Open Road Media, March 14, 2017.
Four Stars
Linden Hills was originally published in 1985, and yet it feels so modern and
current – it could easily be a satirical reference to race relations in America
today. It is the story of an affluent African-American neighbourhood that
becomes a symbol of success for its residents. Living in Linden Hills is the
highest achievement they can imagine, but getting there is not good enough –
one must always strive to move lower down the hill to the wealthiest homes. In
this way, Naylor’s novel mirrors Dante’s Inferno,
and the descent into hell. As status increases, so does the emptiness within.
The novel begins by describing how Linden Hills came
to be. A black man named Luther Needed bought the land from white men who
thought they were offloading undesirable property. However, Luther managed to
turn the land into a powerful symbol for its black residents – a neighbourhood where
they could be successful in their own right, outside of the constraints of
segregation and poverty surrounding them. The original inhabitants of Linden
Hills strived to create an inclusive space, but now their descendants are
obsessed with status, at the risk of their souls.
Rumours abound that the original Luther Needed sold
his wife and child into slavery in order to purchase the land that would become
Linden Hills. Now, his great-grandson and de facto leader of the Hills – also called
Luther Needed – struggles with the equally unsavoury rumours that surround him.
We view the neighourhood through the eyes of two teenage boys, who ramble
around Linden Hills, looking for odd jobs to do. Willie comes from a poor
family living nearby, while Lester grew up in the Hills. As they move
throughout the community, the boys contrast their perspectives and learn
shocking secrets about the people they thought they knew.
More than an allegory for the modern descent into
hell, Linden Hills is an analysis of
the American dream and its consequences. It examines the dangers of conformity
and the damages of progress. Using white standards as a measure of conformity,
the residents of this black community compromise their real desires in order to
show the outer world a certain image.
The individual lives of the people of Linden Hills
are told like short stories that can almost stand on their own, although Naylor
weaves them together with impressive skill. The ending, for Luther and the
others, feels inevitable, but certainly not uplifting. This is a socioeconomic study
of race, class and gender, steeped in a gritty version of reality. The inhabitants
of Linden Hills escaped from a history of slavery and segregation, only to fall
into the self-imposed slavery of wealth and status, where nothing is ever good enough.
This is a novel I will be thinking about for awhile, and it should be
considered required reading in today’s political climate.
I received this book from Open Road Media and
NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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