Well developed memoir of the authors childhood and adulthood and the different paths followed by herself, her sister and her best friend from the 3rd grade/ I though I could predict the outcomes but was wrong; found myself rooting for each woman through her struggles and successes. Kudos to the author for bringing forward her life so clearly and with such heart.

Turner weaves a beautiful tapestry of the lives of her, her sister Dawn, and her best friend Debra from their childhood in Bronzeville through adulthood. Along the way, the girls/women navigate death, divorce, growing up and apart, drugs and alcohol, and race. Turner grapples with what it means to be a friend, a sister. She seeks to answer the "whys" of the choices that were made.

For me, this book was deeply touching. I never would have believed that a white woman from small-town New England could identify so much with a black woman from big-city Chicago. And I think that's what makes this book so good. . This may be Turner's story, but the universality of sisterhood and friendship; of questioning why those close to us, even from our own family, go the way they go; of the pain of relationships and growing apart make this story highly relatable. Just be sure you have a box of tissues with you, because you will cry; but you will also laugh and rejoice as Turner takes you through her life.

This book, about three girls who grew up in Bronzeville in Chicago was a compelling memoir. As I read it I had to ask myself, how could three girls who grew up so similarly have chosen such different paths? I loved the writing style because I found myself feeling like I was there in the story, crying when some parts cracked my heart open and laughing when others made me smile. I found myself rooting for all three of the girls- Dawn, Kim, and Debra, as they each figured out the path they would carve in this world.
A good story draws together the reader and the characters in the story when it highlights what makes us human, not what makes us different. Readers of this book may have very different backgrounds than these characters, but if they take the time to listen to the words in this very well-written memoir, they will carry a part of the story with them long after they have read the last page. This story, which has all the elements of life, including triumphs and devastating things, moved my heart, and for that I am thankful.

After a career of writing about other people, author Dawn Turner tackles her own coming of age story, skillfully choosing what and how to share her personal experiences growing up in the 1970s with her younger sister and best friend in this powerfully written memoir.

Living in the historic Bronzeville section south of Chicago, these three children of working class parents are inseparable until life draws them on three separate paths to adulthood. Although I recognize the historic people associated with Bronzeville (Ida B. Wells, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Coleman, Richard Wright – to name a very few), I am not familiar with Chicago neighborhoods and relied on a map to get a sense of its physical location. If anything, this endeared me more to the story because I could be present in the descriptive recreation of her childhood home without any preconceptions. The author beautifully juxtaposes her family structure within the neighborhood, connecting the original three girls from Bronzeville with the current girls, and Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, the passage of time that consumes it all.

Her memoir richly captures the poignant message that it is up to each individual to find and adhere to a plan for their life. Without one, they are swallowed up by life’s experiences and circumstances. Dawn uses these circumstances to get into college, where she learned how to develop and manage her plan.

While our future is dependent upon our individual ability to recognize and seize opportunity through our own personal determination and hard work, seeing that opportunity often requires others – as guides and mentors. Yet, people can only do so much for others. As Dawn repeatedly tried to be a positive influence, encouraging her sister and best friend, she could not live their lives for them. They made their own choices and experienced more challenging hardships as a result. Also evident throughout the story are the serious effects of recreational drug use in America, intensified with the introduction of crack cocaine in the 1980s. In some ways, “Three Girls from Bronzeville,” shares broad-stroke commonality with J. D. Vance’s bestseller, “Hillbilly Elegy.”

With incredible vulnerability and authenticity, Dawn Turner shares with us some of her most important people who shaped her life – parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, sister, best friend, teachers, classmates, spouse, in-laws, and daughter. Never perfect, but always real, her story is honest, direct, sometimes shocking, and often sad. I genuinely appreciated her invitation to visit her childhood, to embrace one’s loved ones, and see the long hard work that leads to understanding and forgiveness.

I highly recommend this book.

I give this book 4.75 stars. I received a free ecopy from Net Galley for an honest review. I thought this book was going to be a book about childhood friendship. It was about friendship but, also, trauma, addiction, loss, starting over, and forgiveness. It was a book that left an imprint on my heart.

It is an easy book to read. The author really gets you to know each character. You know thei strengths and weaknesses. At parts, in the story, I wanted to hug the digital pages. I even had feelings for the cat.

The book takes place over many decades. You can see how the characters transform. There were many times I pondered, what would I have done in similar circumstances.

It is one of the most emotional books I have read. It will tear at your heart strings. Make you want to call people from your past up.

The story shows that sometimes we can make a difference and sometimes we can't. Most of us make mistakes. Sometimes our support system can help us when things get rough ( and sometimes they can't). We do the best we can.

I can't wait to read more from the author. I would like to thank her for writing so beautifully the story of her pain, life, and journey.

I couldn’t put this book down. Seriously captivating. And now that it’s over, I can’t stop thinking about it. The choices we make, others make, what happens to us and how we react to it… 3 similar people made very different life choices in this book and ended up very different paths. Highly recommend reading this book.

Subtitled “a uniquely American memoir of race, fate and sisterhood, Turner’s memoir focuses on the relationships of the author, her sister, Kim, and best friend, Debra.
The three lived in Bronzeville, which is a historic neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. They were descendants of the Blacks who made their way north from the injustices of life in the South,. The girls have the dreams that most young women: a career, family and getting out of the neighborhood.
The three of them turn out very differently than anyone ever expected. Turner wants to know why, in spite of the similarity of their upbringing, Kim and Debra made the decisions they made with their lives.
It’s an interesting look at the parts played by race and money in the lives of people.

This was gut wrenching at times, eye opening all throughout. You cannot understand what privilege means unless you hear - and listen to - what others walk through to know their story.

I really enjoyed this book! This book was generously provided to me through NetGalley. Highly Recommended!

I wanted to love this. Bronzeville sounds a lot like life growing up in Baltimore. It started out very strong and I liked the parts about the working class neighborhoods and projects and how the city ignores these people. However, I felt like I didn't end up liking Dawn and her attitude towards her friends. She seemed to really set herself apart in a way that didn't seem quite fair.
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Yes, this memoir was truly fascinating. It addressed the remarkable life paths of three young girls who grew up together in the Bronzeville area of Chicago. It was amazing how the girls each had a different destiny, despite their close social lives.

I wondered if the differences were from their slight variations in personality, social circumstances at school, or maybe even from luck. In the end, I decided it was common sense and maturity that allowed the author to become a successful writer. I’m so glad that she selected this profession and wisely opted to write her outstanding memoir. Dawn’s story is a memoir and very personal sociological study that is definitely worthwhile reading. Thank you for allowing me to read this memoir in advance.

RAW & irresistible page-turner!!! I could not not reading it. There is so much to this read. It leaves you speechless and wanting more. The characters are so powerful in their own. Kim.... I was so hoping for a different turn out for her,.

This book is one of those amazing memoirs that at times feels like a novel, but that also feels so real and cuts deeper because of its truth. It's about a woman growing up in Chicago, her family, and her best friend, but it's also about race, luck, addiction, forgiveness, and the policies that shape people's lives.

I loved how real the relationships between the women in Dawn's life felt. Her relationship with her sister was the most impactful one for me (and I have a spoiler near the end of the review regarding that, when I talk about content warnings).

The very beginning of the book took me a bit to get into, but by the fifth chapter I was completely pulled into this world. By halfway through, I knew this book was breaking me open, and that I would love it.

My only real complaint with this book is a meta one that hopefully won't apply to many people reading this after it comes out; because I am reading an advanced copy, there were no content warnings available online. I am not usually one to need them anyhow, but if I had been provided content warnings for this book, it would have been a better experience. This was especially the case for *major spoiler ahead* the death of her sister. The relationship she had with her sister was so like mine with my own sister (I was and am the protective know-it-all older sister to a headstrong fun-loving younger sister), and the worry and grief impacted me a great deal. I wish I could have prepared a little for that, and known what I was getting myself into emotionally.

All in all, I loved this book. It is such a moving portrait of so many types of people and paths, and covers such a range of time and experiences. The prose is written beautifully and as I said at the start, reading it often feels like a novel. I would recommend it to anyone, even people who don't usually like memoirs.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the chance to review this ARC.

Similar to books like The Other Wes Moore, Dawn Turner explores the different paths and destinies of herself, her younger sister, and childhood best friend, and tries to understand the reasons for why their paths diverges so drastically. She sets the scene in the Bronzeville area of Chicago, and vividly brings it to life. Despite knowing nothing about it or its history in the beginning, by the end I found myself emotionally invested in the community. Although the memoir focuses on three people, it is also about the shifting urban landscape and the meaning that holds to those who grew up there. She also manages to include a great deal about her family's history with the Great Migration, as well as zooming in on her personal relationships with various family members. It sounds like a lot, and it is, content-wise, but I never felt it was overwhelming or overly ambitious. Some readers might feel that she inserted herself too far into the narrative, but as a memoir, I think it was appropriate for the book to cover a lot of her personal experiences with grief. This isn't a book that tells you how to try and rescue your loved ones, but rather, sits alongside you as you grapple with those tough questions.

Do I...like memoirs now?

In all seriousness, this was really wonderful. Turner knows how to write beautiful sentences, and the introspection in her writing really spoke to me. I also really LOVED the way she wrote about the older lady relatives in her life--her mom, her aunt, and her granny. The love and care she feels for them just...shines through.

Of course, the central two women in this life, besides her, are also spoken of beautifully, reverently. A wonderful read.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a story of three girls from Bronzeville and how they grew up together but took totally different paths in life. The author is the one who most readers would call the success story. The other two are her sister and her best friend. They all lived in the same building as young children.
It's a good story in terms of being a slice of life of that location and generation and I liked the ending, but most of the time I was unsure of what role the author was trying to take in this story. Readers interested in Bronzeville will enjoy getting to know it from the author's point of view.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book