Generations on the Porch

The story opens in Beulah Springs, Oklahoma, 1974, with Justine, a teenage Cherokee girl, and her mother Lula, sitting on the porch. Their lives are marked by poverty, religious strictness, and the absence of Justine's father, who abandoned the family years ago. Lula, a secretary and devout Holiness church member, holds the family together with a mix of stern faith and maternal love. Justine, caught between her mother's expectations and her own desires, struggles with secrets and the longing for connection, both to her absent father and to a sense of self outside the confines of her upbringing. The generational weight of trauma, resilience, and hope is palpable as the women navigate daily survival and the unspoken wounds that shape their lives.

Fathers, Sins, and Six Flags

Justine tracks down her estranged father in Texas and is invited to visit him at Six Flags. The prospect of seeing him—and the allure of the amusement park—becomes a symbol of escape and forbidden pleasure, clashing with Lula's strict religious beliefs. Justine's excitement is tempered by guilt and the knowledge that her actions will hurt her mother. The chapter explores the complexity of longing for a parent who has caused deep pain, and the ways in which children internalize both hope and betrayal. The tension between spiritual salvation and earthly desire is set against the backdrop of rural poverty and the strictures of Holiness doctrine.

Holiness and Rebellion

Justine's decision to visit her father triggers a crisis in her Holiness church community. Her uncle, the pastor, and the congregation see her desire as a test of faith, leading to a dramatic altar call where Justine resists the pressure to repent. The church's fervor, with its speaking in tongues and emotional appeals, is both a source of community and a suffocating force. Justine's rebellion is not just against her mother, but against a worldview that equates joy with sin and obedience with salvation. The chapter highlights the psychological toll of growing up in a faith that demands constant self-denial and vigilance against the "world."

The Night of Secrets

Beneath the surface of Justine's outward rebellion lies a deeper trauma: she has been sexually assaulted by an older boy, Russell Gibson. The shame and confusion she feels are compounded by her inability to confide in Lula, whose own emotional wounds and religious rigidity make her both a source of comfort and a barrier to healing. The chapter delves into the ways secrets fester within families, especially when compounded by cultural and religious taboos. Justine's pain is both personal and generational, echoing the unresolved hurts of her mother and grandmother.

Leaving and Returning

The family's story is marked by repeated attempts to escape—whether to Texas, Tennessee, or just away from the past—but always being pulled back by necessity, love, or circumstance. Justine's trip to Texas is a disappointment, her father's new life a painful reminder of her own displacement. The return home is fraught with unresolved tensions, but also with the enduring bonds of family. The chapter explores the push and pull between the desire for freedom and the gravitational force of home, especially for women whose choices are constrained by poverty, motherhood, and cultural expectations.

Goldfish and Goodbyes

The narrative shifts to Reney, Justine's daughter, who grows up in the shadow of her mother's struggles. Reney's attachment to a goldfish named Blinky becomes a metaphor for the desire to nurture and set free, even as life's circumstances force hard choices. The story of Blinky's release into a pond, and later the rescue of the pond's fish before it is filled in, mirrors the cycles and repetition of loss and letting go that define the family's experience. Reney's childhood is marked by instability, violence, and the fierce love of her mother, who does her best to protect her even as she battles her own demons.

Cycles of Violence

Justine's relationships with men—Kenny, Pitch, and others—are shaped by the legacy of violence and abandonment. Reney witnesses and intervenes in moments of domestic violence, her own resilience forged in the crucible of chaos. The chapter examines how cycles and repetition of abuse are perpetuated and resisted, and how children learn to navigate danger with both fear and courage. The family's survival depends on the strength of its women, who carry both the scars and the hope for something better.

Mothers, Daughters, and Faith

The relationship between Justine and Reney is central to the novel, as is the connection to Lula and Granny. The women's lives are intertwined by love, disappointment, and the struggle to reconcile faith with lived reality. The Holiness church remains a powerful force, both nurturing and oppressive. Moments of tenderness—hair being brushed, stories being told, prayers whispered—coexist with moments of conflict and misunderstanding. The chapter explores the possibility of forgiveness and the ways in which faith can both wound and heal.

Texas Tornadoes and Family Faultlines

When Justine remarries and moves to Texas with Pitch, Reney finds herself in a new landscape, both literally and emotionally. The family's attempt to build a new life is disrupted by tornadoes, drought, and the persistent challenges of poverty and blended family dynamics. The Texas chapters highlight the fragility of stability and the ways in which external forces—weather, economics, racism—shape the possibilities for happiness. Reney's longing for her Oklahoma roots and her connection to Granny remain strong, even as she tries to adapt to her new reality.

Hybrid Vigor and Broken Dreams

As Reney grows into adulthood, she faces her own struggles with work, marriage, and the desire for something more. Her relationship with Wes is marked by love, violence, and disappointment. The metaphor of "hybrid vigor"—the hope that mixing bloodlines or experiences will produce something stronger—runs through this chapter, but is undercut by the realities of exhaustion, infertility, and the slow erosion of dreams. Reney's attachment to a mule named Rosalee becomes a symbol of stubborn survival, even as she is forced to make heartbreaking choices.

The Weight of Survival

The novel's later chapters are marked by loss: the death of beloved family members, the dissolution of relationships, and the relentless pressure of survival. The characters grapple with grief, guilt, and the question of what it means to endure. The narrative widens to include neighbors and friends, whose own struggles mirror those of the central family. The search for meaning—through work, faith, or connection—remains elusive but necessary.

Loss, Love, and Letting Go

As Lula ages and suffers a stroke, the sisters reunite to care for her. Old wounds resurface, but so do moments of grace and reconciliation. The process of letting go—of anger, of the past, of loved ones—becomes both a burden and a blessing. The chapter explores the complexities of forgiveness, the persistence of love, and the ways in which families are both broken and bound together by their histories.

Saints, Sinners, and Sisters

The sisters' relationships are tested as they navigate Lula's decline and the changing landscape of their hometown. The Holiness church, once the center of their world, is now a source of both comfort and alienation. The women confront the legacies of their upbringing, the choices they have made, and the uncertain future that awaits them. The chapter is a meditation on the power of sisterhood, the endurance of faith, and the necessity of forging new paths.

The End of the World Begins

In the novel's final movement, the setting shifts to a near-future Texas beset by environmental catastrophe—drought, fire, tornadoes, and social collapse. The apocalypse is both literal and metaphorical, a culmination of the personal and collective traumas that have shaped the family's story. Reney, now an adult, returns home to care for her mother as the world seems to unravel. The chapter explores the intersection of personal and planetary crisis, the search for hope in the face of despair, and the enduring need for connection.

Home, Apocalypse, and Acceptance

As the world burns and the future remains uncertain, Reney and her mother confront the limits of what can be saved. The novel ends with a recognition that home is both a place and a set of relationships, that survival depends on the willingness to let go and to hold on, sometimes at the same time. The final image is one of warmth and connection, even as the flames of apocalypse flicker on the horizon—a crooked hallelujah for all that has been lost and all that endures.

Characters

Justine

Justine is the emotional core of the novel, a Cherokee woman shaped by poverty, religious fundamentalism, and generational trauma. As a teenager, she rebels against her mother Lula's strict Holiness faith, seeking connection with her absent father and struggling with the aftermath of sexual assault. As a mother herself, she is fiercely protective of her daughter Reney, determined to break the cycles and repetition of violence and abandonment that have defined her own life. Justine's journey is one of survival, adaptation, and the search for meaning in a world that offers few easy answers. Her relationships—with Lula, with her sisters, with men—are marked by both love and conflict, and her character embodies the tension between endurance and the longing for escape.

Lula

Lula is Justine's mother, a woman whose life has been shaped by loss, faith, and the relentless demands of survival. Abandoned by her husband, Lula turns to the Holiness church for solace and structure, raising her daughters with a mix of stern discipline and deep love. Her refusal to seek medical treatment for her seizures, her resistance to change, and her insistence on religious purity are both sources of strength and obstacles to healing. Lula's relationship with Justine is fraught with misunderstanding and unspoken pain, but also with moments of tenderness and forgiveness. As she ages and suffers a stroke, Lula becomes a symbol of both the burdens and the blessings of family and faith.

Reney

Reney is Justine's daughter, whose childhood is marked by instability, violence, and the fierce love of her mother. Sensitive and resourceful, Reney navigates the chaos of her family's life with a mix of innocence and precocious wisdom. Her attachment to animals, her longing for stability, and her eventual quest for independence reflect both the scars and the strengths she inherits from the women who raise her. As an adult, Reney becomes the caretaker for her aging mother, grappling with the legacies of the past and the uncertainties of the future. Her perspective offers a lens through which the novel's themes of survival, resilience, and the search for belonging are explored.

Granny

Granny is the family's anchor, a Cherokee matriarch whose presence offers both comfort and continuity. Raised in Indian orphanages and boarding schools, she embodies the endurance and adaptability required to survive in a world that is often hostile to Native women. Her love for her grandchildren is fierce but understated, and her wisdom is a source of guidance for Justine and Reney. Granny's death marks a turning point in the family's story, the loss of a buffer between generations and a link to cultural roots.

Pitch

Pitch is Justine's second husband and Reney's stepfather, a Texas cowboy whose charm and volatility bring both hope and heartache to the family. His love for horses and the land is matched by his inability to provide stability, and his relationship with Justine is marked by cycles and repetition of passion, disappointment, and reconciliation. Pitch's presence in Reney's life offers moments of joy and belonging, but also exposes the limits of hybrid families and the persistence of old wounds.

Wes

Wes is Reney's husband, a man whose aspirations are undermined by economic hardship, insecurity, and violence. Their relationship is a microcosm of the novel's larger themes: the hope that love and hard work can overcome adversity, and the reality that cycles and repetition of trauma are hard to break. Wes's tenderness is real, but so is his capacity for harm, and Reney's struggle to leave him reflects the complexities of loyalty, fear, and self-preservation.

Sheila, Dee, and Josie

Justine's sisters, each with their own paths and struggles, serve as both mirrors and foils to her journey. Their relationships are marked by rivalry, solidarity, and the shared burden of caring for Lula. The sisters' different responses to faith, family, and loss highlight the diversity of ways women navigate the legacies of their upbringing.

Granny's Son (John Joseph)

John Joseph, Justine's cousin and childhood companion, represents the lost potential and vulnerability of young Native men. His early death is a source of grief and a reminder of the fragility of hope in a world marked by violence and neglect.

Marni and Stevie

Marni and Stevie, a lesbian couple who move into the community, offer a counterpoint to the central family's struggles. Their presence challenges norms and provides moments of connection and solidarity, especially in the face of violence and disaster.

Plot Devices

Nonlinear, Intergenerational Narrative

The novel employs a nonlinear structure, moving back and forth across decades and between the perspectives of multiple women. This allows the story to reveal the ways in which trauma, resilience, and hope are passed down through generations. The shifting narrative voice—sometimes first person, sometimes third—mirrors the fragmentation and continuity of memory and family history.

Religious Symbolism and Irony

Religious imagery and language pervade the novel, from the Holiness church's rituals to the characters' private prayers and struggles with faith. The title itself—Crooked Hallelujah—captures the tension between the aspiration to holiness and the crooked, messy reality of lived experience. The novel uses irony to highlight the gap between religious ideals and the complexities of human behavior.

Environmental and Social Catastrophe

Tornadoes, drought, fire, and environmental collapse serve both as literal events and as metaphors for the characters' internal and collective crises. The apocalyptic near-future sections underscore the interconnectedness of personal and planetary survival, and the ways in which marginalized communities are often on the front lines of disaster.

Cycles and Repetition

The novel is structured around cycles—of leaving and returning, of violence and reconciliation, of hope and disappointment. These repetitions underscore the difficulty of breaking free from the past, but also the persistence of love and the possibility of change.

Objects as Symbols

Everyday objects—Reney's goldfish, Lula's drawings, family photographs, quilts—carry symbolic weight, representing both the burdens and the comforts of memory, tradition, and connection. The act of holding on or letting go of these objects mirrors the characters' emotional journeys.

Analysis

Last updated: June 1, 2025