Mourner’s Bench takes us to a significant social crossroads yet avoids racial polarization through characters of equal complexity, with flaws and fine points and all-too-human motivations. All told, the novel offers a sure sense of its place and people, and a closer look at those who truly lived through the civil rights movement—a chapter in American history that still seems to be writing itself.”
—Foreword Reviews
“[A]n absorbing meditation on the meaning of religion in a small town as well as a keen-eyed perspective on the way one African-American community encountered the civil rights movement. An astute coming-of-age tale set against an all-too-relevant background.”
—Kirkus
“It’s Freedom Summer, 1964, in tiny Maeby, Arkansas, and three SNCC volunteers have come to town determined to integrate the public library and all-white school. They’re joined in their efforts by eight year old Sarah’s unconventional, hot pants-wearing mother. The efforts to introduce change divide the black community as many are determined to preserve the old order. Sarah finds herself caught in the middle of all this, first siding with her conservative grandmother and then, gradually, coming to see her mother’s point of view. Throughout she is guided by her wise great-grandmother, an early civil rights pioneer. Change is further visited on Sarah’s life when she determines to be baptized against her worldly mother’s wishes. Slurs, insults, and harassment from the local authorities threaten the movement, as do two disastrous fires. And then Sarah’s mother decides to run for city council. Faye’s novel is far too long and detailed as she seems determined to include every possible aspect of the civil rights movement on a local scale. Too, Sarah seems older—far older—than her years. Nevertheless, the book succeeds at dramatizing an essential era in American history and is a welcome addition to civil rights literature.”
— Michael Cart, Booklist
“Faye’s writing is detailed and descriptive, depicting moments that richly capture life in a small segregated and impoverished town. … Mourner’s Bench is a well-researched and commendable debut effort that expands and complicates the body of literature written about the Civil Rights movement by asking readers to lend equal consideration and weight to the roles age, gender, and religion played.”
—The Rumpus
“Mourner’s Bench isn’t simply about history. This book exists as a kind of bridge between the Civil Rights Movement I know—that is, newspaper photos of protests, marches, and violent reactions—and the actual humanity of it. Mourner’s Bench isn’t simply historical fiction, it’s an historical experience. … Mourner’s Bench is many things. It is a coming of age tale, and it is a family drama. It’s an historical document, it’s a chronicle of outrage, and it’s a testament to a people’s struggle. For some readers there will be a revelation on these pages, but for all there is a warning. Not only the obvious—racism is bad, don’t be a bigot—but a warning about complacency, about holding so steadfast to tradition, familiarity, or comfort that you impede your own freedom. In the final chapters of this book, Sarah explains to us what it’s all about: ‘Living in the country, timing is everything, a time to plant, a time to uproot, a time to break down, a time to build up, a time to ask questions and a time to shut up and get moving.’ Mourner’s Bench is, above all, a story about the right time to shut up and get moving.”
—John Abernathy, Arkansas Review, April 2017
