River, Cross My Heart

By: Breena Clarke

Narrated by: Karen Chilton

The acclaimed best seller - a selection of Oprah's Book Club - that brings vividly to life the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, circa 1925, a community reeling from a young girl's tragic death.

Five-year-old Clara Bynum is dead, drowned in the Potomac River in the shadow of a seemingly haunted rock outcropping known locally as the Three Sisters.

River, Cross My Heart, which marks the debut of a wonderfully gifted new storyteller, weighs the effect of Clara's absence on the people she has left behind: her parents, Alice and Willie Bynum, torn between the old world of their rural North Carolina home and the new world of the city, to which they have moved in search of a better life for themselves and their children; the friends and relatives of the Bynum family in the Georgetown neighborhood they now call home; and, most especially, Clara's sister, 10-year-old Johnnie Mae, who must come to terms with the powerful and confused emotions stirred by her sister's death as she struggles to decide what kind of woman she will become.

This highly accomplished first novel resonates with ideas, impassioned lyricism, and poignant historical detail as it captures an essential part of the African-American experience in our century.

©1999 Breena Clarke (P)2020 Recorded Books

Heartbreaking and Beautifully written

I listened to the newly released audio of this book. Karen Chilton is an excellent narrator for this historical novel, set in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., around 1925. Johnnie Mae, age 10, who is often put in charge of her younger sister Clara, feels responsible when Clara drowns in the Potomac River one day when she is swimming with her friends. Johnnie Mae dives and dives and tries to find her, but the river claimed her life. Her body is recovered, and the hearts of her family are broken. This is a story about grief and family. It's about growing up in a segregated America and the Black experience.

One reason that the girls are swimming in the dangerous Potomac River is because they aren't allowed in the Whites only pool. Johnnie Mae is an excellent swimmer. In other times, she would be the star of a swim team. Eventually, the city builds a pool for the Black residents, but the racist oppression is still strong. As I was finishing listening to this book, the national news ran a story on recently deceased Civil Rights Activist Mimi Jones who fought against Whites only pools. She and others were in a pool when a White man poured acid in the water.

This is a story about tearing down the walls of segregation and oppression one brick at a time. If the girls had been allowed in the pool, with life guards, Clara would still be alive.

Great story!

It was a great story however so true in the racism and segregation that was incredibly blatant at that time. I didn’t want the book to end and was so sad when it did. I wanted to hear of Johnnie May’s journey with all the possibilities she had within her. Highly recommend.