Tomorrow’s Bread

Ms. Mayhew weaves the stories of several families together in Tomorrows Bread. She puts names and faces on the destructive aspect of Urban Renewal, a federal government program in the 1960s tasked to remove blight from inner cities. Tomorrows Bread takes place in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina.

I think Ms. Mayhew captured the essence of a place and time not so long ago in our history yet a place that is gone forever. This well-researched novel is a must read for anyone trying to get a feel for anywhere Urban Renewal took place in the early 1960s.

Tomorrows Bread made me stop and think like I never had before about the people who were displaced by Urban Renewal. They went from living in a sustainable neighborhood with grocery stores, a doctor, a library, and a church all in walking distance to having to look for affordable housing in neighborhoods that offered none of those things. Loraylee, Hawk, Rev. Eben Polk, Bibi, Uncle Ray, and Jonny No Age will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you, Ms. Mayhew, for writing this novel and for prompting me to give serious thought to a time and federal program in the 1960s that in the name of giving people a better life demolished their homes, businesses, and churches and split up families that had been neighbors and friends for generations. This is a story built around fictional characters you will love and pull for.

Now, I want to know what happened to Loraylee, Hawk, and Archie. Is there a third book in the works, Ms. Mayhew?

Ms. Mayhew’s second book about southern life once again paints a picture about a specific time and place, in this case, Brooklyn, Charlotte’s largest African-American neighborhood, in the 1960’s. Being from North Carolina, I was particularly interested in this book, mainly because it covered a subject I knew little about with respect to this specific community – the racist, patronizing and despicable so-called “urban renewal” that wiped out an entire vibrant community in Charlotte. While I knew about urban renewal in general, the story of these characters in this specific community made the issue come alive in a way that non-fiction doesn’t. This is an easy read – I finished it in a single day – but it’s poignant characters and depiction of a specific time and place stayed with me. I loved the characters, though I was left wanting to know more about them – they were a bit underdeveloped, so I didn’t get as full a picture of them as I would have liked. Nonetheless, the story is an important one and reminds us that racism remains alive and well in this country – especially in a time where we are seeing increasing gentrification of inner city neighborhoods without making enough affordable housing available. While we don’t call it “urban renewal” anymore, we are still displacing communities of color in the name of “progress” with little thought to the very real consequences on human beings. Same story, different day. Tomorrow’s Bread tells us the true story of one community’s destruction and reminds us that these issues remain real today. Ms. Mayhew’s writing is lovely and lyrical, so I hope we won’t have to wait too long for her next novel!

I was really looking forward to what this author would do after The Dry Grass of August. Wow! The prose is eloquent, light (at appropriate times), easy to read, incredibly well researched, and believable. Anna Jean Mayhew knows her subject matter in her heart and writes in a way to bring her own light to a difficult and complicated story. She truly has a gift for creating her characters and making the reader care about them. This is not a book I will give away! A real homerun for this gifted writer!

Anna Jean Mayhew’s second novel, Tomorrow’s Bread gives us a world that for some is well known, for others, unknown and worthy of our attention. Her characters are endearing and diverse, their journey through the cruel fate of so-called urban renewal heart-rending and gripping. Ms Mayhew’s extensive research uncovered material that needs to be brought to light, while her discovery of interviews with members of the Brooklyn community allowed her to write with authenticity. The writing is lovely, energetic, precise and evocative of a time now lost. Loraylee Hawkins will stay with me as an extraordinary woman, brave in her love for family, community and the man she was fobidden to marry.

There is so much history in this wonderful book.
I am the same age as bibi, the grand mother. I knew and loved many people in my home as a child that lived in areas of townships set aside for colored. Loved visiting my friends there. My daddy was a superintendent for a coal mine and while the kids in the white camp were not allowed to visit, play with the kids in the colored camp, I was. My folks loved, appreciated their friends and workers there, so they were family to us.
I loved Ms. Mayhew’s writing.
The love story of Lorieee and Archie was sad, very glad to know if had a happy ending.hope there is more in their future, and Hawk too.

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