An enjoyable read with a different historical perspective than what I typically pick up. It is a bit of an overstatement to compare this book heavily to Woolf, Morrison and Marquez, (as the cover does), but it is an enjoyable jaunt into magical realism with an African focus. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy Morrison or who are just curious to learn slightly more, (albeit in the form of a novel), about African history. ( )

Part 1
We meet the main characters, Graylon and his grandmother, his parents and "perfect" brother, Gordon. Graylon has a special relationship with his grandmother, Makeda/Mattie. While in elementary/Middle school, Gray visits her almost everyday. By the time he reaches HS, his family has moved further away from Mattie so he sees her only on Thursdays. They talk and she tells stories. She is blind from birth but dreams in color of her past life or lives. She tells Gray, who has decided he wants to be a writer, all about her colorful dreams of being one of the Dogon people of West Africa. Gray finds her stories very interesting and starts to research the places and things she mentions.

Part 2 is historical/fact. A professor from the University of Ghana, after telling the black senior class that "we (blacks) have no insides", eventually gives a lecture about the Queen of Sheba (actually the Queen of Axum), King Solomon,and their son Menelik. He has a little debate with a student regarding the Council of Nicea and how Jesus became a deity. A lot of education in this Part.

Gray begins to connect the dots of his grandmothers dreams with these newly learned facts.

Gray is now in Mali in part 4 and he is learning "who" he is. He even called the woman he loves, Jeanne, from Timbuktu to answer a question she asked him that he refused to answer because he was hurt and embarrassed by the answer.

Gray did open up to Jeanne and told the whole sad story of what happened to his brother, while at the funeral of his Aunt. Fast forward to "present time": Gray finds that he has acquired some of fathers traits that he is trying to squelch; he and Jeanne has had a full life complete with child & grandchild.

I enjoyed more the historical information in the book more so than the actual story, I found Gray to introverted and depressing almost. But he always lit up when speaking with his Grandmother and Jeanne. ( )

[Early Reviewer book] This book was a big disappointment. I was not able to finish it due to the writing style. The plot and language of it felt forced. I appreciated the "story" and what the aim of the book was but it felt too contrived; too much like a lecture in a history class but in story form to make it more palatable. I have read his other works, non-fiction, and enjoyed them a great deal. Maybe over time Mr. Robinson will become a storyteller but for now, no. ( )

Makeda tells the story of an African-American man who becomes increasingly interested in his roots to Africa, especially in regards to stories told to him by his grandmother. He eventually travels to Mali to uncover the truth behind the incredible stories. Along the way we learn about the oppression of African Americans in the US in the 1960s and the depth of separation from their African ancestry. The book is sprinkled with historical facts about Africa, including the prideful history of the Ethiopian civilization and the ahead-of-their-time planetary knowledge of the Dogon people of Mali. At times the writing is overly tedious, but it picks up in the second half and is much more enjoyable. This is a great read for those interested in the ancestral history of African Americans and learning more about other cultures. ( )

A beautifully conceived novel with two main characters: a young black man coming of age in the south during the civil rights movement and his blind grandmother - a woman who worked all her life as a laundress for white families but wears breathtakingly bright African-inspired muumuus at home. Makeda has another secret - she dreams in color even though her world has been without since she was born. She also dreams of past lives and shares these only with Gray.

Gray is a troubled young man. He seems to not understand his mother, feels inferior to his achieving brother, and is ostracized from his father. More than once he states that Makeda is the closest person to him and most like a mother. Obviously, it is through the woman that lives in the dark that Gray will learn to allow color and life into his "gray" world.

The pace of revelations from Makeda to Gray were done with skill and kept me hanging on to see what else we would learn about her past lives. Gray researches these as he goes and Robinson weaves some historical facts into Makeda's dreams and lives. While learning a great deal about African history, Robinson never came across as hard-fisted with his facts.

The cover of the book states that it is "part coming-of-age, part love story and part spiritual journey". I think Robinson's only downfall in this book was being a bit over-zealous in attempting to do justice to each of these three parts. Yes, it is a spiritual journey and I believe this is where Robinson shines the most and puts the bulk of his effort. He also does justice to Gray's coming of age story - mostly through his spiritual journey. However, I felt the love story had the most holes left to fill. Jeanne's character was not as developed as I would have liked to have seen and because of Gray's journey toward spiritual and emotional maturity, the richness of the love story was not there as I read it. It seemed more of an aside to me. I would have also liked to see Gray's father developed more fully.

Makeda herself was an incredible character and someone I found myself wishing I could spend a Thursday afternoon sitting in the parlor listening to her tell her colorful stories. ( )