Exploring Detroit & Windsor Through Stories: A Collaboration With Buried In Print Part. 2

As you’ve seen on my blog I love traveling to new places within the pages of a book. Buried in Print and I became connected through the world of book blogging years ago and have become friends through our love of books and snail mail! We often chat about our connection through our hometowns and she came up with the brilliant idea of a reading project that bridges Detroit, Michigan (USA) and Windsor, Ontario (Canada) through books set in those locations.

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My Detroit Book Pick:

The Turners have lived on Yarrow Street for over fifty years. Their house has seen thirteen children grown and gone—and some returned; it has seen the arrival of grandchildren, the fall of Detroit’s East Side, and the loss of a father. The house still stands despite abandoned lots, an embattled city, and the inevitable shift outward to the suburbs. But now, as ailing matriarch Viola finds herself forced to leave her home and move in with her eldest son, the family discovers that the house is worth just a tenth of its mortgage. The Turner children are called home to decide its fate and to reckon with how each of their pasts haunts—and shapes—their family’s future.

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My Thoughts:

The Turner House is a story of an American family settled within Detroit that takes us through the story of their large family and changing dynamics. The structure of the story reminded me slightly of Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson (even though this book far proceeds hers since it was published in 2015). Though this book is 10 years old now (how time flies!) I still think it is extremely relevant to Detroiters and those wanting to get a glimpse of modern Detroit. The story is set on the East Side where I grew up and I deeply connected to it while recognizing familiar landmarks and small tidbits of Detroit culture that locals would be familiar with.

Being that the story is set in 2008 I was immediately thrown back in time and realized just how much the city has grown and changed since then. Here are some notable events that took place back then:

• The average cost of a new house was $238,880
• With the economy collapsing, President Bush and the House housed moved a $150 billion stimulus package.
• In June, the Red Wings won their 11th Central Division title, sixth Presidents’ Trophy and fifth Clarence S. Campbell Bowl. They also won the Stanley Cup.
• Detroit Lions completed the imperfect season, losing all 16 games.
• Tiger Stadium’s demolition began on June 30, 2008.
•  Kwame Kilpatrick resigned his office as mayor effective September 19, 2008.
• Barack Obama was elected as the first Black U.S. President.
• 2008 Financial Crisis and the Great Recession.

Safe to say, reading this book felt like time travel. This novel can best be described as a mixture of American historical and contemporary housing crisis. I enjoyed reading the book as a whole, but personally, I felt the narrative started strong and finished a bit weak. There were so many unresolved storylines reflecting the realistic content the novel is based on, but I wanted more from the story. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy reading the novel.

The story digs deep into the theme of family and shows how conflict changes each member of it and their relationships as a whole. The story flips back and forth between 1945 with the perspective of the Turner parents and modern-day 2008 life through the oldest of the siblings, Cha-Cha, and the youngest sibling Lelah. I wished I had gotten to see more of the perspectives of the other siblings, but then the novel would be 700 pages long.

While the focus is mainly on the Turner siblings readers are shown how much gradual change affected Detroit that plays a part in their family dynamics too. I found it so interesting to get glimpses of Detroit history, some I was unfamiliar with, and reflect on how the city has changed even now in 2025. 1940s marked the demand for labor in Detroit’s booming industries which led to a massive influx of workers, both Black and White who migrated from the South. Black residents were largely confined to segregated areas like Paradise Valley and Black Bottom (both no longer exist).

In 2008, Detroit faced worsening financial conditions due to the global financial crisis, which severely impacted the auto industry and its workforce. This year was a critical precursor to the record-breaking municipal bankruptcy it would file for in 2013. This plays a huge part in the Turner family’s personal struggles displayed through the novel, and how they try to overcome them. While it may seem bleak from the synopsis and subject matter of the novel, it does have many uplifiting notes of resilience throughout the narrative. I think it speaks to my hometown’s overall resilient spirit to overcome any challenge and our motto of “We hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes.”

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Check out Buried In Print’s site to see what books she’ll be reading for her project here: http://www.buriedinprint.com/shared-projects-george-saunders-chekov-sixth-story-i-and-cross-border-reading/

Stay tuned for more updates on this reading experience coming soon and to hear about my thoughts on Windsor-themed read for this project.