Patchwork: Conversation Between Generations

Patchwork: Conversation Between Generations is an exquisite collection of real-life stories about a group of black women who meet together for support, love, and help. They would sew together quilts, and that quilt would go to the one woman whom they were all praying for that month. The quilt not only symbolizes a physical piece, but also an emotional one in which their lives were patched together by one another. The group spans over a forty-year period and is led by the author’s two grandmothers, Anna and Carrie. The group is started when one of the ladies, Mary, is at odds with the fact that the love of her life, Prince, is nowhere to be found. He was unofficially discharged from the Army and, upon coming home to visit, did not make it to see his own family. This storyline is threaded throughout the book as the members of the group pray for Mary and her niece, Trudy, whom she is raising. Each chapter is dedicated to the story of one of the ladies in the group. And each story is so unique and thought-provoking. The way black women and men were treated back during the times of slavery is appalling. The women were raped by white men even though they were married to their own spouses. And one of the women conceived a child, which made life hard for the whole family since the daughter was clearly different from the rest of the children in the family. Another woman came from a family in which murder was the main theme. Her older sister is a monster of a bully and everyone is scared of her. Like the other women in the group, this one asks the group to pray for her family and their safety.

I really loved how the book was organized and included several pictures of the women. It was easy to keep track of each member of the group and what was going on. The only thing I think this book needs would be a good copy editor. There were several paragraphs where the grammar was incorrect, making it difficult to read. I had to read these paragraphs a few times to understand who was speaking. For example, there were missing quotation marks so some of the sentences just ran on.

Overall, Patchwork is a beautiful memoir that should be shared around the world as the stories each have something we can learn from.