Everybody's Son

Everybody’s Son by Thrity Umrigar

Our Gathering...

On a beautiful autumn afternoon in September at the Infusion Tea Room in lovely College Park, the club met to discuss Tamara’s selection of the bestselling, critically acclaimed author Thrity Umrigar’s latest offering, Everybody's Son.

It was billed as a novel that explored issues of race, class, privilege, and power and asked us to consider uncomfortable moral questions in a probing, ambitious, emotionally wrenching novel of two families—one black, one white.

It centered on a fostered black boy, Anton, who was abandoned for seven days by his drug-addicted mother. He is adopted by an affluent white couple who is mourning the recent loss of their teenaged son. The reader witnesses Anton’s ascension toward the upper levels of society, education, economics, politics, etc. The author attempts to create circumstances/situations via friendships and love interests in which he must grapple with his humble beginnings as a poor, disenfranchised black child - creating “identity-crisis” struggles, feelings of isolation, and a lifelong angst caused by a sense (or lack) of “belonging”/inclusion: too "white" for blacks, too "black" for whites.

In a somewhat contrived plot-twist, Anton discovers the truth about his life, his birth mother, and his adopted parents and must come to terms with the moral complexities of crimes committed by the people he loves most.

Our Final Thoughts & Ratings…

While the Amazon and GoodReads ratings are currently in the 3.88 to 4-ish range, our group’s average rating is a bit lower at 3 (2.95 out of 5). For the most part, it was a middle of the road read for the majority of our members and guests, with a couple outliers of those who didn’t care for the novel at all and couple who liked it more than others.

Ethel Walton – 3. The writing was mediocre in terms of language.

Sharice – 3. Too superficial in terms of content: plot and characters.

Natalie – 3. “It was just a’ight.”

Phyllis – 1.5. The dialogue was stilted and there was an over-use of bad cliches throughout the novel. Pet peeve: Incorrect use of African American dialect and vernacular! Difficulty connecting/relating to the characters; not relatable at all and no real connection in terms of sympathy or empathy toward the characters. Had read it once with another club; her assessment didn’t change with the second read. Although the premise is timely and relevant, the execution missed the mark.

Nicole – 3. Found the dynamics of the relationships fascinating.

Gwen - 4. Enjoyed the book and the story. She enjoyed the relationships.

Channel – 3. Another narrative being told from stereotypical non-black perspective. She appreciated the relationships but disliked the ending.

Lynn – 3. It was “extremely dense”. Felt Juanita needed to be more defined. I disliked the style of writing.

Guerty – 3. I still plan to finish it.

Richelle – 1. It is a stereotypical, damaging story.

Juliet – 2.5. The standpoint of the birth mother was not well developed. Could appreciate that Anton started to see the value of what his mother endured.

Tamara, Our Moderator – 3.5. Hated the ending and stereotypes but it made her feel, particularly angry, at parts and she must be somewhat involved if she could feel these emotions from the book.

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