Book Review: The Sable Cloak by Gail Milissa Grant

The Sable Cloak by Gail Milissa Grant
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: February 4, 2025)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

Jordan Sable, a prosperous undertaker turned political boss, has controlled the Black vote in St. Louis for decades. Sara, his equally formidable wife, runs the renowned funeral establishment that put the Sable name on the map. Together they have pushed through obstacles in order to create a legacy for their children. When tragedy bursts their carefully constructed empire of dignity and safety, the family rallies around an unconventional solution. But at what cost?

Set in the Midwest in the 1940s, The Sable Cloak is a rarely seen portrait of an upper middle class, African American family in the pre-Civil Rights era. This deeply personal novel inspired by the author’s own family history delves into legacy and the stories we tell ourselves, and celebrates a largely self-sustaining, culturally rich Missouri community that most Americans may not be aware of.

The Sable Cloak is an autobiographical novel based closely on the author’s family history. It follows two upper-middle class Black families. Jordan Sable runs a well-known funeral home in St. Louis. Jordan is also a powerful political boss, controlling the Black vote in St. Louis. The Franklin family are landowners in South Carolina. The also a successful store called Madame Sarah’s Emporium.

When Jordan comes to South Carolina looking for a safe haven to escape his enemies, he meets and marries, Sarah, the youngest of the Franklin daughters. When they move back to St. Louis, Jordan is even more powerful with his wife by his side. When a horrible tragedy happens, the families must join together to find a solution.

I enjoyed The Sable Cloak. It’s not often that I come across historical fiction centering around upper middle class Black people and their community. One of the characters goes off to college at Northwestern and faces discrimination of the kind she never has before because the Black community she grew up kept her insulated. She had hardly ever even been around white people. The author spends quite a bit of time on the background of the two families and what their communities were like before the tragic event happened, which I appreciated.

Grant has a memoir that was published in 2008 called At the Elbows of My Elders that I’d like to read. She writes in the author’s note that The Sable Cloak was born from that book. Unfortunately, she passed away before the publication of The Sable Cloak.

Recommended.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.)