by Cynthia Shearer
(bio and
other books)
The Celestial Jukebox, Cynthia Shearer’s second
novel, is a journey into the fictitious town of Madagascar,
Mississippi. The words Shearer chooses to tell this story are as
heavy and slow to the tongue as the weight of the townspeople’s
daily rituals and the memory of their many disappointments. Shearer,
of course, does this to bring about an authenticity that might not
otherwise be so well conveyed. Like its people, Madagascar falls
short of the glory of independence, and relies on the vices of
others for survival—with one bright exception. In the corner of a
grey, little store called the Celestial Grocery sits the Celestial
Jukebox—a place where people have brought their sorrows, heartaches
as well as their joys and triumphs since 1938.
Boubacar, an unlikely resident of Madagascar, is a 15 year old boy
from Mauritania who visits the Celestial Grocery, and meets the
grocery store’s owner, Angus Chien, a cantankerous old man with a
southern accent that seems mismatched with his oriental skintone and
slanted eyes. He is the second generation of his Chinese family and
the South is all he knows. Angus offers Boubacar a job and Boubacar
quickly discovers the Celestial Jukebox. Never updated and never
repaired, the Jukebox plays the heavenly classics from Sam Cooke,
Slim Harpo and Bob Dylan to name a few and if you want to hear them,
well, Mr. Chien keeps coins on top of the Jukebox so you can. It’s
one of those kind, little gestures he makes that lets us know he
isn’t always so crabby.
Shearer
takes her time introducing us to the characters that make up
Madagascar. Dean Fondren a man who knows where he is going to die,
and his wife Alexis who doesn’t think she wants to know such things.
Raine is a middle-aged woman who can’t help but reminisce when she
hears Bob Dylan. She struggles to find that beautiful woman she
used to was before she was a mother and wife—when she was
somebody.
The
tone throughout is thick with rich desperation, slow climbs to
celestial moments and superb description. At times I wanted it to
move along a bit faster, but looking back, I’m glad Shearer stayed
true to the pace that matches the pace of rural Mississippi. She
brilliantly puts you smack dab in the heart of Mississippi on
typical summer’s evening. You might even want a cool wet rag around
your neck to stave off the humidity as you read, and you share what
the townspeople of Madagascar share—life in the South and
The Celestial
Jukebox.
To
buy
The Celestial Jukebox, click here!
Read our bio for
Cynthia Shearer
and peruse her other books.
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Read our profile
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Cynthia Shearer
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