Narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt’s sweet voice and vibrant characterizations entice listeners into this first novel by bestselling writer Morgan Jerkins. Known for her memoirs and essays, Jerkins here blends magical realism and a story about the challenges faced by contemporary Black women. Harlem’s Melancon women survive by selling pieces of their life-giving caul to white people who can pay well. A multigenerational crisis ensues when they refuse to help Laila, a local Black woman who has suffered numerous pregnancies. Abbott-Pratt changes her pitch atmospherically as she shifts between the Melancons’ gothic domain, Laila’s increasingly unhinged desperation, and the bright pace of Laila’s niece, Amara, a law school student. Abbott-Pratt’s melodic tone is an engrossing through line in this ambitious novel about gentrification, exploitation, generational trauma, and Black identity. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Caul Baby: A Novel
Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Morgan JerkinsUnabridged — 10 hours, 53 minutes
Caul Baby: A Novel
Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Morgan JerkinsUnabridged — 10 hours, 53 minutes
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Overview
Now in paperback, New York Times bestselling author Morgan Jerkins's fiction debut,* an electrifying novel for fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jacqueline Woodson, that brings to life one powerful and enigmatic family in a tale rife with secrets, betrayal, intrigue, and magic.*
Laila desperately wants to become a mother, but each of her previous pregnancies has ended in heartbreak. This time has to be different, so she turns to the Melancons, an old and powerful Harlem family known for their caul, a precious layer of skin that is the secret source of their healing power.
When a deal for Laila to acquire a piece of caul falls through, she is heartbroken, but when the child is stillborn, she is overcome with grief and rage. What she doesn't know is that a baby will soon be delivered in her family-by her niece, Amara, an ambitious college student-and delivered to the Melancons to raise as one of their own. Hallow is special: she's born with a caul, and their matriarch, Maman, predicts the girl will restore the family's prosperity.
Growing up, Hallow feels that something in her life is not right. Did Josephine, the woman she calls mother, really bring her into the world? Why does her cousin Helena get to go to school and roam the streets of New York freely while she's confined to the family's decrepit brownstone?
As the Melancons' thirst to maintain their status grows, Amara, now a successful lawyer running for district attorney, looks for a way to avenge her longstanding grudge against the family. When mother and daughter cross paths, Hallow will be forced to decide where she truly belongs.*
Engrossing, unique, and page-turning, Caul Baby illuminates the search for familial connection, the enduring power of tradition, and the dark corners of the human heart.
Editorial Reviews
02/15/2021
Jerkins (Wandering in Strange Lands) makes her fiction debut with the rich if didactic story of the Melancon family and the shadow they cast over present-day Harlem. Dominated by hard-hearted matriarch Maman, the Melancons are female healers notorious for selling fragments of the rare, skinlike caul they were born with to wealthy white buyers looking for protective amulets to ward off disease and misfortune. Indifferent to the woes of ailing Black folks in their own neighborhood, the Melancons have long scorned supplicants like Laila Reserve, who suffered a miscarriage and lost her mind after she was ejected from the Melancon brownstone, a spectacle that has reverberated throughout the community for decades. Now, only the youngest Melancon, Hallow, can uncover the truth behind her origins and the relationship between her family and the Reserves. While Jerkins effectively blends folk legend with contemporary details such as references to the Black Lives Matter movement and gentrification in Harlem, the premise is restricted by occasionally prosaic writing (“strands of hair roamed throughout her scalp”) and the heavy-handed moral of the story, which implies that Black women who fail to support other Black women will pay a price. Still, it’s vividly conceived, and the strong plot will carry readers to the end. Agent: Monica Odom, Liza Dawson Assoc. (Apr.)
"Caul Baby is a deeply inventive meditation on survival and inheritance. Morgan writes about the intricacies of Black motherhood in a way that is tender and at times, magic." — Raven Leilani, New York Times bestselling author of Luster
“A debut novel that blends family drama with magic.” — Time Magazine
“This magical novel brings together the weight of tradition and the power of family.” — NBC News
“Caul Baby gave me chills almost every time I turned the page. . . . The book traces a legacy of Black, female pain through the somewhat softening lens of magical realism. It’s an unsparing take on the ramifications of trauma on Black American women, and Jerkins manages it as a spellbinding story, the farthest possible thing from a lecture.” — Glamour
“A fascinating, of-the-moment story about the intersection of motherhood, power, and community.” — Real Simple
“The astounding talent behind nonfiction must-reads This Will Be My Undoing and Wandering in Strange Lands turns to fiction with Caul Baby. . . . An exhilarating tale of family, belonging, and bodies, this promises to be one of the most exciting releases of the year.” — Elle
“Jerkins, a bestselling nonfiction writer, applies her scrupulous prose and storytelling prowess to the realm of fiction in her beguiling debut novel.” — Oprah Daily
“This engrossing story is rich with mystery, page-turning tension and the powerful ways family can hold us even in toxic circumstances.” — Good Housekeeping
Morgan Jerkins' fantastic, expansive novel of mothers and daughters and Harlem, Caul Baby, is a meditation on the limits of inheritance and legacy. It's also a love letter to a rapidly changing neighborhood. — Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of Libertie and We Love You, Charlie Freeman
“Excellent. . . . an audacious debut novel, telling a powerful family tale that does not shy away from the dark reaches of capitalism, greed, gentrification, tradition, and ownership. It is a moving piece of fiction that showcases the very best of what the author has learned from her previous work in nonfiction and expounds on that foundation in a way that only someone as skilled and multifaceted as Jerkins could pull off.” — Shondaland
“Jerkins’s incisive social commentary shines through in her fiction debut Caul Baby. . . . Laced with generational pain and sprinkled with magic, Caul Baby is a sweeping family drama with no shortage of action. During a pandemic that has laid bare a nation’s inequities, Jerkins’s work feels more relevant than ever. . . a blazingly original debut.” — Chicago Review of Books
“A multilayered reflection of contemporary dilemmas with a touch of magic realism. . . . Readers are taken through a spectrum of emotions with a satisfying payoff. On the heels of her excellent memoir Wandering in Strange Lands, Jerkins solidifies herself as one of our guiding literary lights.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Ambitious and unique. . . . Caul Baby is like nothing I’ve read before. It has historical references but is overwhelmingly a book of our time. It delivers a story that weaves the nuance of Black womanhood with intergenerational struggles and triumphs and the heartache of contemporary racial injustice.” — New York Journal of Books
“An expansive, folklorish tale of two families—both headed by Black matriarchs—that intertwine for over 20 years. . . . Caul Baby hones in on the power of a healing legend in a community systematically ignored and harmed by the medical establishment. . . . Jerkins’ debut novel asks what it means to be a mother and emphasizes that a community’s care for its own can be the most radical form of love.” — Bust
“A decades-long exploration of the gentrification of Harlem, the ethics of non-traditional family-making, the enduring power of tradition and more.” — PureWow
"A captivating story on the bonds between mothers and daughters and a powerful meditation on secrets, gentrification, family legacy, and more. A must-read." — Hey Alma
"Rich. . . . Jerkins effectively blends folk legend with contemporary details. . . It's vividly conceived, and the strong plot will carry readers to the end." — Publishers Weekly
Wandering in Strange Lands: "Wandering in Strange Lands intertwines segments of past and present travel, as a reminder that the past is present in the U.S." — O, the Oprah Magazine
This Will Be My Undoing: “Without turning linguistic or lyrical cartwheels, Jerkins lucidly articulates social dynamics that have dictated the realities of American black women for centuries…. Indeed, [This Will Be My Undoing] is a book I wish everyone in this country would read.” — New York Times Book Review
This Will Be My Undoing: “In Morgan Jerkins’s remarkable debut essay collection, This Will Be My Undoing, she is a deft cartographer of black girlhood and womanhood. From one essay to the next, Jerkins weaves the personal with the public and political in compelling, challenging ways. Her prodigious intellect and curiosity are on full display throughout this outstanding collection. The last line of the book reads, ‘You should’ve known I was coming,’ and indeed, in this, too, Jerkins is prescient. With this collection, she shows us that she is unforgettably here, a writer to be reckoned with.” — Roxane Gay
A debut novel that blends family drama with magic.
Jerkins, a bestselling nonfiction writer, applies her scrupulous prose and storytelling prowess to the realm of fiction in her beguiling debut novel.
“Caul Baby gave me chills almost every time I turned the page. . . . The book traces a legacy of Black, female pain through the somewhat softening lens of magical realism. It’s an unsparing take on the ramifications of trauma on Black American women, and Jerkins manages it as a spellbinding story, the farthest possible thing from a lecture.
Excellent. . . . an audacious debut novel, telling a powerful family tale that does not shy away from the dark reaches of capitalism, greed, gentrification, tradition, and ownership. It is a moving piece of fiction that showcases the very best of what the author has learned from her previous work in nonfiction and expounds on that foundation in a way that only someone as skilled and multifaceted as Jerkins could pull off.
The astounding talent behind nonfiction must-reads This Will Be My Undoing and Wandering in Strange Lands turns to fiction with Caul Baby. . . . An exhilarating tale of family, belonging, and bodies, this promises to be one of the most exciting releases of the year.
This magical novel brings together the weight of tradition and the power of family.
"Caul Baby is a deeply inventive meditation on survival and inheritance. Morgan writes about the intricacies of Black motherhood in a way that is tender and at times, magic."
A fascinating, of-the-moment story about the intersection of motherhood, power, and community.
This engrossing story is rich with mystery, page-turning tension and the powerful ways family can hold us even in toxic circumstances.”
Morgan Jerkins' fantastic, expansive novel of mothers and daughters and Harlem, Caul Baby, is a meditation on the limits of inheritance and legacy. It's also a love letter to a rapidly changing neighborhood.
"A captivating story on the bonds between mothers and daughters and a powerful meditation on secrets, gentrification, family legacy, and more. A must-read.?"
Wandering in Strange Lands: "Wandering in Strange Lands intertwines segments of past and present travel, as a reminder that the past is present in the U.S."
A decades-long exploration of the gentrification of Harlem, the ethics of non-traditional family-making, the enduring power of tradition and more.
This Will Be My Undoing: “In Morgan Jerkins’s remarkable debut essay collection, This Will Be My Undoing, she is a deft cartographer of black girlhood and womanhood. From one essay to the next, Jerkins weaves the personal with the public and political in compelling, challenging ways. Her prodigious intellect and curiosity are on full display throughout this outstanding collection. The last line of the book reads, ‘You should’ve known I was coming,’ and indeed, in this, too, Jerkins is prescient. With this collection, she shows us that she is unforgettably here, a writer to be reckoned with.”
A multilayered reflection of contemporary dilemmas with a touch of magic realism. . . . Readers are taken through a spectrum of emotions with a satisfying payoff. On the heels of her excellent memoir Wandering in Strange Lands, Jerkins solidifies herself as one of our guiding literary lights.
Jerkins’s incisive social commentary shines through in her fiction debut Caul Baby. . . . Laced with generational pain and sprinkled with magic, Caul Baby is a sweeping family drama with no shortage of action. During a pandemic that has laid bare a nation’s inequities, Jerkins’s work feels more relevant than ever. . . a blazingly original debut.”
Ambitious and unique. . . . Caul Baby is like nothing I’ve read before. It has historical references but is overwhelmingly a book of our time. It delivers a story that weaves the nuance of Black womanhood with intergenerational struggles and triumphs and the heartache of contemporary racial injustice.
An expansive, folklorish tale of two families—both headed by Black matriarchs—that intertwine for over 20 years. . . . Caul Baby hones in on the power of a healing legend in a community systematically ignored and harmed by the medical establishment. . . . Jerkins’ debut novel asks what it means to be a mother and emphasizes that a community’s care for its own can be the most radical form of love.”
This Will Be My Undoing: “Without turning linguistic or lyrical cartwheels, Jerkins lucidly articulates social dynamics that have dictated the realities of American black women for centuries…. Indeed, [This Will Be My Undoing] is a book I wish everyone in this country would read.”
This magical novel brings together the weight of tradition and the power of family.
"Traveling throughout the country, she explores the path her family took as well as her cultural identity as a black woman. Her desire to understand both her personal and cultural origins will inspire you to do the same."
"Traveling throughout the country, she explores the path her family took as well as her cultural identity as a black woman. Her desire to understand both her personal and cultural origins will inspire you to do the same."
11/01/2020
In this fiction debut, a woman desperate for a baby after a series of failed pregnancies turns to the powerful Melancons of Harlem, whose celebrated healing powers lie in their possession of a caul. But they refuse to give her a piece while secretly whisking away a niece's baby born with a caul and thus sure to extend their power. From the author of the New York Times best-selling Wandering in Strange Lands; with a 75,000-copy first printing.
Narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt’s sweet voice and vibrant characterizations entice listeners into this first novel by bestselling writer Morgan Jerkins. Known for her memoirs and essays, Jerkins here blends magical realism and a story about the challenges faced by contemporary Black women. Harlem’s Melancon women survive by selling pieces of their life-giving caul to white people who can pay well. A multigenerational crisis ensues when they refuse to help Laila, a local Black woman who has suffered numerous pregnancies. Abbott-Pratt changes her pitch atmospherically as she shifts between the Melancons’ gothic domain, Laila’s increasingly unhinged desperation, and the bright pace of Laila’s niece, Amara, a law school student. Abbott-Pratt’s melodic tone is an engrossing through line in this ambitious novel about gentrification, exploitation, generational trauma, and Black identity. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
2021-02-13
A first novel with fertility on its mind.
The book opens in 1998 with a dire prediction for the luckless and pregnant Laila, a brownstone-dwelling member of the Harlem bourgeoisie. Her dismal history near ordains it: “Some of the fetuses grew, saw the dents of their past siblings in her womb, and joined them in the ether.” Laila will end up having a book-length conversation with these spirits after she bloodily and publicly loses this pregnancy, then her mind. Her architect husband skulks away. Laila blames the Melancons, a notorious family of women up from Louisiana way. They refused to sell her a piece of caul, the amniotic membrane that encloses a gestating fetus. (Folk medicine links the caul to healing and protection.) The Melancons know how to fuse these membranes to their newborns’ bodies and cut away chunks as the child grows, always for a hefty price—mostly for White people. As the family line sputters, the Melancons luck into the clandestine adoption of a serene infant with a perfect, intact caul. The child's teenage mother, Amara, names her Hallow and hands her off to an intermediary, eyes instead on her path through Columbia and Yale. The twist arrives two decades later as Amara, now a Manhattan assistant district attorney, seeks to prosecute the reviled and grasping Melancons only to meet her doppelgänger, a grown Hallow. Cultural critic and essayist Jerkins, author of This Will Be My Undoing (2018), is drawn to questions of gender, family, identity, race, and belonging. The trouble lies in her leap to fiction. This novel sinks under the weight of clunky melodrama, a river of tears, an awkward bloom of adverbs, and a plot so far-fetched that interior logic collapses. Readers keen for the indelible links among Black generations would do better with Margaret Wilkerson Sexton's The Revisioners (2019) or any of Toni Morrison's novels.
An intriguing idea for magical realism in Harlem delivers too little of either.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940172970245 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 04/06/2021 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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