Between

by Tananarive Due

[nannah]

I feel like I’ve heard Tananarive Due’s name around, and now I know why. Her writing and characterization are superb. I had to stop to take notes on some of the ways she made the main character's book-long breakdown seem so real and emotionally powerful. And in a debut! So glad this was published in the 90s, because I can read what else she’s done since then.

Content warnings:
- unreality
- anti-black racism, racial slurs, hate crimes (the threat of one becomes part of the main plot)
- child abuse (from the parent’s PoV)

Representation:
- the main character and his family (as well as most of the secondary characters) are Black
- the MC’s friend is Latino

When he was a child, Hilton found his grandmother, "Nana", dead in the kitchen. After he returned with help, she was alive. But he knew she had been dead. Later, Nana sacrificed herself to save him. Now in his mid-thirties, Hilton begins to have surreal nightmares, his family has a stalker sending racist death threats, and Hilton dissolves into paranoia and delusion. His family thinks he needs help, but he’s convinced there's something supernatural behind his breakdown … and it all comes back to Nana.

This book kept me up until three in the morning. Regularly. I am stunned that it has so few reviews. Everything -- every last detail -- is carefully planned to make the reading experience more immersive. Hilton’s PoV as a child is written in a very simplistic way. I thought perhaps the author was a little uncertain handling her debut, but when his adult PoV became more sophisticated, I realized Tananarive Due knew what she was doing. Everything is deliberate (another, more common example being the dream scenes written in present tense while everything else is in past).

I’m not even sure what more there is to say, except that this kept me on the edge of my seat, even during scenes I normally wouldn’t like (i.e. scenes involving cheating on one’s partner). As Hilton slowly felt like he was losing his grip on reality, I felt lost with him. So, so well done.

I cannot wait to read what else this author has written.