as much as you want everything to get better by the end of the book, you know that the boys will always have their struggles and their whole lives will be hard for them.  Although it was first written in 2008, everything is much the same today and it is a real eye-opener for those of us who are fortunate enough not to have to make those kind of life choices.