What's Mine and Yours
Fiction
Grand Central Publishing
March 2, 2021
Hardcover
416
Free from publisher
A community in the Piedmont of North Carolina rises in outrage as a county initiative draws students from the largely Black east side of town into predominantly white high schools on the west. For two students, Gee and Noelle, the integration sets off a chain of events that will tie their two families together in unexpected ways over the span of the next twenty years.
On one side of the integration debate is Jade, Gee's steely, ambitious mother. In the aftermath of a harrowing loss, she is determined to give her son the tools he'll need to survive in America as a sensitive, anxious, young Black man. On the other side is Noelle's headstrong mother, Lacey May, a white woman who refuses to see her half-Latina daughters as anything but white. She strives to protect them as she couldn't protect herself from the influence of their charming but unreliable father, Robbie.
When Gee and Noelle join the school play meant to bridge the divide between new and old students, their paths collide, and their two seemingly disconnected families begin to form deeply knotted, messy ties that will shape the trajectory of their adult lives. And their mothers-each determined to see her child inherit a better life-will make choices that will haunt them for decades to come.
As love is built and lost, and the past never too far behind, What's Mine and Yours is an expansive, vibrant tapestry that moves between the years, from the foothills of North Carolina, to Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Paris. It explores the unique organism that is every family: what breaks them apart and how they come back together.
My review:
While I really enjoyed this book, I'm going to talk about the issue I had which may effect some readers enjoyment. The way this book was structured was kind of all over the place. We go back and forth in time, there are multiple characters to keep track of, and I was left wondering what it would have read like if it was a linear timeline? This is just something to be aware of going in.
This was definitely a character driven story, and while I thought some were more well drawn and necessary to the story than others, I appreciated the author's intent to show the effects of family and family dynamics in each person's life. We mostly follow Gee and his mother, and Noelle and her mother. Their paths collide when Gee and Noelle end up at the same high school. I was most interested in the school integration aspect, which was handled well, although could have been even more fleshed out as it isn't even mentioned until about a third of the way in. We follow these characters and others for about 28 years, back and forth in time. Lots of subjects come into play beyond the family dynamics I've spoken of. Race, class, addiction, parenting, siblings, and relationships (gay and straight) all have places in this story. It's all woven together to create the finished piece at the end.
While the jumping around with characters and time did bother me, it was not enough to not really enjoy, and recommend this book. Definitely a family saga story if those appeal to you (as they do to me!).
