Linden Hills

 

While I think Naylor's The Women of Brewster Place was her best this is pretty darn close. Both explore characters that are homosexual and poor. The difference here is that most of the characters are men and some of the characters actually live well. The main characters are Lester who lives in this upper-class African American neighborhood and Willie who doesn't. Meanwhile we meet other characters like the drunken reverend and Daniel Braithwaite. Daniel's father wanted him to leave Linden Hills and then bring something back. His choice of becoming a historian is definitely different than what I expected. Luther Nedeed is the main leader of the town, the one in power. His breakdown at the end is particularly chilling.  I love Gloria Naylor. I'm surprised she's not as known as Toni Morrison. She's pretty good.