Don’t Cry For Me – Daniel Black
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: Will a series of death bed confessions, told via letters from a father to his estranged son, help bring the two together at last?
Expectation: A story of regret, but ultimately, absolution.
Reality: A profoundly moving and utterly devastating reflection on life and your missteps.
Recommended For: Fans of literary fiction with complex narrators, such as those found in stories by Jesmyn Ward, Tayari Jones and Hanya Yanagihara.
Why I Read It: It came highly recommended from several #Bookstagrammers, whose opinions I trust.
My Take:
[This entire review contains minor spoilers. Do not read it if you haven’t finished the novel.]
In the four months leading up to his death, Jacob sets out to tell his history to help his estranged son, openly gay Isaac, begin to understand the situations that shaped him and how he parented. The narrative that follows makes a near perfect triangle of atonement, confession and regret.
Daniel Black starts the story with an author’s note that I had to listen to twice to fully appreciate the leveled emotion in his charged words. When his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Black realized the opportunity he longed for — the time to address the things his father had said and done to him over the years — was never going to come.
He wrote “Cry” for closure and awareness, saying: “More than anything, I want readers to reconsider the capacity of our father’s hearts. Many of them were handed so little, yet we expected so much.”
Full stop. I still get chills reading those words.
Thankfully, I don’t have a strained relationship with my father. He has always been loving and supportive – before and after I came out of the closet. But I know many queer people, like Black, who were shunned by parents or a close family member. Now in my 40s, I see that many of them will never receive closure.
It’s the lack of closure that serves as both a blessing and curse for “Cry.” If Black hadn’t started the story by explaining the “why” behind this approach, my assessment of the novel likely wouldn’t be as positive.
You could argue it is a master stroke to make us want Jacob, a character who, by his own admission, doesn’t deserve forgiveness receive it, but it’s more that I empathized with Isaac who must process this information — an atomic bomb of excuses and family secrets — alone.
Not hearing Isaac’s perspective made the story feel incomplete, and it left me wanting more. Maybe Black is planning a follow-up with Isaac’s side of the story? If so, sign me up.
Finally, there are a few elements that felt clichéd and borderline stereotypical. While I didn’t mind the epistolary structure, it was inspired by Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple,” which Black works into the plot along with “Roots” miniseries and “The Autobiography of Malcom X.” These reference points help position “Cry” for Gen X and Boomer readers, but I found them somewhat distracting.
However, Black has a unique voice and perspective, showing a mastery of pacing and understated emotion. Whereas many authors will overwrite a scene, he sets it with enough detail to help you fill in the gaps with your own experiences.
The novel also feels very lived in, which can leave you feeling drained after a few chapters. There was one chapter — “January 18, 2004” — I listened to twice because it contained one of the most honest, non-religious reasons people hold negative views of homosexuality.
These elements, combined with Black’s personal catharsis, mesh into something that will likely help heal many queer BIPOC readers and open eyes to the importance of allyship. This is not reading for entertainment, rather understanding.
The audiobook was narrated by Black, and for not being a professional voice professional he did a superb job. Obviously, he was deeply invested in the story, and he allowed himself to express that emotion. Sometimes authors read their novels with a detached objectiveness — that wasn’t the case here.
Rating (story): 4.5/5 stars
Rating (narration): 4/5 stars
Formats: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: June 4 – June 7, 2022
Multi-tasking: Okay. There is a lot of subtle detail, so it requires some concentration. It’s better for tasks that don’t require a lot of thought, like walking or yard work.
