Title: Cornbread in Buttermilk: The Delicacies of Love and Sacrifice
Author: The Buntyn Family
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 9781514413074
Pages: 126
Genre: Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs
Reviewed by: Allison Walker
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A glass of buttermilk with crumbled up cornbread, according to William Buntyn, would always appear in front of his grandmother on the evenings her six grandchildren ate dinner but she herself did not have a plate in front of her. “You don’t know what you’re missing,” she would insist of the soggy mixture William describes as “nasty.”
“Cornbread in Buttermilk,” written by Emma Lee Buntyn’s (Pappie’s) five living grandchildren, is a tribute to a truly fascinating woman, one of the last of a certain type of generation. Pappie is a woman with her own stories to tell, but whose greatest legacy lives in the six grandchildren she raised single-handedly in a two-bedroom apartment in Harlem, New York. The novel is also an expression of regret, especially by William, who only years after he moves out of her home is able to reconcile with his grandmother. Pappie is a frightening taskmistress, truly a force to be reckoned with, and as children, rebelling against her strictly enforced rules, it is only after they are grown that her grandsons come to appreciate the way she raised them.
“Cornbread in Buttermilk” is one part a gathering of memories to inspire the reader, and one part a posthumous thanksgiving for the impact Pappie had on her grandchildren’s lives. For example, each writer expresses gratitude for Pappie’s close hand in their education. That every single grandchild graduates high school becomes the family’s greatest achievement, their point of pride, and the best gift they ever gave to Pappie.
Each chapter is written a little differently, in the unique flavor of the grandchild telling the story. Sometimes their reflections on Pappie are very similar (sometimes they are wildly different), but each brings to the book a little new information. Only the grandchildren together could ever assemble the small pieces of history to make a complete picture of Pappie’s life. Because each grandchild writes their chapter independently, much of the introductory information repeats itself. The outline of the six grandchildren, the small two-bedroom apartment, the Harlem neighborhood surrounding them, is repeated in almost every chapter. Leave the genealogy exclusively at the start of the novel instead, and then there is more time and space in each proceeding chapter to reminisce on life with Pappie.
The author biographies attached to each chapter are a nice touch, and a fun way to learn more about the authors. However, placing the biographies at the start of the chapter, rather than at the end, would be more useful in getting to know and preparing for the person whose voice is about to be read.
Although each grandchild’s experience with Pappie is a little different – based on their personal interactions with Pappie and the knowledge they have of her life before her children – the five grandchildren writing the novel agree on three things: First, that she ruled the household with an iron fist; second, that she gave some of the best years of her life in order to keep her grandchildren together and ensure they were raised properly; and three, that she loves them all very much.
The Buntyn family could not offer their grandmother a more beautiful tribute, after all she gave to keep them and raise them together, than to come together and write together in her memory. “Cornbread in Buttermilk” becomes a lovely tribute to a right- hearted, strong-willed woman. The memories compiled within are sure to sweeten the mind of any reader, and encourage them to recollect on any person who has had an equally positive impact on their own life.
