Vivian

Vivian is one of the novel’s main characters. She is the mother of Ruth, Esther, and Chloe. Twenty-five years prior to the narrative present, Vivian moved from St. Francisville, Louisiana to the Fillmore neighborhood in San Francisco, California. A traumatizing encounter with “a Klansman” catalyzed this move (4). Terrified that things would get worse, she “begged” her then-boyfriend “Ellis to move her from Louisiana” (4). After they relocated, the couple married and had three children. When the girls were still young, Ellis died and Vivian “grieved, but her neighbors carried” her through this grief (4). In the years following her husband’s death, Vivian found new hope via singing. She began devoting herself to her daughters’ singing craft, training them and molding them into the trio, the Salvations. With time, the Salvations became Vivian’s primary source of meaning, purpose, energy, and inspiration.

Therefore, when Vivian learns that Mr. Franklin...