Martha’s Daughter

Haynes (Right by My Side) untangles the pretensions and biases of his Black characters in this masterful collection. The novella-length title entry follows middle-aged retail analyst Cynthia Garrison, who takes the afternoon off to visit the nursing home where the body of her recently deceased mother is being prepped for the funeral. There, Cynthia is flooded by memories of her mother’s chaste outlook (“If it were up to me, there’d be a hotline to call to report when a slut was on the loose”) and insistence that she act white. In “Blind Alley,” a conservative woman rues the arrival of an indecorous new neighbor, “plopped down in the community like an off-brand fried chicken establishment,” and bemoans her older sister’s two “ghetto fabulous” weddings. The deliciously complex “Taking Miss Kezee to the Polls” chronicles the backfiring of a good deed, as young David Johnson volunteers to drive a member of his church to vote in 1980s St. Paul, Minn. On the way, the elderly parishioner brags about being one of the first African Americans allowed to vote at her polling place in 1925, a fact David had venerated her for. As their outing progresses, however, he’s disillusioned by her high-handed treatment of him. Haynes writes with confidence and power, and he has a particular talent for closing lines that cut straight to the heart. It’s a knockout. Agent: Kima Jones, Triangle House. (Apr.)