The View From Here

Right from the get-go Brian Keith Jackson's debut novel, The View from Here has an unusual kick to it: the book is narrated by the protagonist's as yet unborn child. The heroine of this touching tale is Anna Anderson Thomas, an African American wife and mother trying to keep her family together in the face of casual prejudice and economic hardship. The mother of five boys, she discovers number six is on the way around the same time her husband, JT, loses his job at the lumber mill. JT insists they can't afford this new baby and decides to give it to his sister to raise. In the ensuing months, Anna's only comfort comes in occasional letters from her childhood friend, Ida Mae, and the responses she composes in her head but never sends.

Jackson's book captures perfectly both the love and the rage of this family under pressure. As Anna navigates the choppy waters of family ties, old obligations, and new responsibilities, the passionate prose and unusual narrative perspective brings immediacy to her passage.