Sent for You Yesterday

Sent for You Yesterday is the third volume in a series of fiction books by John Edgar Wideman. It was published in 1983 and is preceded by the collections of short stories Damballah and The Hiding Place, both of which were published in 1981. Though some critics refer to the books as the “Homewood Trilogy,” and the three were re-released in a single anthology volume in 1992, Wideman himself has expressed discomfort with calling them a “trilogy” because he feels that it implies a thematic link between the stories that he did not intend or plan for when writing them.

A non-linear narrative structure makes Sent for You Yesterday more closely resemble a collection of short stories than a traditional novel. The frame narrative follows a young African-American man named Albert Wilkes—or Doot as he childhood friends call him—who returns to the neighborhood of Homewood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Doot is a charismatic and carefree jazz piano player who was forced to leave home after killing a white police officer. After being on the run for seven years, Doot comes back to Pittsburg and picks up life where he left off, reintegrating himself into the neighborhood and renewing relationships with people in the community. As he talks and catches up with his former friends and neighbors, they tell Doot stories, first about events that he missed while he was away and then about memories from the more distant past.



These stories make up the bulk of the novel. While most seem unconnected to one another at first, themes and recurring characters gradually emerge from the strands of narrative. These stories span the 1920s to the 1970s when the novel takes place, but all are set in and concern the African-American citizens of Homewood.

One of the first people with whom Doot reconnects is his old friend John French. Like Doot, John is middle-aged. However, unlike his friend, John is happily married and has a family. Doot offers John a chance to return to a carefree and fun lifestyle of staying up all night, drinking, and playing music, but John loves and is deeply devoted to his wife and son. This conflict between freedom and family helps shape the first section of the book and establishes John and Doot as representatives of Homewood’s elder generation. Though older now, these men once were full of promise, which they have since squandered.

The middle section of the book contains stories about the growth and misadventures of John’s son, Carl French, as well as two of his close friends. The reader first encounters Carl as a young boy who is tasked by his mother with hunting down a wayward John who has gone missing in town. Throughout his childhood, Carl is exceptionally close with the siblings Lucy and Brother Tate. He recounts several of their childhood adventures together, including a sequence in which the three play “chicken” with a train.



As he grows into adolescence, Carl maintains a close relationship with Lucy. Eventually, the two become lovers and then marry. They name their son Doot, in memory of John’s close friend who was also a musician beloved by Lucy.

The third section of the novel is primarily about Brother Tate. Lucy’s brother is the most mysterious and arguably the most compelling figure in the book. Albino and mute, he is also a genius, possessed of a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the residents of Homewood than any of the other characters.
Brother’s exceptional nature manifests early, when he is a child playing with John and Lucy. John mentions that Brother always wins contests of bravery and cleverness, and that he teaches himself to play the piano without instruction. He also draws portraits of the residents of Homewood to which he adds angelic wings.

When he gets older, Brother becomes involved with a neighborhood woman named Samantha, who is determined to bear as many black children as possible to replace the ones that society kills or takes away. She and Brother have a son named Junebug, who is albino like his father. Although Samantha’s other children are resentful of Junebug’s white skin, Brother and Samantha love him desperately and Brother especially hangs his hopes for the future on the infant.



However, Junebug dies while still a child, and the blow is too much for either of his parents to bear. Samantha emotionally isolates herself from her other children, while Brother refuses to speak for 16 years after his son's death and eventually kills himself.

Sent for You Yesterday shifts points of view fluidly throughout the novel, giving each character a chance to be heard and explain his or her point of view. By focusing deeply and intensely on character, Wideman creates a full and complex picture of a neighborhood and a way of life. His characters not only explore the racism inherent in society that limits their choices and social mobility, but also the way people find happiness and meaning within these limits. The third volume of the "Homewood" series won Wideman the 1984 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.