By Isabel WilkersonTold mainly through the experiences of three northbound migrants, these stories reflect the path "colored" people took to escape the Jim Crow South of the first half of the 20th century. Ida May and her family left Mississippi for Chicago in 1937; George Starling and his wife left the orange groves of Florida for New York City in 1945; and Dr Robert Foster and his family left Louisiana behind to head west to Los Angeles in 1951. While life in the north and west had its challenges as well as opportunities, still six million black southerners were willing to make that gamble for a better life. This is a lengthy (over 600 pp), really epic story. It is very well written and actually reads more like a novel than a documentary, and it's interesting to read about the migration that changed the face of America in my lifetime.
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