The Healing [Paperback]

This novel educates, illuminates, and entertains. It is replete with insights into our social condition. By entering into the mind of the main character, Harlan Jane Eagleton, we learn about an extremely diverse (economically, intellectually, and culturally) group of black people and the choices that she and they have made. As we get to know them, we are challenged to examine our own lives and ideas and the authenticity and integrity with which we live them. One might conclude from this book that DuBois' premise that a "Talented Tenth" would lead the way to freedom and achievement requires further refinement.

This book does not bash black men, and its women are not victims. They are all people who have made choices, and, in understanding theirs, we may better understand our own. The few whites in the book, although minor characters, demonstrate some of the more insidious dynamics of racism. Whereas, Jones' first novel, Corregidora focused more on the long history of sexual and emotional oppression and abuse of black women in America, The Healing highlights the dis-ease in the relationships that blacks in the U.S. have amongst themselves, with whites, and with blacks in other parts world, so that we can heal ourselves and each other.

The emphasis is on the intellectual, on international characters. This is not the same old story about blacks in America. This is international: about black scientists, spoken foreign languages and countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America. Gayl Jones reads 7 foreign languages, including Russian, Indonesian and Japanese, has lived in foreign countries, and has a scholar's knowledge of many subjects, including the history of world literature as her literary criticism book "Liberating Voices" (Harvard University Press, 1990) demonstrates.

This book is about breaking the intellectual limitations on black writers. The sheer hatred white America has for black intellect. The characters include a rich black German who owns and races horses in America; two black scientists who publish research papers in advance subjects and fields; Masai medicine woman in Kenya, etc.

New characters, new dimensions all integrated in a lively and fresh, very fresh, humorous and enlightening story.

The Healing truly represents not only an event in Beacon's publishing history--the first novel Ever to be originally published in its 143 years--not only an Event in African American literature, but an Event in American literature.

This is not just an African American novel. This is not just an American novel. Like its characters, it's a world novel. It's for the world. But true to the degradation of black intellect in America, I suspect most reviewers will omit entirely the points stated just above.