Content levels
Trigger warnings
Synopsis
Betty Jewel Hughes was once the hottest black jazz singer in Memphis. But when she finds herself pregnant and alone, she gives up her dream of being a star to raise her beautiful daughter, Billie, in Shakerag, Mississippi. Now, ten years later, in 1955, Betty Jewel is dying of cancer and looking for someone to care for Billie when she's gone. With no one she can count on, Betty Jewel does the unthinkable: she takes out a want ad seeking a loving mother for her daughter. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, recently widowed Cassie Malone is an outspoken housewife insulated by her wealth and privileged white society. Working part-time at a newspaper, she is drawn to Betty Jewel through her mysterious ad. With racial tension in the South brewing, the women forge a bond as deep as it is forbidden. But neither woman could have imagined the gifts they would find in each other, and in the sweet young girl they both love with all their hearts.
Tags
Is The Sweetest Hallelujah appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
This novel deals with racial segregation in 1955 Mississippi, a dying mother seeking a guardian for her child, and the unlikely bond between a Black woman and a white woman across racial lines. No sexual content or graphic violence; emotional weight around terminal illness and racism may be intense for younger readers.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death of parent, racism, and terminal illness.
Who'll love this
A moving story about love, loss, and unlikely friendship set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights era South.