The Yellow House (book)

The Yellow House
First edition cover
AuthorSarah M. Broom
Audio read bySarah M. Broom
Cover artistAlison Forner[1]
LanguageEnglish
SubjectMemoir
PublisherGrove Press
Publication date
August 13, 2019
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), e-book, audiobook
Pages384
AwardsNational Book Award for Nonfiction (2019)
ISBN978-0-8021-2508-8 (hardcover)
814/.6 B
LC ClassPS3602.R6458 Y45 2019

The Yellow House is a memoir by Sarah M. Broom. It is Broom's first book and it was published on August 13, 2019, by Grove Press.[2] The Yellow House chronicles Broom's family (mapping back approximately 100 years), her life growing up in New Orleans East, and the eventual demise of her beloved childhood home after Hurricane Katrina. Broom also focuses on the aftermath of Katrina and how the disaster altered her family and her neighborhood. At its core, the book examines race, class, politics, family, trauma, and inequality in New Orleans and America. The Yellow House won the 2019 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Publication

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The Yellow House was published by Grove Press on August 13, 2019,[2] following the publication of an early excerpt in the New Yorker in 2015.[3] The book debuted at number 11 on the Hardcover Nonfiction best sellers list for the September 1, 2019, edition of The New York Times.[4]

Reception

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According to Book Marks, the book received "rave" reviews based on thirty critic reviews with twenty-one being "rave" and eleven being "positive".[5] In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.11 out of 5) from the site which was based on five critic reviews.[6] On November/December 2019 issue of Bookmarks, the book received a (4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a summary saying, "Her memoir, which "reads as elegy and prayer" (NPR), is a future classic in the making".[7]

In a pre-publication review, Dwight Garner of the New York Times wrote, "This is a major book that I suspect will come to be considered among the essential memoirs of this vexing decade."[8] In the New York Times Book Review, Angela Flournoy called it “an instantly essential text.”[9] The Star Tribune opined that Broom's book had “essentially told the story of black America in one fell swoop.”[10] Other publications to declare the book's importance included Publishers Weekly.[11] and Kirkus Reviews[12] Quoting the book itself, Kirkus Reviews opined that The Yellow House reflected the author's attempt "to reckon with 'the psychic cost of defining oneself by the place where you are from,'" adding that "Broom's lyrical style celebrates her family bonds, but a righteous fury runs throughout the narrative at New Orleans' injustices, from the foundation on up."[12]

In November 2019, The Yellow House won the National Book Award for Nonfiction.[13][14][15][16][17] The book was named one of the top 10 books of 2019 by both the New York Times Book Review[18] and the Washington Post.[19] The Yellow House won the John Leonard Award for Best First Book from the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Awards.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom. Grove Atlantic. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  2. ^ Broom, Sarah M. (August 17, 2015). "The Yellow House". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  3. ^ "Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 1, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  4. ^ "The Yellow House". Book Marks. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  5. ^ "The Yellow House Reviews". Books in the Media. Archived from the original on 19 Oct 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  6. ^ "The Yellow House". Bookmarks. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  7. ^ Garner, Dwight (August 5, 2019). "'The Yellow House' Is a Major Memoir About a Large Family and Its Beloved Home". The New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  8. ^ Flournoy, Angela (August 9, 2019). "After Hurricane Katrina, How Do You Return Home When Home No Longer Exists?". The New York Times Book Review. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  9. ^ Gibney, Shannon (August 9, 2019). "Review: 'The Yellow House,' by Sarah Broom". Star Tribune. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  10. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom". Publishers Weekly. April 26, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  11. ^ a b "The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom". Kirkus Reviews. April 23, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  12. ^ "National Book Awards 2019". National Book Foundation. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  13. ^ Italie, Hillel (November 20, 2019). "Susan Choi, Sarah M. Broom win National Book Awards". Associated Press. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  14. ^ Malone Kircher, Madison (November 21, 2019). "Sarah M. Broom's National Book Award Speech Will Make You Want to Call Your Mom". Vulture. New York. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  15. ^ "New Orleans author Sarah Broom wins National Book Award for memoir 'The Yellow House'". NOLA.com. November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  16. ^ Wappler, Margaret (November 20, 2019). "Susan Choi and Sarah M. Broom win National Book Awards". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  17. ^ "The 10 Best Books of 2019". The New York Times. November 22, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  18. ^ "Best Books of 2019". The Washington Post. November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  19. ^ "Announcing the finalists for the 2019 NBCC Awards". 12 January 2020.
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