The Death of a Jaybird: Essays on Mothers and Daughters and the Things They Leave Behind

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Jodi M. Savage

The Death of a Jaybird

Essays on Mothers and Daughters and the Things They Leave Behind

Jodi M. Savage

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English

HarperPerennial
09 March 2024

Memoirs; Literary essays; Society & culture: general; Black & Asian studies; Intergenerational relationships

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.

By: Jodi M. Savage
Imprint: HarperPerennial
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 135mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 227g
ISBN: 9780063276086
ISBN 10: 0063276089
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 09 March 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jodi M. Savage is a writer, speaker and DEI attorney in New York City. Her essays have appeared in the Huffington Post, Catapult, Kweli Journal, WSQ Journal and the VIDA Review. Jodi facilitates workshops about grief, caregiving, breast cancer, Alzheimer's disease and writing the mother wound. She is a Goldwater Fellow and a current MFA candidate in New York University's creative nonfiction program. The Death of a Jaybird is her first book.

Reviews for The Death of a Jaybird: Essays on Mothers and Daughters and the Things They Leave Behind

"""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"