Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Yellow House
Sarah M. Broom
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Yellow House
Sarah M. Broom
Review by Priscilla Comen
The Yellow House, by Sarah M. Broom, is a memoir about a family in a poor New Orleans neighborhood. Lolo is Grandma’s step-child and Lolo’s children are Joseph, Elaine, and Ivory Mae. Lionel fathered them but was father in name only. The three children were close as triplets, and in family photos wore fancy clothes and patent leather shoes. They knew they looked good and wore their special clothes every day.
Then along came Webb, crazy about Ivory Mae. She had his baby before she left high school. After they married, she had another baby, and after he was killed in a hit and run accident while in the army, she had a third child. This was Darryl who called himself the black sheep of the family.
After Webb died, Ivory Mae married Simon Broom who was still married and nineteen years older than she. She liked that he acted citified. When his first wife died of leukemia, the two families merged.
Developers thought New Orleans East would become prosperous, a model city. Simon and his son Carl worked at NASA. Ivory Mae fell in love with a little house on Wilson Avenue. She was first in her family to own a house and it was renovated to her liking three years later. She planted flowering trees and cactus and filled it with brand new furniture. Across the street, a trailer park opened, inhabited by people who worked at NASA. When The Beatles came to town they stayed at The Congress Inn and the mayor gave each of them the keys to the city.
Simon and Ivory Mae threw parties in their back yard for birthdays, holidays, and Fridays. They had lots of food, drinks, and movies. In 1965 they had to rush out of the house when Hurricane Betsy hit. Water flooded more than 160,000 homes, often up to the eaves. The hurricane was created by nature and human error caused damage that exceeded 1.2 billion dollars, and killed more than seventy-five people, most drowned. Later, apartment houses were built and the levees shored up. Simon and Ivory Mae re-built the house and enlarged it. Ivory Mae made curtains so the vans became motels on wheels. Simon woke the boys on week-ends and put them to work. When Michael was in fifth grade he took a math test. Who the girl at the desk in front of him grabbed his paper, he stabbed her with his pencil and was suspended. The test was simple for him and he thought he got all the answers right. But the teacher put a big zero on it. Michael joined a gang while he was out of school. Because he had scoleosis, he wore a metal and plastic brace on his back. He used it as a weapon in fights with other gangs.
Eddie moved in with his Grandmother, where he was spoiled and more comfortable. The Wilson Street house had too many children and he liked order. It saw all occasions from weddings to funerals, although the backyard continued to sink. Sarah covers up her bad eyesight, and when she gets glasses she’s amazed at the things she can see. Mother said no one outside the family could ever come inside the house and the kids never invited any friends over. Sarah calls this “Shame.” Simon never fixed the house properly, instead he put boards over holes in the floor. After he died, the older children do nothing to fix the house In the 1990s, Ivory Mae had yellow siding installed, but the contractors put it over decaying wood. The plumbing and electrical were terrible, and holes in the cabinets allowed rats and other creatures to enter.
Crime and tourism rose at the same time while Grandma’s mind was going. The older boys beat Darryl to beat the addictions out of him, they said. Often he sneaked into the house and stole things to sell to buy his drugs.
In 1999, Sarah traveled outside of East New Orleans to New York and spent a semester at UMASS following her idol James Baldwin. Her friend Alvin died in an auto accident while high on heroin and she went to his funeral. Alvin’s friend James came to the funeral in shackles with two officers because he was serving twenty years in prison for armed robbery. It seemed her friends were all losers.
Author Broom describes the scene when Carl is in the attic of the yellow house as the water rises. He saw a hole in the ceiling, climbed onto the roof and saw other people on their roofs. A few of them got into a boat and rowed away. They passed floating dead bodies. After seven days, Carl was rescued and taken to the Convention Center.
In October 2005 some of the family went to see the yellow house on Wilson Street. It had split in two. The city demolished it. Sarah saved a silver spoon and a plastic Fleur de Lis that had hung in the bathroom. This is the end of “The Yellow House.” She travels to Berundi to work for the leader of the progressives. What happens to her after that? Does she return to New Orleans ? Does East New Orleans re-build with the help of the government? What happens to the family? Find out in this non-fiction memoir at your Mendocino Community Library.
Then along came Webb, crazy about Ivory Mae. She had his baby before she left high school. After they married, she had another baby, and after he was killed in a hit and run accident while in the army, she had a third child. This was Darryl who called himself the black sheep of the family.
After Webb died, Ivory Mae married Simon Broom who was still married and nineteen years older than she. She liked that he acted citified. When his first wife died of leukemia, the two families merged.
Developers thought New Orleans East would become prosperous, a model city. Simon and his son Carl worked at NASA. Ivory Mae fell in love with a little house on Wilson Avenue. She was first in her family to own a house and it was renovated to her liking three years later. She planted flowering trees and cactus and filled it with brand new furniture. Across the street, a trailer park opened, inhabited by people who worked at NASA. When The Beatles came to town they stayed at The Congress Inn and the mayor gave each of them the keys to the city.
Simon and Ivory Mae threw parties in their back yard for birthdays, holidays, and Fridays. They had lots of food, drinks, and movies. In 1965 they had to rush out of the house when Hurricane Betsy hit. Water flooded more than 160,000 homes, often up to the eaves. The hurricane was created by nature and human error caused damage that exceeded 1.2 billion dollars, and killed more than seventy-five people, most drowned. Later, apartment houses were built and the levees shored up. Simon and Ivory Mae re-built the house and enlarged it. Ivory Mae made curtains so the vans became motels on wheels. Simon woke the boys on week-ends and put them to work. When Michael was in fifth grade he took a math test. Who the girl at the desk in front of him grabbed his paper, he stabbed her with his pencil and was suspended. The test was simple for him and he thought he got all the answers right. But the teacher put a big zero on it. Michael joined a gang while he was out of school. Because he had scoleosis, he wore a metal and plastic brace on his back. He used it as a weapon in fights with other gangs.
Eddie moved in with his Grandmother, where he was spoiled and more comfortable. The Wilson Street house had too many children and he liked order. It saw all occasions from weddings to funerals, although the backyard continued to sink. Sarah covers up her bad eyesight, and when she gets glasses she’s amazed at the things she can see. Mother said no one outside the family could ever come inside the house and the kids never invited any friends over. Sarah calls this “Shame.” Simon never fixed the house properly, instead he put boards over holes in the floor. After he died, the older children do nothing to fix the house In the 1990s, Ivory Mae had yellow siding installed, but the contractors put it over decaying wood. The plumbing and electrical were terrible, and holes in the cabinets allowed rats and other creatures to enter.
Crime and tourism rose at the same time while Grandma’s mind was going. The older boys beat Darryl to beat the addictions out of him, they said. Often he sneaked into the house and stole things to sell to buy his drugs.
In 1999, Sarah traveled outside of East New Orleans to New York and spent a semester at UMASS following her idol James Baldwin. Her friend Alvin died in an auto accident while high on heroin and she went to his funeral. Alvin’s friend James came to the funeral in shackles with two officers because he was serving twenty years in prison for armed robbery. It seemed her friends were all losers.
Author Broom describes the scene when Carl is in the attic of the yellow house as the water rises. He saw a hole in the ceiling, climbed onto the roof and saw other people on their roofs. A few of them got into a boat and rowed away. They passed floating dead bodies. After seven days, Carl was rescued and taken to the Convention Center.
In October 2005 some of the family went to see the yellow house on Wilson Street. It had split in two. The city demolished it. Sarah saved a silver spoon and a plastic Fleur de Lis that had hung in the bathroom. This is the end of “The Yellow House.” She travels to Berundi to work for the leader of the progressives. What happens to her after that? Does she return to New Orleans ? Does East New Orleans re-build with the help of the government? What happens to the family? Find out in this non-fiction memoir at your Mendocino Community Library.