Marvelous, lovely novel about three generations of African-American women and the power of the movies.
We start with Angela, who leaves Tulsa for Los Angeles in 1970, just in time to find very small-scale success playing bit parts in blaxploitation films. Then we meet her mother, Mildred, who was 8 years old when her mother was killed in Tulsa's 1921 race riots, and who has sought solace at the movie theater ever since. Finally, there is Angela's daughter, Tamara, who grows up in Los Angeles before going to film school in New York. The Edwards women are not a close-knit family; Angela's departure has estranged her from her mother, and she refuses to even talk to Tamara about her family
Their three stories are beautifully told, and the book builds to a powerful conclusion as the three women are finally reconciled., sharing their lives with one another for the first time. The characters are vivid, and Southgate has an eye for telling details; the writing is precise and crisp, a joy to read. Third Girl from the Left is elegant and entertaining, one of the best books I've read in a long while.
(I would also recommend Southgate's previous novel, The Fall of Rome, which didn't get nearly the attention it deserved when it was published a few years back.)
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