“Mattie was never truly mine. That knowledge must have
filled me quickly and surely as the milk from her breasts”
These lines from the Prologue set the tone
for a heart moving tale of two human beings of feminine gender.
Yellow Crocus talks about
a human being and her love for another human being not bonded by blood
but bonded by service, society and love. It talks about a girl, Lisabeth and
her relation with Mattie, a Negress
bought by her family and works as her nanny.
“Look like it just us, little girl. Don’t know what I gonna do with you. Suppose we gonna figure
it out together”.
The book explores the various emotions of Mattie towards
different people and the growth of Lizabeth from an infant to an innocent girl
to a bold woman. The events and the course of their lives in relation to each
other form the book.
Set against a backdrop of slavery in America, the story does
have glimpses of the treatment meted out to the people of darker shade. I
particularly like the line
“She had found a use for her lettering after all.”
I find the story endearing and sometimes poignant. The story
moves in the form a modern novel in the initial part, takes the form of a
classic in the middle and gets back to the modern novel form towards the end.
For me, though it did not give much to be digested gave me a
lasting taste upon chewing.
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