Class Act The Third Life of Grange Copeland Written By: Alice Walker Published By: Harvest Books Reviewed by Justine Manzano                 I have recently entered one of the most interesting and fiery classes I’ve ever been in.  Ah, the beauty of a summer course – quick moving classes with a lot of reading and conversation and usually an extremely interesting topic that you wish you took in a full semester so you had a little more time with it.  This course is in Multicultural Literature and the first novel assigned in it was Alice Walker’s (of The Color Purple fame) first novel, The Third Life of Grange Copeland.              Taking place in 1920 in the American South, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, strangely, does not really follow Grange Copeland.  The beginning is about his son, Brownfield.  His father is being kept down by the oppressive sharecropper system and is struggling with the need to prove himself as a man.  He is abusive and his mother acts out because of it.  Eventually, Grange abandons Brownfield and Brownfield’s mother commits suicide, leaving Brownfield to find his own way in the world.  While heading up north in an attempt to find Grange, Brownfield stumbles on two “women of pleasure,” Josie and her daughter, Lorene, who take an immediate liking to the teenager.  Paying him to care for their brothel, they take Brownfield in.  There, he meets Mem, Josie’s Cinderella-like niece.  Brownfield falls in love and walks right into his father’s life, marrying her, becoming a sharecropper and being driven down until he in turn beats his wife and kids.  However, Grange has come back home now, and he’s reformed himself.  Can he stop his son from making the exact same mistakes he has made, or is Grange destined to watch his son fall down?             Now, in my class we discuss the images of African-Americans in this novel, how men are represented, how women are represented, and what this means in relation to the race issue in literature.  Naturally, this is a big problem, especially in our country, and this novel really does make you think.  It calls into question all of your preconceived notions and ideas, and tries to get to the bottom of why we view people the way we do.  While Walker struggles to do this, she manages to sometimes create characters that play distinct roles without distinct personality.  Most prominent of these is the character of Mem, who doesn’t always behave realistically, and sometimes comes off as being a type of character – a woman who was educated, but got tangled up in a marriage that pulls her downward and is then degraded to the point where even when she tries, she can’t escape.  At certain moments throughout the novel, her behavior felt almost artificial from previous behaviors of hers, and this took away from the story.             Despite this, The Third Life of Grange Copeland is a colorful, distinct tale.  The story is told in parts of history, each part following a different part of the lives of Grange and Brownfield, and this split can sometimes cause shocking jumps that call to attention just how quickly life can change. First following Brownfield’s point of view and then Ruth’s, we are allowed to see Grange’s life as it creates an impact in others.  The story is moving and dramatic and will bring tears to your eyes.             Walker has a way with words that evokes images with strength.  When she describes a scent you can smell it as well as if it was right before your nose.  Her imagery is strong, her tale is poignant and her characters are human.  The Third Life of Grange Copeland hits you where you live – it instantly becomes one of those books that will never drop away from your memory.    For feedback, visit our message board or e-mail the author at justine@g-pop-net.