Studies show that staying put is the number one cause of FOMO among freewheelers and ramblers. But the long term health benefits of deep roots and steady love are often, criminally, underreported. This week on Whoa!mance, Morgan and Isabeau clear their spit valves to hit the high notes with a selection from Decades: A Journey of African American Romance, in Sheryl Lister’s Love’s Serenade. Set primarily in Harlem in the 1920’s, Leigh Jones, our heroine, escapes the American South and an arranged marriage after being spurred by Miles Cooper, our reluctant hero and aspiring jazz great, to pursue a life of independence. Immersed in the cultural heights of the Harlem Renaissance, Leigh and Miles navigate their new found freedom and pen their own tunes in the stolen moments of a white-supremacist society. How does the present inform our depictions of the past? How does Romancelandia reward and reinforce white readership? How much historical detail is too much? Bust out your Victrola y'all because this one’s going straight to 78.
