Don't Cry for Me

A Novel

By: Daniel Black

Narrated by: Daniel Black

Don't miss Daniel Black's next novel Isaac's Song coming January 2025

NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK IN ESSENCE MAGAZINE, THE MILLIONS AND BOOKISH


"Don't Cry for Me is a perfect song."—Jesmyn Ward

A Black father makes amends with his gay son through letters written on his deathbed in this wise and penetrating novel of empathy and forgiveness, for fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates, Robert Jones Jr. and Alice Walker

As Jacob lies dying, he begins to write a letter to his only son, Isaac. They have not met or spoken in many years, and there are things that Isaac must know. Stories about his ancestral legacy in rural Arkansas that extend back to slavery. Secrets from Jacob's tumultuous relationship with Isaac's mother and the shame he carries from the dissolution of their family. Tragedies that informed Jacob's role as a father and his reaction to Isaac's being gay.

But most of all, Jacob must share with Isaac the unspoken truths that reside in his heart. He must give voice to the trauma that Isaac has inherited. And he must create a space for the two to find peace.

With piercing insight and profound empathy, acclaimed author Daniel Black illuminates the lived experiences of Black fathers and queer sons, offering an authentic and ultimately hopeful portrait of reckoning and reconciliation. Spare as it is sweeping, poetic as it is compulsively readable, Don't Cry for Me is a monumental novel about one family grappling with love's hard edges and the unexpected places where hope and healing take flight.

Good Book

Good book but some parts made me sad 😔 Great story line with truth from our black history

Felt like my story being told

An great portrayal of black family dynamics, especially from the south. From the raising of the father and his ‘escape’ from small town life to the deference held between the father and son when family obligations arose, I found every piece of this perfectly articulated.

As the queer son of an often distant father, I loved hearing the relationship from the father’s point of view and appreciated the redemption aspect of the story even if certain bonds were not salvageable.

Beautiful

An amazing letter from father to son which told everything you would ever want to know.

If assigned a BM at birth, I might have been ...

riveted but this was still a really great book! I listened while working as a Spark driver in less than 2 days. It held my attention so much that I was annoyed it was Christmas time and my delivery sales were numerous. 😉

Stick with the book even if you surmise the narration might annoy you. In this semi-autobiograghphy, the author does well distinguishing his character's voices. Mr. Black deeply cares about the story he's written and it's evident. Sadly, it's that very connection that makes this book a tad disjointed, as it fails to reach a true literary climax. To his credit, Mr. Black's writing is so vivid that you don't realize how emotionally invested you've become in his story. As the characters receive their catharsis and healing, while knowing that Mr. Black received his also, you'll quickly forgive an ending leaving its readers with a simultaneous feeling of frustrating dissatisfaction and loving fulfillment.

Reads like an historical novel

Reads like. an historical novel written as if the author lived it. As an 81 yr old white woman who has known a person like Jacob, I found myself in tears reading the depth of emotions necessary in coming to terms from an abusive past and knowing how you inadvertently passed that legacy on to your children. Well done and should be required reading for every parent regardless of ethnicity.