The Warmest December

February 1, 2001
"Now and then I forget things.... One day last week I forgot that I hated my father... " McFadden's graphic, poignant second novel (following her praised debut, Sugar) charts the resonating legacy that alcoholic parents pass on to their children through the cycle of addiction and domestic violence. Narrator Kenzie Lowe, an African-American woman in her 30s on welfare, has used alcohol to repress the memories of abuse she suffered growing up in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, caught in the physical and emotional grip of her whiskey-swilling father, Hyman Lowe. As Hy-Lo (a name that reflects his erratic mood swings) lies comatose in his hospital bed, dying of liver disease, Kenzie finds herself in the grip of buried memories. Deftly evoking the turbulence of Kenzie's tormented recollections, McFadden builds tension as Kenzie's subconscious releases events from a fearful childhood dominated by Hy-Lo's sadistic punishments. Incidents where he burned a cigarette into her palm, broke her ribs with lashes from his belt, knocked out her mother's teeth and terrorized her brother, effectively causing his death, graphically illustrate a child's powerlessness in the grip of an appallingly abusive parent. Seamless transitions between Kenzie's past and her present life anchored by AA sessions imbue this difficult tale with dramatic suspense. While McFadden's decision to tie up loose ends into a neatly contrived ending may seem facile, its cathartic message of forgiveness and recovery will elicit tears. Agent, James Vines.

December 12, 2011
McFadden’s reissued second novel takes an unflinching look at the corrosive nature of alcoholism. At 34, Kenzie Lowe is a recovering alcoholic who lives with her mother, Delia, in a Brooklyn housing project. She finds herself at her father’s deathbed and recalls all the drunken abuse that she; her brother, Malcolm; and Delia endured. Her father, Hy-Lo, beat Delia if the dishes weren’t done, trained Kenzie to buy his vodka, and whipped his children with belts. The fights grew bloodier as Delia started drinking and Kenzie and Malcolm began to fight back. Temporary respite came with Grandmother Mable, but Delia, “afraid to stay, but more afraid to go,” always returned home with her children. Still, as Kenzie stares at her father’s desiccated body in the hospital, she feels an unwanted tug of forgiveness and, through the kind intervention of a nurse, tries to leave her past behind. This is not a story of easy redemption; Kenzie, unlike the rest of her family, escapes because of her strength, courage, and a touch of luck. Though McFadden writes candidly about the treacherous hold of addiction, the power of her story is lessened by wooden dialogue and hazy characterizations. Agent: Jimmy Vines, the Vines Agency.