The Death of a Jaybird: Essays on Mothers and Daughters and the Things They Leave Behind

Attorney Savage sets forth an affecting ode to her late mother and grandmother in this stirring debut collection. Savage was raised in Brooklyn by her grandmother, Annie McKinney, while her mother, Cheryl, shuffled in and out of prison as she grappled with addiction and bipolar disorder. When Savage was 28, McKinney developed Alzheimer’s, and Savage stepped in as her caretaker until she died. A few years later, Savage and her mother were both diagnosed with breast cancer; Savage survived, but her mother did not. In these essays, Savage turns her relationships with both women over and over in the light: “Searching for Salvation in Antioch,” the strongest piece, sees Savage trying to understand how her feminism fits in with her grandmother’s beloved Pentecostal Church (“Women make up the majority of most Black churches.... And yet many churches preach sexism and misogyny and violence towards women”). In “The Things She Left Behind,” the author frames her hoarding—of documents, photographs, clothes, cassette tapes, unfinished food—as a method of coping with her losses. While each entry contains deep feeling, the collection really sings when it’s focused on the radiant bond between Savage and her grandmother—she’s less able to make her mother an indelible presence on the page. Still, readers grappling with personal loss will find comfort and sensitivity in these pages. Agent: Mariah Stovall, Trellis Literary. (Nov.)