cover image Let the Lion Eat Straw

Let the Lion Eat Straw

Ellease Southerland. Amistad Press, $19.95 (192pp) ISBN 978-0-06-072420-7

A commemorative 25th-anniversary edition of Let the Lion Eat Straw by Ellease Southerland (now Ebele Oseye) tells the story of Abeba, a quietly intelligent, eager-to-please girl wrenched from her Southern mammy when her mother summons her to Brooklyn, where she's cobbled together a better life. Abeba tries her best to please her cold, resentful mother, taking refuge in her talent for playing the piano. Marriage to a preacher brings more hardship, but Abeba soldiers on through childbirth and illness. Written in flowing, folksy prose, this is a moving, polished tale. .