Don’t Cry for Me

Black’s (The Sacred Place) epistolary novel chronicles a dying father’s sorrow over a lifetime of failing his gay son, Isaac. Sixty-two-year-old Jacob Swinton bares his soul in this painful recounting of his upbringing and his reasons for treating Isaac as he did. As he states, this is a “record of a poor Black father’s appeal…what any dying daddy might say to his son.” Jacob is unsparing in his account, brutally revealing how ashamed he was that Isaac wanted to play with dolls and that he played the titular role in the musical Annie. Despite Isaac’s talents, Jacob baldly states, “You weren’t the son I wanted.” This novel is not easy and does not resolve into pat resolutions, but is an initial step of reaching out for forgiveness, even when time has run out. Black narrates his own novel, and although his narration is sometimes a little stilted, this roughness adds an unparalleled note of authenticity and truth. Black simply becomes Jacob and delivers a transparent and piercingly real performance.