On the rooftop

For years, Vivian trained her daughters, Ruth, Esther, and Chloe, on their building's rooftop to sing as the Salvations. In 1953, her dream of a better life for them is on the cusp of coming true. Vivian and her late husband, whom she still grieves, came to San Francisco from Louisiana to escape white hoods and threats. When Vivian shares the news that a man with connections wants to manage the Salvations on a national tour, Ruth has news of her own. Later, Esther is drawn to a cause, and Chloe to a man that she perhaps shouldn't be. All this unfolds as their supportive, Black-owned neighborhood is targeted by white gentrifiers. Sexton (The Revisioners, 2019) offers another rich, complex novel that tells deeply personal stories against a national and historical backdrop. Narrating duties rotate among Vivian and each of her daughters, illuminating the stressors and conflicting values that the women must navigate as they try to find themselves within their singing family, their Black community, and their unjust country. Once again, Sexton delivers.

Sexton (The Revisioners) broadly reimagines The Fiddler on the Roof in an affecting family story set in a rapidly changing historically Black San Francisco neighborhood. It's 1953, and people from all walks of life pack the Champagne Supper Club to see the latest jazz and R&B performers. On Fridays, they cheer the Salvations, hometown favorites made up of sisters Ruth, Esther, and Chloe Jones. Now in their early 20s, the sisters' talents have been relentlessly forged during countless rooftop rehearsals run by their mother, Vivian, a widow whose hopes for her daughters all center on their musical superstardom. Just as Vivian's dream seems within reach, though, her daughters yearn for independence, with Chloe eyeing a solo career and Esther wanting to join the civil rights movement. Meanwhile, white developers begin disrupting Vivian's Black Fillmore neighbors-- many of whom, like Vivian, fled racial violence in the deep South--with eminent domain proceedings. In alternating viewpoints, Sexton depicts the nuances of familial relationships, including the sisters' combination of loyalty and jealousy, as well as the complex and changeable nature of regret. The historical milieu is less sharply drawn, with celebrity cameos too often standing in for concrete details of time and place. Nevertheless, Sexton brings undeniable power to her depiction of dreams fragmented and deferred. Agent: Michael Carlisle, InkWell Management. (Sept.)

In 1950s San Francisco, Vivian manages her daughters' musical group, the Salvations; but when they get a chance at a record deal, unexpected life situations threaten Vivian's dream of stardom. As the girls make decisions about their futures, including romance and marriage, Vivian's Black neighborhood is being gentrified, and she finds she has to deal with many changes. As the novel's perspective jumps between Vivian and her daughters Ruth, Esther, and Chloe, each character gets treated to a fully developed and satisfying arc, while the minor characters breathe life into the story of this neighborhood. Sexton's (The Revisioners) writing is expressive and lyrical, sometimes verbose and sometimes soaring, like her standout descriptions of nightclub scenes. There's a somewhat unbelievable moment when one music producer states that it's hard to find a girl group, but Sexton's third novel is, overall, a solid and realistic tale with hopeful undertones. VERDICT The themes of racism, family, and Black lives could make Sexton's latest a read-alike for the novels of Jacqueline Woodson. A good addition to any public library's fiction collection.--Sonia Reppe