Reviewed by Lynn Goodwin
Posted on: May 15, 2023
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Where were you in ’72? If you were on a college campus or exploring your sexuality, you’ll be drawn into the world of the Vietnam War, hippie clothes, and social upheaval that Lynda Smith Hoggan revives and explores in her memoir Our Song. The details, relationships, and conversations are pitch-perfect, and the relationships will probably engage and frustrate you as much as they did the narrator regardless of when you were born.
Lynda was a free-spirited white woman with a father who distrusted Blacks, so of course she fell for JT, a skilled Black athlete from the inner city who helped his college win basketball games. The chemistry between the two was irresistible, but even so she didn’t often make his games.
Lynda faced an additional complication. Although she fell hard for JT, she’d promised herself to Will, another Black man spending the year in England. Will was reliable, but their chemistry was off. Readers can’t help caring about this truly loving relationship and its cost.
This is a story about race, sex, and loss that asks readers to examine what makes a partnership work. It’s about matches that meet the expectations of others and those fueled by passion. It’s about control, following your heart, and a unique time in our history, an era when we could not imagine what was to come.
Among other things, the tone of this story, created by the lyrics, JT’s notes, and the pre-cell phone/Internet lifestyle drew me in. The story is evocative and well-written, whether the narrator is describing the setting, her emotions, or her perceptions of those around her. “He put on a Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young album, Hannah and I poured the wine into plastic cups, and Colleen pulled out a joint.” Can’t you imagine the “hippie chick” clothes and smell the incense? In case you’re not there yet, they rapped about “Politics, Tricky Dick, the Vietnam War.” This memoir rings true.
Hoggan took me back to my own college days, though my experience was different from hers. Instead of exploring life, I kept waiting for it to start. Fear of consequences shaped my life, but not hers, and Our Song allowed me to imagine how my world might have been both better or worse if I’d been more like Lynda.
This is a thoroughly satisfying read for anyone who’s ever looked back at who she was and who she has become.
