May 27, 2020IndyPL_LindsayH rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The Turners story is centered around a house that is now about to be sold. The Turners are a large, tight-knit African-American family that came of age on the east side of Detroit when the city was thriving. Now their mother is aging, and…
Nov 21, 2019taralei rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
It is springtime 2008 in ravaged, hopeless Detroit. It is a paean to this fallen mecca for the victims of the atrocities in the grim years of the Jim Crow South. The American dream has been soured, and the city has been abandoned by the…
Mar 16, 2018orange_lobster_23 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This story about a large multi-generational family whose disposition of the family is complicated both by interpersonal dynamics and the neighborhood decline due to white flight
economic inequality, redlining, and fraudulent real…
Nov 21, 2017shayshortt rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Fluornoy’s debut novel is a complex family tale that follows how the thirteen Turner siblings must grapple with what to do with the house on Yarrow Street where they grew up after their mother is too old to live alone any longer.…
Aug 28, 2017EmilyEm rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Set in Detroit in 2008 as the Great Recession and housing crises looms and in the 1940s when the first Turner moves there from Arkansas as part of the Great Migration, we follow the hopes and dreams of the large Turner family and the house…
Jun 11, 2017DBRL_KrisA rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Having read Jeffrey Eugenides' "Middlesex" within the last year, my immediate impulse was to start comparing the two books. While there are similarities - they both deal with multiple generations of families; they both take place in…
May 02, 2017gusmcrae rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
This book touches on a lot of interesting topics--large families (and all the drama that can ensue), the effects of white flight, and addiction are among the biggest topics touched on. It also is populated with interesting people--most…
Mar 28, 2017GummiGirl rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
"Middlesex" is still my favorite novel about Detroit, but this is now a close second. It features historic interest (particularly of the Great Migration) as well as relatable modern characters.
Jan 25, 2017DBRL_KatSU rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
"The Turner House" is a wonderful family story set against the backdrop of the housing crisis in Detroit.
Cha-Cha, the eldest of 13 children, wrestles with a haint (a ghost) in the beginning of the story, and is told by his father,…
The Turner family has owned their home on Detroit's East Side for more than 50 years, but their traditionally black, working-class neighbourhood has deteriorated and they now owe more on their mortgage than the building is worth. Focusing…
Oct 12, 2015SFPL_PortolaLib rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Detroit has ghosts. The book focuses mostly on the oldest (Cha-Cha) and youngest (Lelah) of a set of thirteen adult children, who are both going through a difficult period. Throughout five weeks we see a family at its best and its worst;…
Oct 01, 2015bibliokrisp rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Characters, story, setting and language magically meld and make a truly great and entertaining story. The Turner House is about an African-American family in Detroit, from 1944-2008. Francis & Viola Turner raise 13 children in the Turner…
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The Turner House