{"id":5768,"date":"2014-01-06T10:00:46","date_gmt":"2014-01-06T15:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=5768"},"modified":"2020-05-09T01:06:14","modified_gmt":"2020-05-09T05:06:14","slug":"descendants-of-hagar-by-nik-nicholson-jan-2014-sistahs-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=5768","title":{"rendered":"Descendants of Hagar by Nik Nicholson (Jan. 2014 Pick of the Month)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Publisher\/Date:<\/b>\u00a0 AuthorHouse, July 2013
\nGenre(s):<\/strong>\u00a0 Historical Fiction
\nPages:<\/b>\u00a0 398 pages
\nWebsite:<\/b>\u00a0 http:\/\/www.niknicholson.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> \"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\" <\/p><\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve stated in a\u00a0previous post <\/a>that DESCENDANTS OF HAGAR<\/strong><\/em> was outright the best book I read in 2013. The reason why belongs to Madelyn \u201cLinny\u201d Remington, the heroine of this tale set in a fictional version of Zion, Georgia in 1914.<\/p>\n

Linny carried away my heart in world that wasn\u2019t made for modern women: where women are voiceless without a man; when marriage was an arrangement between a father and the man he chose for his daughter; where a woman\u2019s only calling and accomplishment is to bear children.<\/p>\n

And in this sheltered life stood Linny, treated like a son instead of a daughter, groomed to build and work beside men, and given a voice unlike her own wedded sisters who were expected to keep quiet. At 20 years old and unmarried, she could have been considered an old maid, but she never saw her worth tied into being betrothed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Underneath the way Linny\u2019s expected to take on a masculine work ethic lies the heart of a woman. She can hunt and slaughter, but her favorite time is sitting in the women\u2019s quilting circle, connecting with the grandmothers, mothers and sisters of Zion, relishing the women\u2019s stories and lost dreams.<\/p>\n

Nicholson creates Linny\u2019s most significant female relationship with her great-great-grandmother, Miemay, who ensures Linny\u2019s purpose wasn\u2019t being someone\u2019s wife. Miemay, an ex-slave and the only woman in Zion to own land and businesses (without ever learning to read), is highly respected as a town elder. This knowledge she passes on to Linny, slowly giving her control over her affairs. Whereas Linny believed she was following the wishes of the woman who practically raised her and spending time with a woman with more head smarts than five men combined, Miemay was preparing Linny to be self-sufficient.<\/p>\n

There are so many layers to unravel in Descendants of Hagar<\/i>, and Nicholson has done her research to tie them in a vibrant arrangement. Linny\u2019s strong voice brings to life a woman\u2019s sexuality in a post-Reconstruction era novel and all the challenges it brings \u2013 a single woman taking care of her own home without a man\u2019s help, feeling slighted by her mother because of her unlady like ways, being treated like one of the guys but being left out of their conversations.<\/p>\n

Family is also one of Hagar<\/i>\u2019s solid storylines, because Nicholson touches on just how important kin is to Zion, not only to provide a foundation but also to its prosperity. All of the work done in Zion, from the construction of houses, to picking cotton, to running the main store, is kept in the family, and working together has allowed them to be better off than many in the poor white towns surrounding them \u2013 but also creates worry about the next threat from will bear \u201cstrange fruit\u201d in their own backyards. Linny\u2019s relationship with family is tenuous, most especially with her parents and brothers, but the love from her sisters is her lifeline. Though they treat her with kid gloves at times, they depend on her, admire and envy her unencumbered life, and add such a great life to this novel.<\/p>\n

And falling in love is aspect of Hagar<\/i> that\u2019s significant but not an overpowering part of the novel, which I enjoyed. I assumed there would be some romance, but I appreciated how Nicholson didn\u2019t make it the bulk of this tale. The love between her and Coley is realistic of and fits into the context of the time. Coley means well, and I like how she allows Linny to think outside the box, but Coley is a piece of work. Just get to know her.<\/p>\n

Descendants of Hagar<\/i> is a potent story \u2013 somber, sweet, funny, uplifting, enriching \u2013 and Nicholson does a fantastic job of capturing this time period. She truly did her homework. This makes me even more excited for the sequel, Daughter of Zion<\/i>, out this fall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Publisher\/Date:\u00a0 AuthorHouse, July 2013 Genre(s):\u00a0 Historical Fiction Pages:\u00a0 398 pages Website:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.niknicholson.com I\u2019ve stated in a\u00a0previous post that DESCENDANTS OF HAGAR was outright the best book I read in 2013. The reason why belongs to Madelyn \u201cLinny\u201d Remington, the heroine of this tale set in a fictional version of Zion, Georgia in 1914. Linny carried […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"NEW @ SOTS: Descendants of Hagar by Nik Nicholson (Jan. 2014 Sistah's Pick) http:\/\/wp.me\/p3r7qG-1v2 @artistnik"},"categories":[4,17],"tags":[28,44,96,219,237,349,444,530],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5768"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7386,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5768\/revisions\/7386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}