On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
Summary
At home they are just sisters, but on stage, they are The Salvations. Ruth, Esther, and Chloe have been singing and dancing in harmony since they could speak. Thanks to the rigorous direction of their mother, Vivian, they’ve become a bona fide girl group whose shows are the talk of the Jazz-era Fillmore.
Now Vivian has scored a once-in-a-lifetime offer from a talent manager, who promises to catapult The Salvations into the national spotlight. Vivian knows this is the big break she’s been praying for. But sometime between the hours of rehearsal on their rooftop and the weekly gigs at the Champagne Supper Club, the girls have become women, women with dreams that their mother cannot imagine.
The neighborhood is changing, too: all around the Fillmore, white men in suits are approaching Black property owners with offers. One sister finds herself called to fight back, one falls into the comfort of an old relationship, another yearns to make her own voice heard. And Vivian, who has always maintained control, will have to confront the parts of her life that threaten to splinter: the community, The Salvations, and even her family.
Book Setting: San Francisco, CA
St. Francisville, Louisiana
Fillmore District
Post Street
Webster Street
4225 S Central Ave (The Dunbar Hotel)
Kaiser Convention Center (Oakland Auditorium)
Nob Hill
Outer Sunset
1836 Fillmore St. (Club Flamingo)
935 Fillmore St (Blue Mirror)
Reviews
“An utterly original and brilliant story.”
— Reese Witherspoon
“On the Rooftop further cements Margaret Wilkerson Sexton as a deft chronicler of Blackness in America. A deeply felt, big hearted exploration of family, sisterhood and gentrification, this is the kind of expansive, lush novel that envelops with charm while provoking with its fierce intelligence.”
— Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of Libertie
“On the Rooftop explores a subject close to my heart: the shifting terrain between mothers and daughters, further complicated by grief. Margaret Wilkerson Sexton's powerful prose takes us to some familiar emotional places within an utterly original story. This searing, intimate portrait of family, ambition, and community from a bygone era feels deeply resonant for those of us still daring to dream today. Beautiful, moving, and truly unforgettable!”
— Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies