The Yellow House ★★★★★

The Yellow House (Click Here To Buy)

★★★★★ (4.5 Stars)

The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom is a memoir about a family and their house in New Orleans East.

I received this book this past holiday from a co-worker.

A family history spanning generations and told largely around twelve siblings, the house they grew up in in New Orleans East, and how they continued on after Katrina destroyed it. Broom starts with what little is known of her great grandmother, followed by the upbringings of her grandmother and mother, before chronicling the birth of her and her siblings. Broom recounts her sibling's childhoods in the yellow house as well as her own (Broom is the youngest) while at the same time recounting New Orleans' history and the birth of New Orleans East. Broom was not in New Orleans when Katrina hit, but much of her family was and she describes the displacement, in many cases permanent, followed by Broom's difficulty in processing the aftermath of the event. Broom struggles with her relationship with the city and returns on multiple occasions, including for the writing of this book. This is a story of how to connect when the physical things that have has bound us together are destroyed.

Having lived in New Orleans for many years, this story went to the core for me. My memory came alive in these pages. I appreciated Broom's honesty - she doesn't try to make NOLA anything other than what it is. A lot of that may not be pretty, but it's real. Questioning what it means to be family and what it means to be from somewhere, Broom makes a deep dive exploring herself and her roots. I love New Orleans, and I loved this book. If you liked The Yellow House, I also recommend 1 Dead in the Attic by Chris Rose, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, Educated by Tara Westover, and Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker.

HR. (Happy Reading) Ms.Bjork