NEW ORLEANS — Sarah Broom's mother never imagined when she bought a small house in New Orleans East decades ago, that it would one day be the subject of her daughter's new york times bestselling book.
"The Yellow House is the story of my mother who bought a home in 1969 when she was 19 years old with every cent she had," explains
Broom is the baby of Ivory Mae's 12 children, but Broom decided to begin her book with stories that happened long before she was born.
"I felt like my story began with my grandmother- that her story was essentially the beginning of mine," says Broom.
But Broom's story is larger than her family.
"It's about what it means to be from New Orleans- New Orleans east and what it means to leave home and keep returning to it," says Broom.
See the yellow house is Broom's family home, but it's a story that many people will relate to for many different reasons.
"It was sort of always a falling down house, and we all belonged to it and loved it so much," says Broom.
Her family was embarrassed by the home because it was in such bad condition.
It was swallowed up in Katrina's floodwaters and eventually torn down.
Then, her mother was strung along by road home for more than a decade.
"There was so much longing for the thing that wasn't there, and then that led me on this major journey to find out - if the house could tell the story of itself, what would it be?" asks Broom.
Finding that story, presented its challenges.
"If you look at this address in the French Quarter, you can go to The Historic New Orleans Collection, and you'll find the history of this house all the way back to the 1700's in about 5 minutes. That's not the case for New Orleans East," explains Broom.
So Broome went to libraries and did title searches.
As she was writing the book, she weaved in and of New Orleans- gaining new perspective locally. She worked on Mayor Ray Nagin's communications team after the storm. Broom even spent time in Burundi, Africa- eventually finding her way to Harlem where she currently lives.
"Being away gave me an insight that I don't think you can have if you are too close on a thing," says Broom.
After eight years of researching, listening to her family's stories, and gaining all of these experiences, Broom has created a memoir that tells the story of her colorful family and so many others.
"I'm so excited to be a person from New Orleans East and a place we don't often hear from, talking about what it was like to grow up there and to feel in a way disconnected from the rest of the city," says Broom.
To get a copy of The Yellow House: https://groveatlantic.com/book/yellow-house-the/
The other book on Sheba's Shelf this month is Girl in Black and White: The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement. For more information and to get a copy, https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Black-White-Williams-Abolition/dp/0393609243