Books › The color of water
The color of water
First published 1996 · 352 pages
A tender, dual-voiced exploration of identity, faith, and the fierce, complicated love of an unforgettable matriarch.
What it feels like
Reading this memoir feels like sitting at a crowded, noisy kitchen table while two generations take turns telling their family's most guarded secrets. The narrative moves at a steady, absorbing pace, alternating between a son's earnest, searching reflections and his mother's blunt, unsentimental recollections of her past. There is a profound warmth to the storytelling, even when it wades into the dark waters of poverty, racism, and domestic trauma. The prose is conversational and deeply rhythmic, blending journalistic clarity with a son's tender lyricism. It is a deeply poignant, resilient reading experience that will captivate anyone drawn to stories of formidable matriarchs, the complexities of mixed-race identity, and the hard-won journey toward understanding where you come from.
- Mood
- poignant
- resilient
- nostalgic
- warm
- Tone
- earnest
- candid
- affectionate
- reflective
- wry
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- racial identity · maternal sacrifice · search for belonging · family resilience · faith and survival
- The writing
- The prose is accessible, rhythmic, and deeply conversational, seamlessly weaving a journalist's clarity with a son's tender lyricism.
- The arc
- Moves from childhood confusion and embarrassment to profound adult understanding and deep reverence.
- Who it's for
- Readers who appreciate deeply personal family histories, explorations of mixed-race identity, and stories of formidable, unconventional matriarchs.
Content notes
- racism
- domestic abuse
- poverty
- grief
- antisemitism
About the book
James McBride grew up one of twelve siblings in the all-black housing projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn, the son of a black minister and a woman who would not admit she was white. The object of McBride's constant embarrassment and continuous fear for her safety, his mother was an inspiring figure, who through sheer force of will saw her dozen children through college, and many through graduate school.
McBride was an adult before he discovered the truth about his mother: The daughter of a failed itinerant Orthodox rabbi in rural Virginia, she had run away to Harlem, married a black man, and founded an all-black Baptist church in her living room in Red Hook. In her son's remarkable memoir, she tells in her own words the story of her past.
Around her narrative, James McBride has written a powerful portrait of growing up, a meditation on race and identity, and a poignant, beautifully crafted hymn from a son to his mother.
Description from Open Library.
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