Review: Shine Annie by Betty Oglesby Payne

If you travel deep down south on a dusty road in Tobacco County, Georgia, you’ll come across a big farmhouse built in the 40s. Inside, up a set of creaky, old stairs, in a sweltering hot attic, there’s a fabric-covered box with a Victorian floral print shoved in a corner. Inside that box are the memories of days gone by. That antique box holds faded and torn black and white pictures, some cracked, some stuck together, others are moldy with hand-scribbled descriptions written in pencil on the back. The only people who remember the faces and places in the pictures have gone on to be with the lord a long time ago.

There’s a picture of young girl named Annie Ruth, with her smooth brown skin and the eyes of a dream deferred. Her eyes hide the pain of disappointment deep inside. Looking fondly at her are a baby, Patricia, with bright eyes and the innocence of youth, and Curtis, her husband. With his chest puffed out and the countenance of a man who loves being a husband and father, Curtis shows immense pride in his family and you can tell that the ground on which his feet are planted is his own.

Annie Ruth and Curtis weren’t real however. Tobacco County doesn’t really exist. The images however are very real; they are alive and in vivid color between the pages of Shine Annie. Betty Oglesby Payne has taken a snapshot in her mind and described it with exacting detail in her freshman novel. She expertly recollects the mindsets, pains, and the debilitating conditions of a racist Jim Crow reality. It’s more than a body of fiction to entertain; it’s a lesson in history, social consciousness, morality and exaltation of Black culture.

Shine Annie tells the coming-of-age tale of a young girl who is forced to grow up and accept responsibility for choices made in haste. Life goes on all around her and she makes adjustments to each of those challenges; sometimes making the right decision, other times opting for the easy route not the high road. Her first love almost loses his life at the hands of white men who are intent on teaching him that loves certainly does know color. Her cousin, conceived from rape, struggles with loving a man who loves himself more than he loves her. Her Daddy, Big Sid, provides a model of character and integrity when the forces around him are working to oppress and dehumanize him.

Anyone that remembers the pain of segregation, anyone who wants to understand the past to grasp an understanding of the present, anyone who is looking for a compelling read that conveys emotion and weaves a unique tale would do well to read Shine Annie. It stands out as a wonderful alternative to contemporary ghetto lit that recycles the same materialistic tale. This most certainly is a snapshot of days gone by that will touch your heart and make your heart shine.

Scottie Lowe, Owner of AfroerotiK