African American Lit Annotation: In West Mills

Title: In West Mills
Author: De’Shawn Charles Winslow

Genre: Historical Fiction, African American Fiction
Publication Date: June 2019
ISBN: 9781635573404
Number of Pages: 272
Geographical Setting: North Carolina
Time Period: mid-20th century; spans 40+ years






PLOT SUMMARY

Azalea “Knot” Centre is determined to live life her own way without caring about what the residents of West Mills, North Carolina think of the alcoholic and promiscuous former schoolteacher. When Knot is cut off from her family and friends as a result of her life choices, Knot is destined to live a life of solitude, except for the companionship of her kind-hearted neighbor, Otis, and his wife Pep. Knot relies on their friendship to make life more bearable and must learn that there is more to life than moonshine, books, and men.

 Otis Loving is always trying to fix everyone’s problems which is why he runs to the rescue of his neighbor, Knot, every time she has a problem. But when family secrets come to light, Otis must decide if he can fix those that need it the most... himself and his family.

 A sweeping story of a rural African American community in the mid-20th century South, In West Mills tells the life story of its residents and their path to love, friendship, forgiveness, and redemption.

CHARACTERISTICS/APPEAL OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE:

Story Line
According to The New World Encyclopedia (n.d.), in addition to the “genre” needing to be written by an African American author, “African American literature has generally focused on themes of particular interest to Black people in the United States, such as the role of African Americans within the larger American society...”. In West Mills has a sweeping story line that spans the lives of the cast of African American characters as they navigate life during the mid-20th century. It portrays the personal experiences of these characters and identifies what this community views as important experiences to their lives.

Frame/Setting 
The frame and setting are an important appeal to African American fiction because it provides an accurate description and details about life in the target community. In West Mills depicts a rural, African American community and includes details of the African American experience during the mid-20th century, such as having separate benches labeled by race and treated unequally to white characters throughout the story.

Characterization
 In West Mills features a large cast of characters that readers will love to hate. Knot, the antiheroine, is unlikeable, flawed, and complex. The author develops main characters who the readers becomes attached to and want to see succeed but can become frustrated when they don’t make the choices one would expect. This complex approach to the main characters causes the reader to become deeply engaged with the story and connect with the characters through their flaws. The author is also able to create authentic characters that fit the personalities and actions of the African American community during the civil rights era. They want to live their life freely without interference from others and are willing to stand their ground to have their freedoms recognized.

FICTION READ ALIKES

Sula- Toni Morrison
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat: Edward Kelsey Moore
 Queen Sugar- Natalie Baszile

BLOGGERS OPINION

In West Mills was a quick read, but because the story line spanned 40 plus years, it felt like you had time to connect with the characters. I did have a really hard time liking the characters, which was how they were created to be. I haven’t read a lot of books where there was an antiheroine that you loved to hate, so this was a new experience for me. I was invested in the characters, so it was frustrating to see them make choices that were (to me) obviously a bad route, but they did it anyways. However, I think this is a major part of the charm of this novel. The characters are all flawed so it truly depicted real, authentic people. Some books never show a character’s flaws so that they seem perfect, but this book does the opposite. I also liked that the experiences of the characters matched the time period. As the characters got older or times changed within the country (as much of it was during the Civil Rights-era), the scenes changed as well. I think that this book would be a good introduction to African American literature for those readers that do not have a lot of experience with this sub-genre.

Resources: 
New World Encyclopedia. (n.d.) African american literature. Retrieved from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/African_American_literature