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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In her memoir The Great Triumph, Jeanne Estelle Saddler follows the life of her mother, Thelma, from a childhood in a South Carolina sharecropping family to adulthood in Detroit. After the Osborne family joins the Great Migration, Thelma's intelligence brings her into the home of Dr. Alexander and Leota Turner, whose example changes what she believes is possible for her future. College remains out of reach, and marriage to Reynolds “Duke” Saddler carries Thelma into a difficult adult life where she keeps working toward the education and independence she still wants. Thelma builds a nursing career while raising Darryl and Jeanne. When the Vietnam draft threatens her son, the courage she inherited from her parents becomes part of a decision that will remain secret for decades.
Jeanne Estelle Saddler’s The Great Triumph is a really moving memoir, and Saddler does an excellent job of describing her mother alongside the family history that made Thelma who she was. I love the way Thelma’s intelligence comes through, especially when she turns the Fullerton house into the home she imagined after years of saving. The detail of Red John pressing four fingers together for Thelma and her children is beautiful, becoming even more meaningful when he uses the same gesture near the end of his life. Saddler writes with an intelligent and sometimes witty style, and Thelma warning an editor that he would “rue the day” he treated Jeanne badly is wonderful. Readers who want a memoir with history and real heart will find both here. Very highly recommended.
