Memphis

Miriam is Joan and Mya’s mother. Joan describes her as a “Helen of Troy,” a beautiful Black woman with lighter skin and hair “wavier than curly” (6). Although the novel does not have typical protagonists and antagonists, it contains several dynamic characters who experience various forms of growth. The loss of her father Myron, whom she never knew, impacts Miriam through her mother’s grief and the fight for survival they endure as a household of women. Miriam learns about Myron through her mother’s stories. Even in his absence, his love for his wife remains central in the family’s history. This causes Miriam to idealize her parents’ love, which was a positive relationship model but an unrealistic one, in the landscape of male toxicity and violence into which Miriam is born. Miriam met her husband Jax at the record store where she worked. As a young woman, Miriam “preferred to be studying. Chemistry. Physics. Anatomy” (19). Before she met Jax, she dreamed of going to nursing school. She and Jax fell in love and married quickly despite her mother’s concerns. Jax promised Hazel to love and provide for Miriam. However, Miriam felt lonely during their marriage as Jax was often away for training: “All she knew was that she hadn’t prepared for how lonely marriage could be. Jax always off at training, months-long deployments God knows where, training for war” (39).

Miriam is pregnant with Mya when Derek rapes Joan. Miriam does not know how to deal with the terrifying event. She is worried about her daughter’s trauma and is desperate to hear that Joan will overcome the experience. However, she realizes that society does not care “about the life of a Black child” (64). After Joan’s rape and the Gulf War, Jax vents his rage on Miriam. He accuses her and begins to abuse her physically. Miriam realizes that she must live to save herself and her daughters. Miriam returns to Memphis and resolves to claim her independence. She struggles financially but returns to school to pursue her earlier goal of becoming a nurse. Jax’s words remain in her mind as he doubted her ability to make it alone, “with two babies, no degree, and a Black face” (56). Her sister August encourages her, saying their mother would be proud. Miriam throws herself at her studies and works to raise her daughters alone. The household struggles financially and Miriam worries about Joan’s artistic aspirations. Impacted by her own experience, she pleads with Joan to become a doctor, so she need never depend on a man. Despite her problems, Miriam graduates and finds work as a nurse. Miriam remains strong in the face of her struggles and claims her independence, affirming herself as a powerful woman and good mother.

Miriam remains perplexed about the breakdown of her marriage. She idealizes her parents’ relationship and wonders why hers with Jax was not like theirs: “Miriam had wanted that for herself all her life. Simple, Black love. For the life of her, she couldn’t place a finger on what exactly went wrong or why” (224). Jax attempts to apologize to her. Even if she understands his inner trauma, the “terror,” the “grief” and the “rage,” Miriam is unable to forget and accepts that her marriage is over (45).

Miriam realizes Joan’s gift in art when she sees her portfolio with the drawings of Black women. She sees “the beauty” of her daughter’s paintings and with August’s encouragement, she gives Joan her blessing. Miriam’s growth is primarily in her ability to let go of her ideals—for her marriage, for a life free from male violence, for her daughter’s future—and live in reality. She grows in her autonomy and understands her daughter’s need for similar autonomy.

August is Miriam’s sister and Joan’s aunt. Even though she and Miriam have different fathers, the two have an unbreakable bond. Like Miriam, August never knew her father, who was a civil rights activist, murdered in Memphis. Joan loves and admires August. She is a strong, tall, and dark woman whom Joan compares to the African “Asafo” warriors. For Joan, her aunt is a “[p]roof of dark beauty” (74). Like her niece, August is a gifted artist; she is a talented singer and music lover who never pursued her dream. August was already singing as a teenager: “A fifteen-year-old girl – fatherless, dark, tall – singing Aretha like Aretha should have sung the song” (128). She had plans to go to college to become a doctor, but as a single mother, she had to constantly supervise her delinquent son, Derek. August also struggles to cope with her son’s behavior and Joan’s rape.

August’s brand of resilience is based on practicality and action. She is decisive and not bogged down by sentimentality. She may, on some level, regret not becoming a singer, but she knows she did what she needed to do to support herself and her son. She knows her mother and sister had a more robust religious devotion, but she does not apologize for her contentious views about God. Throughout the story, August expresses her disappointment in men and thinks the only “real” men who ever entered their house were her and Miriam’s fathers. Derek’s father was an abusive man who mistreated his son and imposed cruel discipline on him. August is devastated when Derek’s gang activities result in his arrest and life sentence. She resents male violence and rage, thinking that most of the men she ever knew are angry: “Men and death. Men and death. How on earth y’all run the world when all y’all have ever done is kill each other?” (177). Despite her stark realism in assessing the men in her life, she feels no inhibitions when the opportunity to have her sexual needs met presents itself in the form of Bird, Jax’s twin brother, for whom she carries a quiet passion and genuine affection. She does not confuse physical needs with emotional ones and twice contents herself with a one-off with Bird.

Even though her life did not go as planned, August uses one of her practical talents, hairstyling, to live independently. She creates her own salon at home which becomes more than a job for her. August enjoys working and “making Black women happy” (116). She still derives energy from singing while working and loves “owning her own business” (116). Simultaneously, being with her sister and nieces at home provides her with a newfound strength and hope: “Maybe it was the fact that they were all together again […]. Maybe it was seeing Joan’s drawing and the rush of love and protection that had welled up in her in that moment” (90). Defying her life’s struggles, August manages to create a life for herself and be a loving sister and aunt as well as a powerful and resilient Black woman.