Overview

Reminiscent of The Year of Magical Thinking and Somebody’s Daughter, a deeply empathetic and often humorous collection of essays that explore the author’s ever-changing relationships with her grandmother and mother, through sickness and health, as they experience the joys and challenges of Black American womanhood. Jodi M. Savage was raised in Brooklyn, New York, by her maternal grandmother. Her whip-smart, charismatic mother struggled with addiction and was unable to care for her. Granny—a fiery Pentecostal preacher who had a way with words—was Jodi’s rock, until Alzheimer’s disease turned the tables, and a 28-year-old Jodi stepped into the role of caretaker. It was up to Jodi to get them both through the devastations of a deteriorating mind. After Granny passed away, Jodi spent years trying to reckon with her grief. Jodi and her mother were both diagnosed with breast cancer nearly a decade later, and then Jodi lost her too. In this searing, candid collection of essays, Jodi illuminates the roles that identity and memory play in preserving those we love. Jodi explores the lives of modern Black women and communities through the prism of her personal experiences. With grace, creativity, and insight, she looks at femininity, family, race, mental illness, grief, healthcare, and faith. Jodi deftly portrays how trauma is inherited, and how the struggle to break a generational curse can last a lifetime. The Death of a Jaybird is a thoughtful examination of complicated family love, loss, and the liberating power of claiming our stories.

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9780063276086

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Reviews

"""It's one thing to grieve one's mother after she has died, quite another to grieve her even as she lives. In this witty and moving collection centered on the complicated love between three generations of Black women, Jodi Savage does both with compassion and grace. The Death of a Jaybird is a timely reminder about the power of narrative to soothe our souls.""  — Kim McLarin, author of Everyday Something Has Tried to Kill Me and Has Failed"

Author Information

"Jodi M. Savage is an employment discrimination attorney, diversity & inclusion professional, and writer in New York City. She was born and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Her essays have been published in The Huffington Post, Catapult, Kweli Journal, the VIDA Review, WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly, Wear Your Voice Magazine, The Establishment and MadameNoire. Jodi was awarded the Aging Mind Fellowship from the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow and a residency at the Storyknife Writers Retreat. She was a participant on the panel ""Getting Started, When You Just...Can't...Even"" at the 2019 SLICE Literary Conference. She also moderated the ""Women Writing Trauma"" panel at the 2018 Kweli International Literary Festival."

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