“Folks had the nerve to call it Coleman Hill after y’all as if you was proud to own it.” – Kim Coleman Foote
Coleman Hill
Written by Kim Coleman Foote
Published Sept 5, 2023
When I got my hands on the arc of this incredible story, I was intimidated beyond measure. I put off reading it for months because of this intimidation; however, that feeling alerted me that this would be a new favorite.
Billed as a biomythography, Coleman Hill was inspired by family stories told to author Kim Coleman Foote throughout her life. Foote introduces the reader to the Coleman and Grimes families, two families who have migrated from the South to the North, striving for a better life. However, Celia Coleman and Lucy Grimes are at a loss when their husbands die a few short years after the move.
There are many reasons to find this exquisite story compelling. What has drawn me in the most is that I don’t think I’ve read a story quite like this one. It’s a story about love, difficult decisions, generational trauma, and, most importantly, family. It provided perspective into the lives of characters I don’t understand and situations unfamiliar to me. Foote allows the reader to not only observe this family closely in these purely intimate moments, but she also allows the reader to feel, and dare I say, understand why these characters do the things they do.
That said, this book is not for the faint of heart. It’s gut-wrenching and challenging to get through at times; however, it’s incredibly raw and honest. Before picking this one up, look into the content warnings.
Books and Mischief 