THE QUEEN OF SUGAR HILL - Reshonda Tate
A Novel of Hattie McDaniel
A Perfect 10
Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-06-329107-2
January 2024
Fiction

Hollywood - 1930s and 1940s

Hattie McDaniel was proud of her part in the wildly popular film Gone With The Wind where she played Mammy. And she worked hard to perfect that role, despite the fact that many of her fellow Negro actors were not content with playing such parts. When Hattie was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress, she didn't expect much. At the awards ceremony, while the rest of the GWTW cast sat in the front row of the audience, Hattie was relegated to a small table in the back of the auditorium. And then her name was called as the winner, and a whole different world opened up for her. Or so she thought.

Traditionally, Oscar winners found new openings in their careers. But for Hattie, that wasn't the case, Even the after Awards party barred non-whites from attending. Despite an agent who tried hard to get her great parts, Hattie struggled to find meaningful work. While it was an honor to be the first Negro actor/actress to win an Academy Award, the NAACP wasn't thrilled that it was for playing a slave. And the movie companies were not as eager to hire Negro actors.

Hattie's personal life was a struggle at times, too. Multiple marriages, despair that she couldn't get pregnant, and having to find enough work to pay the bills, she spent many years trying to prove her worth. She was, however, surrounded by good friends, and if not for them, Hattie would have been lost. Despite her war work and her agent, her acting career was grinding to a halt. Racism would rear its ugly head over and over again, preventing Negro actors and actresses from working. But Hattie was not one to let anything get her down for long. 

THE QUEEN OF SUGAR HILL is an eye-opening look at American history and the undergrowth of racism. But it also shows the strength and determination of one woman who knew herself, who knew what she wanted, and would stop at nothing to achieve her goals. 

I highly recommend THE QUEEN OF SUGAR HILL for its honesty and for telling a story of perseverance.

Jani Brooks