Art
Literature
Performing Arts
Editors' Choices
Search
* Asterisks indicate multimedia
Literature Annotations
 |
|
| Genre | Novel |
| Keywords | Abandonment, African-American Experience, Aging, Caregivers, Cross-Cultural Issues, Death and Dying, Drug Addiction, Family Relationships, Grief, Hospitalization, Loneliness, Love, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mourning, Nursing, Parenthood |
| Summary | Rocking The Babies is a rich novel which gives us significant insights into the lives of two aging black women who decide to volunteer as foster grandmothers in the neonatal unit of an urban hospital. Each of them is attempting to work out her own problems. Despite the commonality of race, (African-American), their class differences and life experiences become areas of contention as they come together in the hospital. The dynamics of their developing relationship, the descriptions of the day to day experiences in the neo-natal unit, the professional lives of nurses and doctors are depicted with skill, pathos, and humour. |
| Commentary | This novel presents a rare opportunity to help health care providers focus on the reality and significance of class differences within the African-American community. Fundamental questions about the meaning of life and survival surface as central themes. The pull of family versus the pull of the streets is paramount. Nursing roles are depicted and explored within the context of the neo-natal nursery. Unresolved grief and the effects it can have is demonstrated. The issues facing aging women have universal appeal. |
| Publisher | Viking |
| Edition | 1994 |
| Place Published | New York |
| Miscellaneous | This is the first published novel by this author and has won several awards. |
| Annotated by |
Secundy, Marian Gray |
| Date of Entry |
11/08/95 |
| Last Revised |
12/11/06 |