This was very nicely written historical fiction novel. I experienced the intense emotions in this book and felt it throughout the many characters.

This book truly started a very animated discussion about Black history and the lack of it in schools. What Black Queer life was like during those times amongst my group of friends and I personally learned a lot reading it. The mystery and the secrets between the family members really had me hooked and it came to a truly unexpected ending. and truly how many people were at the bottom of the well by the end of the story? that is the real question!

good story. very similar to the vanishing half. this was a 4 star read for me. the book was fiction but touched on great point in history. the plot was very layered and complex but kept the reader engaged.

Everyman is a multigenerational saga that begins in 1972 Chicago and weaves narratives backwards to 1920s Georgia and the Great Migration of African-Americans fleeing southern persecution for Northern opportunities. If you enjoy family sagas, historical fiction or themes of belonging/identity, this book is for you! I absolutely loved this one and am looking forward to Dr. Conner’s next book!

A gripping story about how the generations that come before us have a searing impact on our lives. Connor has a talent for creating unexpected twists and turns without falling into the realm of gimick and her characters are relatably messy. Definitely recommend for when you're feeling cathartic.

EVERYMAN by M. Shelly Conner is a story about history, family secrets, and finding yourself within your community. Conner masterfully uses symbolism and allegory, as Eve serves as a stand-in for the reader to give us moments of reflection; her complicated family history resembles many of our own. I loved the integration and exploration of Black feminist and womanist thinking; it explores the unique position of Black women within race- and gender-based oppression, while also asking what happens to those who fit outside the heteronormative binary.

This is one of those book you know will end up being a classic one day. It’s just that powerful. This book is a complex web of relationships, plots, and character development that all builds into one hell of a story. This is not a book that you can just read through, it makes you stop. It makes you think and reread passages so you know you understand just what you’re reading.

This is one of those books you need a buddy to read with, because you’re going to need to talk it out. The issues it covers are that important. I think everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE needs to read this book. 5/5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this novel.
It was all over the place for me. It fell in and out the lives of the characters without any real order. Some of the characters back story had nothing to do with the main story. The quotes at the beginning of each chapter did not tie in or relate to what I read after those words. On the bright side, I love the cover.

Thank you to @hearourvoicestours for the #gifted copy and the opportunity to be in this book tour.

📖 This story is about going back to understand where you came from. I have to admit the beginning pages made me chuckle at the way the author characterized what it’s like to come to a small town where everybody know you…often before you know them.

📖 I thought this was a great story that highlighted aspects of The Great Migration. Eve’s journey to learn about her family was heartwarming and relevant.

Book:Everyman
Author: M Shelly Conner
Pgs:250
Genre: Historical Fiction
Synopsis:
Eve Mann arrives in Ideal, Georgia, in 1972 looking for answers about the mother who died giving her life. A mother named Mercy. A mother who for all of Eve’s 22 years has been a mystery and a quest. Eve’s search for her mother, and the father she never knew, is a mission to discover her identity, her name, her people, and her home.
Eve’s questions and longing launch a multigenerational story that sprawls back to the turn of the 20th century, settles into the soil of the South, the blood and souls of Black folk making love and life and fleeing in a Great Migration into the savage embrace of the North.
Eve is a young woman coming of age in Chicago against the backdrop of the twin fires and fury of the civil rights and Black Power movements - a time when everything and everyone, it seems, longs to be made anew.
At the core of this story are the various meanings of love - how we love and, most of all, whom we love. everyman is peopled by rebellious Black women straining against the yoke of convention and designated identities, explorers announcing their determination to be and to be free. There is Nelle, Eve’s best friend and heart, who claims her right both to love women and to always love Eve as a sister and friend.
Brother Lee Roy, professor and mentor, gives Eve the tools for her genealogical search while turning away from his own bitter harvest of family secrets. Mama Ann, the aunt who has raised Eve and knows everything about Mercy, offers Eve a silence that she defines as protection and care. But it is James and Geneva, two strangers whom Eve meets in Ideal, who plumb the depths of their own hurt and reconciliations to finally give Eve the gift of her past, a reimagined present, and finally, her name.
Thank you, hearourvoicestours for letting me apart of this tour.
This book was a intricate, sweeping look of a strong familial line of black women. It is also a coming-of-age story, a bildungsroman of Eve especially. Chicago based, she goes to Georgia to find out who she really is. I loved the lyrical, poetic prose of the story and more importantly the exploration of queer life, in regards to Nellie, her friend. I really admire how the themes of black feminism, racism, family dynamics are woven into the story. Highly recommended.

#HearOurVoices #HOV #Everyman #Bookstagrammer #blackgirlsread #blackgirlsreadtoo #bookwormsofinstagram #bookstagrammersunite #wellreadblackgirl #blackauthorsofinstagram #blackauthorsmatter #blackgirlsreading #amplifyblackvoices #blackbookstagrammer #blackbookstagram #blackgirlsreading #bibliophile #diversespines #bookstagram #bookish #blackbookstagram #blackbibliophile #blackandbookish #booklover #thisgirlreads #thisblackgirlreads #blackbooks

I finished this book a little over a week ago and I’m still feeling emotions from the story and the characters. There’s so many layers to the story and it was full of complicated relationships, history and secrets. Beautifully written!

M Shelley Conner PhD author, essayist, screenwriter, and playwright. She has published in several magazines and an excerpt of Everyman in the Obsidian Journal of Literature and the Arts of the African Diaspora.
I found the book some what difficult to follow; however, I did find the novel to be interesting. If I had more time to give the book a close reading, I could have gotten more out of the story. As a result, my review will cover the literary portion and not the plot.
The title of the book is brilliant with the use of Eve Mann’s name, “Eve Mann, with two n’s”. I am nuts for words, semicolons and long sentences. I loved M Shelley’s long flowing sentences with names tucked in between. I did feel uncomfortable with some of the words the author used; however, I understand their importance to the story
I noticed M Shelley wrote several vignettes throughout the novel, one of which focused on the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, the author compared the Pharaoh as “The Harriet Tubman of forgotten memories”. To me, the novel is broken down into many small stories, many of which I could have explored much closer.
Thank you M Shelley Conner PhD, Blackstoe publishing and NetGalley for the privilege of reading and reviewin this novel.

Everyman is a historical fiction about Eve(ry) Manns as she explores her family history. While doing so, she is met with some resistance and comes to unfold some family secrets.

In the beginning, this book started off pretty slow. It was a bit confusing at times with all of the characters. As the story progressed, I was able to somewhat put the pieces together. I did enjoy the premise of this novel, although it wasn't my favorite HF at this moment.

Some of the characters were memorable, while others, I can't remember much about them.

I would still recommend others to read this book as it does serve as a great read with some very important topics addressed: LGBTQA+ representation; familial relationships; stereotypes; family secrets.

I would like to than the author, Netgalley, and Hear Our Voices Tour for the opportunity to read this novel; I received an e-copy for my unbiased review.

Overall, I would give Everyman 3.5. stars.

Eve Mann arrives in Ideal, Georgia, in 1972 looking for answers about the mother who died giving her life. A mother named Mercy. A mother who for all of Eve's twenty-two years has been a mystery and a quest. Eve's search for her mother, and the father she never knew, is a mission to discover her identity, her name, her people, and her home.
Ok. So this was quite a heavy read. I was not entirely sure what I was getting into when I started it. But it proved to be one of the best books for the black history month!
This literally spanned multiple generations that sprawls back to the turn of twentieth century, and gave us an insight into how life was at those particular periods. Though I must admit that there were times when it bordered on a documentary, but it definitely was informative especially regarding the great revolution and the great migration from the South. The author has provided us with nuggets of info about the revolution and the revolutionaries ,which helps lay the foundation regarding the various time periods that were discussed. It’s only later on that we start to understand how this helps us in understanding Eves story. At times the switch between periods was confusing, but it all came together in the end.
What I found special about this book was the way it approached homosexuality and the beautiful lyrical way in which it was explored. How racism could be discerned in something as personal as one’s sexuality. To the point of that one finds it difficult to identify self separately from the community. Definitely one of the best works that has explored lesbianism with sensitivity and perspective.

Most of all I loved the writing especially the language and sentence constructs. Each line was inlaid with so much meaning that if I were one of those people that annotate, I would possibly have underlined the whole book!!
Buried secrets and how the presence or absence of one’s personal history can define you and shape your actions is a central theme of this book.
Friendships and the challenges we face in maintaining it, especially when some choices take us in different paths is also explored well.
All in all, it’s a definite recommendation for Black History Month. I would give it a 4 star for the language and the importance of the topics dealt with. There was a documentary touch to it, so it’s a 3 star as far as engagement part is considered.

This was a great story that was told beautifully. The cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous and the story was even better. 4.5 stars

Every Mann is searching for who she is. She never knew her mother or father and her longing for a connection is palpable. M Shelley Conner takes us back in time as we learn about Every (Eve’s) lineage. She weaves a wonderful trail through Eve’s history.

LeRoi’s backstory was interesting. He was able to be a source of support to his students despite his own struggles. I loved reading the different timelines and learning how all of the pieces fit together. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, but in the end the author was able to tie them all together.

I took longer to read this book because I spent so much time highlighting and annotating poignant moments.

Favorite quotes:
“We have marched. We have petitioned. We have died. But no one is going to gather for your rights as a sexual equal to love whomever you choose.”

“In the dark, it never occurs to any of you that what you crave most is light.”

This is a slow burn but once you really get into the story it is very fascinating the way the author is able to interweave the historical aspects with the main character (Every's) journey of self-discovery.

The writing is absolutely impeccable! The way the story unfolds as you are reading it definitely kept me more interested in the later parts of the book. I also truly appreciate that this book comes full circle at the end.

It would be helpful to have a family tree graphic in the book, but that is also part of the experience of figuring it out as you are reading.

This book was written exceptionally well. I loved that we were able to take a trip back and see things from different views. Seeing how queerness was viewed back then was also interesting to see. Historical fiction is becoming one of my favorites and I can add this to the list

everyman

Historical fiction is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I especially love a great multi-generational saga.

When everyman opens, Eve Mann has just stepped off of a greyhound bus coming from Chicago and arriving in the small Southern town Ideal, Georgia. She’s seeking answers about her lineage, something that has been withheld from her for her entire life. From there, we’re thrown into a world of secrets, questions, and a journey to the past.

As the story unfolds , historical milestones are happening all around us - from the great migration to the civil rights movement. We are introduced to a host of characters, all with a role to play and secrets to reveal. These characters also serve as a great tool to educate us on the changes happening in society and within black, southern, and queer experiences. The intersectionality of all these experiences along with womanhood specifically is presented really really well.

What I loved most about this story was the voice. The narration is done in a way where I truly felt transported. There are things that are revealed to the reader, that the characters never knows. There are multiple characters but surprisingly, I did not find it hard to follow and felt every character had a purpose. I felt empathy for each of them, especially Eve as she journeys through discovering her history. I have a feeling these characters will stick with me for a long time. Highly recommend!

This book has so many quotables but this one stuck with me.

“Everyone wants to fly but no one wants to be ungrounded “

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Swipe for information about the readalong and challenges hosted by @hearourvoicestours.


#everyman #HOV #HearOurVoices #Hearourvoicestours

The writing was descriptive and captivating - I was completely absorbed by Eve’s family history! As a historical novel, this is a great snapshot of civil rights history and how queerness was perceived at this time, especially in the Black community.

Thank you for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Everyman. I really gave it my best shot but after reading 53% of this book, I simply could not go on. It simply did not hold my interest.

I wanted to know how Every’s trip to her family’s birthplace turned out. The novel then shifted gears to talk of LeRoy’s ancestry and his time at Tuskegee. It became confusing and no longer held my interest.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview this book.