...but Canada should read "No Crystal Stair"

Today, I finished a book from Canada Reads by Mairuth Sarsfield called "No Crystal Stair". It was simply amazing. Not only did it delve into race issues in Montreal in the 30s and 40s, but it shed some light on what it was like to be a black woman in that time and place. It dealt with families you make, in addition to families you're born with, and the struggle to be who you are and not what you may appear to be. It dealt with the true meaning of women's friendships.

From the macro to the micro and back again. I saw myself in it many times.

And to top it all off, I felt uplifted at the end.

Love that.

"No Crystal Stair" did not win Canada Reads, but if more people read it, it's still a winner. The inspiration for the book, and the meaning of the title, comes from a Langston Hughes poem, which I include here for your reading pleasure. When you read the book and then go back to the poem, it gives it a more poignant and wonderful meaning.

Mother to Son

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.

But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.