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Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse for providing me with a free audio version of this book for review.
BOOK DETAILS
Title: Untethered
Author: Angela Jackson-Brown
Narrator: Karen Murray
Publisher: HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse
Publication Date: 3 December 2024
Genre: Historical Fiction, Multicultural Focus, Family Drama
Format: Audiobook
Listening Time: 10 hours, 51 minutes, 28 seconds
ABOUT THE BOOK (from the book)
Sometimes family is found in the most unlikely of places . . .
Check This OutIn the small college town of Troy, Alabama, amidst the backdrop of 1967, Katia Daniels lives a life steeped in responsibility. At the Pike County Group Home for Negro Boys, she pours her heart into nurturing the young lives under her care, harboring a longing for children of her own. Katia’s romantic entanglement with an older man brings comfort but also stirs questions about the path she’s chosen.
The weight of her family’s history bears down on her; a twin brother is missing in action in the heart of the Vietnam War. Having lost her father to cancer, Katia took up the mantle of caretaker, ensuring her mother and brothers were looked after. Her sense of duty extends to the boys at the group home, creating a web of obligations that stretches her emotional bandwidth thin.
Amidst a power struggle at work with the board, Katia finds solace in the pages of romance novels and the soothing melodies of Nina Simone. When Seth Taylor, a familiar face from her high school days, reenters Katia’s life, he brings with him a breeze of nostalgia and a reminder of a time when her dreams felt less tethered. As their friendship rekindles, Katia grapples with the idea of making choices for herself, even as the realization that she can no longer have children weighs heavily on her.
This novel is a poignant tale of a woman torn between the demands of her heart and the responsibilities she’s shouldered for so long. Set against the backdrop of a changing South, this novel delves into the complexities of love, family, and self-discovery in a time of transformation and upheaval.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (from her website)
Angela Jackson-Brown is an award-winning writer, poet and playwright who is an Associate Professor in the creative writing program at Indiana University in Bloomington. She also teaches in the graduate program at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, KY. She is a graduate of Troy University, Auburn University and the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. She has published her short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry in journals like The Louisville Journal and the Appalachian Review. She is the author of Drinking From a Bitter Cup, House Repairs, When Stars Rain Down and The Light Always Breaks. Her novels have received starred reviews from the Library Journal and glowing reviews from Alabama Public Library, Buzzfeed, Parade Magazine, and Women’s Weekly, just to name a few. When Stars Rain Down was named a finalist for the 2021 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction, longlisted for the Granum Foundation Award, and shortlisted for the 2022 Indiana Authors Award. In October of 2023, Angela’s novel, Homeward, a follow-up to When Stars Rain Down, was published by Harper Muse. In December of 2024, her next novel, Untethered, will be published by Harper Muse.
Visit Angela Jackson-Brown’s website.
ABOUT THE NARRATOR {from Penguin Random House}
Karen Murray is a Harlem NYC-based voice actor. For over two decades, she’s voiced many commercials, and she is also the lead radio imaging voice for iHeart Radio’s Black Information Network. As a documentary narrator, her credits include the Beyond the Headlines series on Lifetime, and In Pursuit with John Walsh on Discovery/ID. Karen can also be heard on numerous audiobooks, and is the recipient of an Earphones Award from AudioFile magazine.
BOOK REVIEW
Four-Star Read
I requested the opportunity to review this novel because I was interested in seeing Katia’s transformation and growth. I wanted to see how she handled balancing her own needs and wants with those of her family and workplace. I wasn’t disappointed.
Katia’s strength and vulnerability were evident throughout the novel. The way she supported and encouraged her mother, cared for her twin brothers and the boys in the Pike County Group Home for Negro Boys, while navigating the racism of 1967 Alabama was well-written and realistic to the lived experiences of Black women. Katia was, like many women, torn between her obligations to others and the desire to find her own way in this world. Her reliance on Nina Simone and her romance novels to get through life was the perfect nod to the real life escapism of bookish girls.
I like that the story wasn’t neatly wrapped up, there was some grittiness to the story. Life isn’t neat nor is it fair, and this story kept true to that. There were several points when I was literally feeling my chest tighten because of the reality of the situation. When my sisters and I were kids, our mother briefly worked as a caretaker in a girls’ home. I remember the girls arriving there broken, but over time, they developed close, almost sisterly bonds with each other and with us. This relationship dynamic was captured perfectly in Jackson-Brown’s portrayal of Chad and Pee Wee’s bond.
Narration
The narration was wonderfully done. Karen Murray’s pace was even from beginning to end and the pacing allowed for natural breaking points when necessary. My only criticism is that there should’ve been at least two narrators as there were so many different characters. That being said, Murray did a wonderful job giving personality to each character.
Favorite Quote
I never should have accepted crumbs when I deserved the entire cake. Sis, you deserve the cake.
Recommended For
Book clubs and anyone who is a fan of historical fiction. If you choose to read the print edition, I’d recommend having Nina Simone playing in the background.
The Extras
I appreciated the historical notes at the end of the story as well as the source references. I love when authors provide “for further reading” notes with historical fiction, it makes the reading experience so much more immersive.
Trigger Warnings
Child abuse, sexual assault, PTSD, and drug abuse.
IT’S YOUR TURN
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