The View From Here
Right from the get-go Brian Keith Jackson's debut novel,The View from  Herehas an unusual kick to it: the book is narrated by the protagonist's as yet unborn  child. The heroine of this touching tale is Anna Anderson Thomas, an African American  wife and mother trying to keep her family together in the face of casual prejudice and  economic hardship. The mother of five boys, she discovers number six is on the way  around the same time her husband, JT, loses his job at the lumber mill. JT insists they  can't afford this new baby and decides to give it to his sister to raise. In the ensuing  months, Anna's only comfort comes in occasional letters from her childhood friend, Ida  Mae, and the responses she composes in her head but never sends.Jackson's book captures perfectly both the love and the rage of this family under pressure.  As Anna navigates the choppy waters of family ties, old obligations, and new  responsibilities, the passionate prose and unusual narrative perspective brings immediacy  to her passage.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.