The Twelve Tribes Of Hattie

"Ayana Mathis’ debut novel lays out the lives of the Shepherd family — two parents and nine children, each drawn with tenderness and complexity. Hattie and August move to Philadelphia from Georgia in 1923, during the Great Migration of African-Americans. The characters face gritty realities, but the author crafts their stories with pitch-perfect authority and grace. Her language manages to be both luminously metaphorical and down to earth. One tidbit: Franklin, an alcoholic seaman in 1969 Vietnam, recalls, “the seawater was syrup on my body.” Does a much-talked-about book (an Oprah pick) deserve the ballyhoo? In this case, yes.*Some books from December 2012 were published too late to make it on last year’s roundups; they were considered as candidates this year.*"