The story of Tish and Fonny is the story of strident enduring love.
Tish works at a perfume counter in a department store.
Fonny takes odd jobs, in the hope of saving up enough money to marry Tish and get a place of their own. A child is on the way.
But Fonny has an artist’s heart.
In his free time, he is a sculptor.
Tish is his muse.
From the beginning, it was meant to be.
Their lives, intertwining.
Hearts beating in synchronicity.
Fonny’s strained and complicated family life results in his seamless assimilation into Tish’s, where he is welcomed with open and loving arms.
Over time, in spite of the Doubting Thomases, their love grows.
This is important because only a strident enduring love can withstand an unjust world.
If Beale Street Could Talk is an American love story of heartbreak and hope.
I’ve written before of my devotion to James Baldwin.
The complexities of American society can lead a Black person to become cynical and disaffected. But in Baldwin it created a deep compassion for humanity and its frailties. Don’t get me wrong. He did not suffer fools lightly. His brutal honesty in calling out racial inequalities was the mark of a True Steward of the Civil Rights Movement as well as a True American.
To love this country is to see it clearly.
You can read more about my devotion to James Baldwin, in the link below.
https://booksandbevs7.blog/2024/03/18/are-you-in-a-reading-slump-part-4-the-finale/
~G
A pithy review without spoilers