This book isn't for the faint-hearted! I don't think there's such a thing as a happy life in this book - it deals with themes including domestic violence, racism, suicide, rape, (forced) abortion, sexism, adoption and male chauvinism. It's not a comfortable read and makes you wonder if anyone is really happy in their lives. I like the 3 sections of the book with the 3 generations of the same family, gives it a nice continuity through the book, but all the characters have similar issues so it doesn't seem like attitudes to race have changed very much over 50 or so years. The book is written like the characters talk so sometimes is hard to follow with all the Black American slang. It's not the sort of book which leaves you with a warm glow after you've read it, but maybe it's a good thing to open people's eyes to the issues that other races face.