House of Cotton

House of Cotton, though it had horror elements, was not scary (except in the way that living as a woman in society is scary).

As a first person narrator, Magnolia is charming, even as she shares her sometimes poor decisions, and this narrative choice leaves me wondering both how reliable and how literal she is in what she chooses to share. Though parts dealing with abuse and trauma are not pleasant to read, it's a hard book to put down.

With the interstitial moments of the first person POV coming from (sometimes inanimate) fairy tale beings, it makes me wonder - especially with her grandmother's presence and the unlikely profession she finds herself in - if the whole thing is a fairy tale she's telling - a fable about being young, black, and poor in the American South.

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