Sapphire's Grave is a moving and poignant debut novel by Hilda Gurley-Highgate. The author transcends two centuries to reveal the foundation of a family: an African captive called Sapphire because of her beautiful blue-black skin tone. Her physical statue and dauntless attitude commands a semblance of respect from everyone, including her enslavers. Sapphire remains strong, defiant, and unbroken despite the horrors of the Middle Passage, systematic rape, physical beatings, and back-breaking slave labor. So daring is she that immediately following a brutal act of sexual abuse at the hands of her owner who promises to do the same to her infant daughter when she is of age, Sapphire kills her daughter rather than allow the child to suffer the same fate she herself has endured.At death, Sapphire is hastily buried in a shallow grave, but her tormented soul cannot rest. In spirit form, she approaches each of her female descendents and evokes memories and visions for them to discover, awaken, and use their inherent inner strength to love themselves, gain self-respect, and obtain inner peace to survive in a cruel and difficult world. For the next two hundred years, Sapphire touches the bewitched Sister, the prostitute Vyda Rose, the lovelorn Jewel, the artistic Clovey, and truth-telling, outspoken, shameless Rae'ven who embodies Sapphire's spirit completely and thus allows Sapphire to return to the grave satisfied and fulfilled.The author writes in a thoughtful, lyrical prose which educes a myriad of emotions and reader empathy for the characters. Gurley-Highgate offers the reader an introspective look inside the lives and minds of the lead characters and their lovers. She clearly illustrates how Sapphire's spirit changes, fortifies, and empowers her daughters regardless of their station in life. There is a valuable lesson in this book for all women regardless of race and/or socio-economic class.So touching and well written that this book has earned a place on my best reads list. Bravo, Ms. Gurley-Highgate! A job well done...I cannot wait until the next release.
This book had an extremely promising beginning. I was captured by the imagery and believed that the book would become another "Their Eyes Were Watching God," telling tales of African-American legend. Instead, it went from one generation to another, describing what each woman passed down to her daughter. The tough thing about that is that it never develd very deeply nto th elives of any of the characters. I wanted to know Sapphire's whole story, I wanted to know what happened to Sapphire's mother, I wanted to know what other images Sister saw. Instead, the story grazed over each life and I had trouble getting into it.
Do You like book Sapphire's Grave (2003)?
Hailed as “capturing regional cadences as succinctly as the poetry of the inner self” by the Baltimore Sun; Sapphire’s Grave is the debut novel by author Hilda Gurley-Highgate that leaves the reader gushing with admiration of this eloquently written novel. While reading this book, I was reminded of the genius of Toni Morrison, in that it does not render as an easy read. However, the words take on a profound poetic prose, which prompts the reader to reflect upon it, in order to truly understand and digest the narrative.Sapphire’s Grave is a seemingly haunting tale that follows numerous generations of women that descend from Sapphire, a strong willed woman described as “black-blue-black” who suffers under the throes of slavery. Through each generation, a piece of Sapphire’s spirit lives on within each woman to fortify and help them rediscover aspects of their innate characteristics, often stolen by the harsh realities of their environment and/or circumstances. Gurley-Highgate highlights the struggles, endurances, and triumphs within each of their grappling life stories. I appreciated that Gurley-Highgate was able to develop a tale that celebrated the persevering strength of women. She unapologetically created characters that were imperfect in identity and morale, as well as offered the reader insight into ancestral links and how its influence is more powerful than we imagine. I hope that this will not be the last that we see of her literary works.
—Babydoll
