Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | FICTION MON | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Set in the bayous of the Florida Everglades in a migrant labor camp, "The Upper Room" is a powerful, vibrant, and lyrical story, peopled with richly-drawn and unforgettable characters. Most memorable of all, is the indomitable, astounding, larger-than-life Mama Ruby, the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, a woman with healing hands, a voracious appetite, and a switchblade and a crucifix at her bosom.
Mama Ruby may not be all crazy, but she's at least halfway there. She's known for taking things that aren't rightfully hers, like her best friend's stillborn baby -- a tiny girl that she brought back to life and christened Maureen. She's also rumored to have done away with her husband.
With her God-fearing neighbors watching her every step, it's all Mama Ruby can do to stay ahead of the law. One desperate night, she flees to Goons, a dirt-poor migrant settlement in the Everglades -- and strangely, it feels like home. And through everything, she remains downright nuts about the one gift God gave her -- her precious daughter Maureen. But growing up with a mama like Ruby is enough to make any half-sane girl wish for something -- anything -- else. And when Maureen gets the chance to explore the "real" world, you can bet she's going to take it...and run like hell.
Author Notes
Mary Monroe is the third child of Alabama sharecroppers, and the first and only member of her family to finish high school. Mary never attended college or any writing classes.
Her first novel, The Upper Room, was published in 1985 and was widely reviewed throughout the U.S. and in Great Britain. She is a recipient of the PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Award for her novel God Don't Like Ugly. She has just finished the fourth book in this series, God Ain't through Yet. (Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Originally published in 1985, Mary Monroe's engaging debut novel, The Upper Room, features Ruby Montgomery, an obese, indomitable character who steals her best friend's baby daughter and flees to rural Florida, where she establishes herself as an almost mythical figure. The dialogue and setting are reminiscent of Zora Neale Hurston, but the story has a bizarre, violent edge ? la Stephen King. Fantastic and exaggerated, the novel may seem dated in its descriptions of race and sex, but it is a candid portrayal of the cold-blooded yet fascinating Mama Ruby. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Ruby Montgomery, who (with some reason) thinks of herself as the devil incarnate, takes away her friend Othella's stillborn baby daughter, intending to bury the dead child--only to discover that the babe is now breathing! So Ruby decides to keep the little girl (she always wanted a daughter but only had sons), to raise Othella's baby as her own: knowing that she must avoid all further contact with Othella, Ruby moves to the Goons district of the Florida Everglades, just outside Miami--where the girl, named Maureen, is installed in the ""sanctified"" upper room of Ruby's small house, growing up away from all problems or interference. And, while opening countless cans of beer, Ruby fiercely protects Maureen--casually ""chastizing"" their enemies (usually male) by tearing their arms clean off or even killing them. . . and dreading the inevitable showdown/encounter with the cruelly betrayed Othella. There are some funny moments along the way: a local girl, Catty, gets married solely because she knows of no other way to get three Ray Charles albums as gifts at one time; the boys--black and white--all pant over sexy Maureen, but when she's pregnant by a man of an unusual hue, she can't find a taker of like complexion to help her mask her indiscretion. The backgrounds--a picture of Southern black poverty in the Sixties--are strongly etched, with mythic shadings somewhat reminiscent of Toni Morrison. But Mama Ruby--obese, utterly commanding, like a force of nature in her matter-of-fact violence and witchcraft--is both the center and the basic substance of Monroe's first novel. And, despite some tedious repetition in the vignettes and dialogues that fill out the folktale-like plot here, this is a modestly effective debut--with originality and darkly offbeat charm in Mama Ruby's quasi-demonic doings. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Mama Ruby is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, with healing hands and an inconceivably vengeful spirit. After successfully bringing her best friend's stillborn baby to life, she claims the child as her own and runs away to a migrant settlement in the Everglades. Mama Ruby's ever-increasing girth and unhealthy dependence on her daughter, Maureen, cause her to make choices and decisions that are both troubling and foolish. Mama Ruby makes sure that Maureen is treated special by giving her the upper room of the house. It becomes Maureen's special place and is off-limits to most people, especially men. As Maureen grows into a beautiful woman, she begins to have desires of a life outside of Mama Ruby's watchful eye and of a city far away. It takes an unthinkable series of events for Maureen and Mama Ruby to accept the other's ways and needs. A chilling story that is bound to astound Monroe's fans. --Lillian Lewis
