53 pages • 1 hour read
Natasha TretheweyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Five years after Gwen’s death, Natasha found a cassette recording on which Gwen spoke. Natasha had already forgotten what her mother smelled like and how she walked. She had found the tape in her grandmother’s house. The tape brought Gwen back to her. Then, the tape became tangled in the machine. Natasha took out the cassette, smoothed the tape, and started over. Again and again, it would catch. Finally, it snapped in her hands.
Since his release from prison, Joel had been calling Gwen repeatedly and threatening her. As a result, Gwen worked with the DeKalb County District Attorney’s office to get enough evidence to “compel a judge to issue a warrant for Joel’s arrest” (158). The assistant district attorney installed a recording device in Gwen’s apartment (her word against Joel was not enough) that was connected to her telephone. During one of her conversations with Joel, there is an interruption from when Natasha called to tell her mother when exams would be over, and she could pick her up for summer break. That call occurred on June 4, 1985; the last time Natasha spoke with her mother.
The tape starts on June 3.
By Natasha Trethewey
Beyond Katrina
Natasha Trethewey
Elegy for the Native Guards
Natasha Trethewey
Graveyard Blues
Natasha Trethewey
History Lesson
Natasha Trethewey
Myth
Natasha Trethewey
Native Guard
Natasha Trethewey
Theories of Time and Space
Natasha Trethewey
African American Literature
View Collection
American Literature
View Collection
Books on Justice & Injustice
View Collection
Grief
View Collection
Inspiring Biographies
View Collection
Memoir
View Collection
Mystery & Crime
View Collection
New York Times Best Sellers
View Collection
Sexual Harassment & Violence
View Collection
True Crime & Legal
View Collection