B
Breena Clarke
River, Cross My Heart
Synopsis
After her eight-year-old daughter Clara drowns in the Potomac River, the Bynum family leaves their rural North Carolina home for Georgetown, Washington D.C., seeking both a new beginning and a way to live with an unbearable loss. Told through alternating first-person accounts from mother, father, and sister, the novel weaves together personal grief with the broader history of Black life in America during the mid-20th century.
Genres
Characters
Clara BynumProtagonist
Mrs. BynumSupporting
Frequently asked questions
Is this book based on a true story?
The narrative draws upon the author's personal family history and the recollections of her mother regarding the African American community in Georgetown during the early twentieth century. The author has also noted that the exploration of parental grief in the novel was influenced by her own experience with the accidental death of her son.
Did this book win any awards?
The novel received the 1999 award for fiction from the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association and the Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association.
