Fortunate Son by Walter Mosely

Fortunate Son is some sort of allegory, but I'm not sure what Mosely is trying to get across. The story begins in a hospital, where Bronwyn is spending time with her son in the neonatal unit. Bronwyn is a Black woman, and her baby's father left her when she elected to keep her baby rather than aborting him. Her baby, Thomas, is very sickly and spends half a year in the hospital after his birth. One evening, as she is leaving, a surgeon from the hospital offers her a ride home.

The doctor, Minas Fontenot, also has a baby son. His wife died giving birth to Eric, who is as unlike Thomas as any child could be. Eric is strong, vital, handsome, blonde, and forceful, while Thomas (nicknamed Lucky) is Black, sickly, small, and quiet.

Before long, Minas is driving Bronwyn home every evening--sometimes stopping for supper on the way. After a few weeks, their relationship grows into a romance and Minas asks Bronwyn to come live with him. Eric is immediately taken with Bronwyn, and when Bronwyn finally brings baby Thomas home, Eric takes to the baby, too. Everything is going well for the Bronwyn, Minas, Thomas, and Eric, until Bronwyn takes sick after nursing Eric through an illness and dies.

With Bronwyn dead, Thomas's father reclaims him. Thomas's father means well, but he's angry and poorly equipped to raise a child. Thomas's grandmother (Bronwyn's mother) also cares for Thomas/Lucky, but Lucky doesn't like staying with her, because there is no silence in her apartment home. Bronwyn's mother blames Minas for not marrying her daughter, but she doesn't know that Minas asked Bronwyn many times to marry and she always refused.

The story goes back and forth between Lucky and Eric, comparing Lucky's bad fortune to Eric's sunny life. Eventually the two are reunited, after many struggles and misfortunes.

I can't say whether or not I would recommend this book. It is a compelling story, but it left me feeling unsatisfied. Also, Mosely has a tendency in this outing to tell, rather than show. For instance, he says things like, "Maya Timor had gone to the Cape Hotel looking for a job....but she brought Raela along with her. Everybody liked the raven-haired Raela, and Maya felt that the child's presence was something like a blessing." Throughout the book, characters are introduced who have very little further to do in the book, usually with a brief description of their looks and life and a name, then they disappear from the foreground. Even some of the foreground characters are patchily presented. With more thoughtful (or maybe elegant) writing, the weaknesses of the story would probably have gone unnoticed. With a more meaningful or clever story, the weaknesses in the writing might go unnoticed. But, with both problems to overcome, there is not enough here for a ringing endorsement, much as I've enjoyed Mosely's Easy Rawlins books.