In her first collection of short stories entitled, Rattlebone, Maxine Clair captures the poetic nuances and salacious language of the Midwest in her portrayal of Irene Wilson, an African American girl coming-of-age in a fictitious town in Kansas during the 1950s. In Rattlebone, Clair introduces elementary school teacher, October Brown, about whom Irene tells a lie. Irene suspects that Ms. Brown is having an affair with her father, James Wilson. While Rattlebone focuses primarily on Irene’s narrative, Clair dedicates her first novel, October Suite, to exploring the complicated life and choices of October Brown, a twenty-three-year-old African American schoolteacher.

In a novel whose language beckons the readers’ attentive ear, Clair examines the way that October’s youth and inexperience facilitate her affair with James Wilson. Ultimately, October does not heed her own instincts, so strong is her need for love and acceptance, that by the time she becomes pregnant and returns to her family in Ohio, she is incapable of adequately assessing her situation and clearly finding a solution. In the throes of fear and depression, October agrees to give up her child, David, to her sister, Vergie, and her brother-in-law, Gene, who are unable to have a child. Sometime after October returns to a teaching job, in another city, she begins to realize her mistake and a battle ensues between the two sisters. October’s self-sacrifice, however, not only establishes her relationship with her sister in a markedly different way, but it also allows both sisters to confront their pasts. For both October and Vergie harbor a secret of violence and its memory haunts both women. While October expresses hers in rebellion and in the clothes that she designs and sews for herself, Vergie constructs a barrier that is difficult to permeate. But it is their need ultimately to care for the young son, David, which brings both sisters together.

Clair ingeniously presents a narrative that is both challenging and rewarding, making the reader think about the choices we often make under duress or from a lack of love. Clair’s love of narrative, language and Black women’s history makes this novel provocative and beautiful. October Suite represents the mastery of the craft from a master storyteller.

Michele L. Simms-Burton is a writer, currently based in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she teaches American and African-American literature.