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Ellen Barker

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East of Troost: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Ellen Barker (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 110 ratings

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Under the guise of a starting-over story, this novel deals with subtle racism today, overt racism in the past, and soul-searching about what to do about it in everyday living.

East of Troost’s fictional narrator has moved back to her childhood home in a neighborhood that is now mostly Black and vastly changed by an expressway that displaced hundreds of families. It is the area located east of Troost Avenue, an invisible barrier created in the early 1900s to keep the west side of Kansas City white, “safely” cordoned off from the Black families on the east side.

When the narrator moves back to her old neighborhood in pursuit of a sense of home, she deals with crime, home repair, and skepticism—what is this middle-aged white woman doing here, living alone? Supported by a wise neighbor, a stalwart dog, and the local hardware store, we see her navigate her adult world while we get glimpses of author Ellen Barker’s real life there as a teenager in the sixties, when white families were fleeing and Black families moving in—and sometimes back out when met with hatred and violence. A regional story with universal themes, East of Troost goes to the basics of human behavior: compassion and cruelty, fear and courage, comedy and drama.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The pace was perfect, and there was never a dull moment. The momentum suited the story exceptionally well. Ellen Barker wrote an emotive tale with a fascinating protagonist and a powerful message.”
—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review

“Rarely does a debut novel succeed on multiple levels, but Ellen Barker’s East of Troost is not your ordinary fare. Barker’s story speaks deeply of grief and comfort, prejudice and reconciliation, isolation and community. Much enjoyed and highly recommended.”
—Drew Hill, author of Crossing the Tracks

“Ellen Barker has written a book that should give women of a certain age and privilege a lot to think about. What happens when you try to go home again, and what can you learn in the process?”
—Beth Lisick, author of Edie on the Green Screen and New York Times bestseller Everyone into the Pool

“A quiet, candid recalibration of memories against a changed landscape, Ellen Barker’s East of Troost is a journey both touching and powerful, reminding us how gentle courage and faith in humanity can overcome the fear of what divides.”
—Lorraine Devon Wilke, author of The Alchemy of Noise

“The chapters in Ellen Barker’s timely novel East of Troost read like entries in a diary—a year in the life of a white woman who decides to move into a black neighborhood. Why does she do this? Will she and her neighbors get along? We keep reading, eager to find out.”
—Jill McCroskey Coupe, author of Beginning with Cannonballs

Review

“Ellen Barker has written a book that should give women of a certain age and privilege a lot to think about. What happens when you try to go home again, and what can you learn in the process?”
—Beth Lisick, author of Edie on the Green Screen and New York Times bestseller Everyone into the Pool

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09NPWVKN9
Publisher ‏ : ‎ She Writes Press (September 6, 2022)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 6, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 927 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 325 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #388,854 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #86 in Biographical Literary Fiction
- #1,064 in Friendship Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #1,802 in Biographical Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 110 ratings

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Ellen Barker

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Ellen Barker grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and had a front-row seat to the demographic shifts, the hope, and the turmoil of the civil rights era of the 1960s. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from Washington University in Saint Louis, where she developed a passion for how cities work, and don’t. She began her career as an urban planner in Saint Louis and then spent many years working for large consulting firms specializing in urban infrastructure, first as a tech writer-editor and later managing large data systems. She now lives in Northern California with her husband and their dog Boris, who is the inspiration for the German Shepherd in both East of Troost and Still Needs Work.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

110 global ratings

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Logan

Wonderful way to get lost in a book

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2023

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I found I got lost in reading this book for much longer than I anticipated, simply because the writing was so descriptive and easy to get into. Great read and looking forward to the sequel!

2 people found this helpful

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Jeanne M. Verville

A calming, nourishing book in a time of worry

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2022

Have you ever started over, crushed after life-changing events? Had your emotions rule, perhaps skew, your actions? Set out to find a long-buried place of safety, only to find it greatly changed?

This is where our narrator’s story begins. She has lost all in California and has moved back to Kansas City where she grew up, a place her lizard self has told her is safe. Owning only what she brought in her car and her endearing dog, she starts the step-by-step process of reclaiming the little house she grew up in and creating some sense of community.

I immediately warmed to the middle-aged narrator’s wry voice and was with her every step she took through her story. She reflects on the 1960s and 1970s when she was growing up in a changing world that included racism and purposely placed highways that cemented racial lines in neighborhoods. She slowly comes to understand that perhaps she can help bring about change for the better in her languishing neighborhood that suffered because of racism and dislocation.

Our protagonist drops any pretenses of her more elevated existence in California to deal authentically with her new reality. After the sagging kitchen ceiling is replaced and a strong door is in place, she looks at her grief and her condition of “fasting from everything in my life except food.” With the gentle nudging of a childhood friend, she devotes time to be with her feelings and learn what she needs to do to get on with her life.

Reading this book revealed wisdom. For example, our hero has the common sense to step back from stressful events, knowing she is too fragile to engage with them. We learn her discipline of keeping quiet when her emotions might color her speech. We learn to ask these questions of ourselves: Can I make a change? Can I make a difference by my choices? Can I be a positive force?

The writing contains humorous turns of phrase that had me smiling as I kept turning the pages. By the end I had a new friend I wanted to get to know much better. I hope there is a sequel.

4 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

best read in a long time

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2024

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I loved this book from the first page. It is so warm and full of memories. I miss my Kansas City home and I could walk down those streets with her.

One person found this helpful

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Diane Schneider

An enjoyable novel full of truth

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2023

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I have only been to Kansas City once and didn't venture far from my hotel but after reading Ellen Barker's novel, I feel like I know the city in a different way. But this is more than a book about a place. It is a book about a woman forced to change just about everything in her life and how she goes about that. Everything in this book seems very true. The main character is very real and relatable- she struggles, she worries, she has triumphs of varying sizes. I particularly loved that she is very good at her job and that religion plays a large part in her life but neither of these things involve drama. They are just what they are. This book never "shouts" but you will hear its message loud and clear. This book is a pleasure to read and would make a great selection for a book club.

5 people found this helpful

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Rita J Seely

There's No Place Like Home

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2023

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First of all of course what I loved was the armchair journey back to "Kansity" and mentally driving down those streets and visiting many familiar places. I did not live east of Troost or even in Kansas City, Missouri, but just across State Line on the edge of Overland Park, Kansas for 8 years. During that time, I fell in love with Kansas City. This Okie girl had heard about Kansas City her whole life. As in Kansas City strip steak and Kansas City lawyer. My ex husband grew up there in the 1950s and 1960s and he told of picnics in Swope Park and trips to Fairyland. So many things that I had never seen were familiar to me anyway. (I am also right now an insane Chiefs' fan.)

I highly recommend this book to anyone from anywhere who has suffered loss. You will appreciate the healing journey I promise. After all like a little girl once said, there is no place like home.

4 people found this helpful

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Happy in Oregon

Capturing the way it was, but in present time

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2023

I also was raised east of Troost (55th & Euclid) and a classmate of Ellen's in high school. The book is a great blend of fiction and non fiction. The author's description of the racial issues, the unspoken "boundary line" known as Troost Ave, and subsequent "white flight" of neighborhoods occurring at that time was exactly what I had experienced. Ellen's story was a great read, with chapters that move quickly. I recommend it highly.

6 people found this helpful

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Drew Hill

Much enjoyed and highly recommended.

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2023

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Rarely does a debut novel succeed on multiple levels, but Ellen Barker’s East of Troost is not your ordinary fare. Barker’s story speaks deeply of grief and comfort, prejudice and reconciliation, isolation and community. Hers is an absorbing and utterly human account, one woman’s return from the ruins of her shattered life to the remains of her old, blighted neighborhood. There she encounters a dramatically changed landscape and a diverse collection of neighbors, held at arm’s length at first, before in time earning her friendly embrace.

Barker brings Kansas City to life, past and present, from its painful history of red-lining and white flight to its continuing struggles to facilitate reconciliation and rebuild depressed communities. The rebirth of the old neighborhood mirrors one woman’s new beginning. It turns out, we can go back to the old home place. Revisiting our roots can be a source of healing and growth and renewed faith, never better expressed than in East of Troost. Much enjoyed and highly recommended.

5 people found this helpful

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Kim Johnson

ok if you are from KC

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2023

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It is interesting to me because I am from KC. Not very much depth to this book. No development of characters.