In her third novel, On the Rooftop, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton explores a timeless struggle between parents and children, and more poignantly between mothers and daughters; or daughters and mothers: The difference between the life a parents imagine for their children and the life the children want to or decide to live.
Widowed Vivian has been training her daughters, now grown, for their singing group, The Salvations, since they were little. The three girls sing in perfect harmony and perform in the district they know well, where her mother is close to everyone and a key part of the community.
The girls form the perfect trio and their mother has high hopes to sign them with a big manager, but it quickly becomes clear that the girls are in fact not as dedicated to this career path as their mother would like it.
Ruth wants to get married to Gerry, Esther is more interested in the books at the bookshop she works at than in being on stage, and Chloe, the youngest and her mum’s “miracle baby”, also has other ideas.
Through the alternating perspectives we get to know Vivian and her relationships in town, including a close one with the preacher, Ruth’s life with Gerry and his work life, Esther’s life at the bookshop and lunch times with the bookshop owner and his baby… and finally Chloe’s nightlife away from the singing stage.
There are a lot of characters, but not much time to get acquainted with any one of them and build a relationship or identify with any of them.
The historical background is the setting of San Francisco in 1953: gentrification.
Vivianne had left the South (Louisiana) to get away from the racism, but it’s now slowly creeping into the Fillmore district. At first, the hints and reference seem to only set the scene: There is talk of “white men” coming into the neighbourhood and the possibility of “redevelopment”.
As the story unfolds it becomes clear the residents are being pushed out (bought out) of Fillmore and they are struggling to retain their community as it is. “Pretty soon, you’ll walk around these streets and you won’t see yourself reflected back in it” is one of the striking quotes. Esther becomes involved in the movement, fighting the demolition of the district and the community, turning Black Fillmore into a rich, white district.
While either storyline would have been interesting, mixing them and adding so many characters made it difficult to commit to any of it, and while the gentrification message was loud and clear, it would have been strong enough for its own standalone novel, showing Esther’s development from singer to songwriter and (as we would call in nowadays) influencer in this crucial time.
On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton was published on the 27th October 2022 by Ecco publishing. ISBN-13: 978-0063139961
