The Yellow House

A memoir that haunted both of us about Broom’s love for the New Orleans house she grew up in, her family, and a neighborhood torn apart by the institutional racism embedded in banking practices, zoning laws, highway development, and other corporate and government policies and practices.

Broom’s mother purchased the house in 1961 in a then “promising” neighborhood. Over the years, the neighborhood was cut off from the city by the growth of the interstate highway, which left this largely Black area in decline from years of indifference by New Orleans elected officials. The house was eventually destroyed by Hurricane… show more.

This is a rich memoir about growing up in New Orleans East (not the main touristy part many of us are well acquainted with) and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

She weaves in stories about her own situation (she was not there), family members who were there, and family members who had to leave, etc. It is the most insider portrait of New Orleans and the story of Hurricane Katrina I have ever read. And the best thing is you really feel like you know the writer afterwards.

Highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn new things… show more.

In this memoir of growing up, leaving, and returning to New Orleans, Sarah Bloom provides an essential corrective to a romantic view of the city presented to tourists.

It portrays how her family bought, worked to make their own, and ultimately lost to Hurricane Katrina, the Yellow House in New Orleans East.

The extended family history predating Sarah’s birth is full of characters and stories that convey daily family and neighborhood life for a Black family rooted in the city.

I appreciate how much of the story is connected to and describes New Orleans East—the newest part of… show more.