The Roux in the Gumbo by Kim Robinson in a way reminds me of one of my favorite books, The Land by Mildred D. Taylor. In an initial comparison, both explore the historical roots of family and the impact that figures within the genealogy have on the family tree. Both works, to some extent, explore what it was like to be black in the historical American south (Roux goes beyond). There are qualities about The Roux in the Gumbo that give the story credence.

The story begins just at a time around the Civil War and follows the history of a black family rooted in slavery. Kim Robinson doesn't build the story around one centralized character, but shifts the 3rd person omniscient point of view from character to character with most chapters so named for the character being explained. For example, the first character we meet is Gizelle. She is a runaway slave and is taken in by a medicine woman. The next character we meet is Tallulah, the medicine woman who takes care of and eventually adopts Gizelle. The narrative follows the family as its tree branches off telling each person's story from 1850 through present day.

The Roux in the Gumbo as a title is a wonderful metaphor for the substance that holds all of the flamboyant ingredients together just like the idea of individuals are held together by family, but it failed to make an impact on me for three reasons. First, there is a lack of descriptive language to hold my interest. Ms. Robinson was excellent at telling me what happened, the who, what, when, and where, but I would have enjoyed more of the how. For example, Robinson wrote, "Gizelle decided to sit and wait. Surely, one of the water moccasins or some deadly spider would put her out of her misery. No matter what, she was not going back to the plantation," (page 8). I would love to know what was going through Gizelle's mind; I would have liked some description that would put me there with Gizelle making my heart beat with anticipation of what is happening to her. The prose was cut and dry. Roux, at over 400 pages could easily have nearly doubled in length with some imagery and description. Second, there were so many different characters with no real organization that I had difficulty keeping each name in order. Ms. Robinson would go from one character to the next, and I am sure in her imagination it all made sense, but for me there was difficulty in keeping all of them and their stories straight. For example, one chapter would be about Gizelle, the next about Annie and then the following chapter was Larry. Who the heck is Larry? And I would have to jump back into the prose to figure it out. I would have liked more focus on a centralized character so that I had a guide or an anchor. A visual family tree at the beginning of the book would have been helpful. Finally, Roux seems to meander like a river from source to mouth. As it jumps from character to character, their stories seemed like institutions in and of themselves without a clear direction in conflict or tension to guide them along.

With that said, The Roux in the Gumbo has some salient qualities that give it merit. Kim Robinson has developed some clear and wonderful characters that have potential to be memorable when utilized in a stronger narrative. For example, Annie is a favorite with her strong, no-nonsense, razor blade wielding personality, and her obvious flaws that humanize her make her dynamic as a possible literary force. Another quality is the poetry. One piece at the end of the book, Different but Better, is a great poem. I would have liked to see the poetry scattered throughout the novel as they corresponded with the narrative. Finally, Kim Robinson has taken a personal risk in writing a representation of her family's struggles, a powerful story at that. While reading, I couldn't help but feel that The Roux in the Gumbo was a masterpiece in progress and with work might compare to works like The Color Purple (Alice Walker) or Roots (Alex Haley). In its current form, however, wading through the prose proved difficult.

Reviewed By Maci Walker
© February 2005