Started: 7/27/08
Finished: 8/1/08
Year: 1998
Genre: African-American fiction
Grade: C
Reason for reading: fan of the author, library book
Blurb (from book jacket): "Forgiveness is the key to the recovery of the soul. It is the lesson that the characters in Bebe Moore Campbell's poignant new novel must learn.
"Life is good for Maxine McCoy. She is the executive producer of a popular talk show, married to a man she loves, and pregnant with their child. Although she faces challenges-coming to terms with her husband's past infidelity, attempting to reverse her program's sliding ratings-as she looks down on Los Angeles from her hilltop home, Maxine feels satisfied, grateful that she has managed to rise about the limited circumstances of her childhood in a struggling Philadelphia community. But her security is shattered when a call from the caretaker of her seventy-six-year old grandmother, who reared the orphaned Maxine, summons her back to the old neighborhood she'd rather forget.
"Once a brilliant singing star, Maxine's grandmother, Lindy, has become a smoking, drinking, embittered woman whose glorious voice as atrophied from disuse. The house that previously shook with laughter and music is dim and lifeless, and the aspiring community Maxine grew up in is now a blighted, crime-infested area, its residents resigned to living narrow lives of fear and despair. Maxine is determined to move her grandmother away from the hopelessness around her, but Lindy is prepared to fight for her indepencece. When an opportunity arises for Lindy to sing again, both she and Maxine understand that Lindy and her neighborhood are worthy of restoration."
Opinion: I have read a few of Ms. Campbell's other novels and have thoroughly enjoyed them. Parts of this novel were slow. Very strong lesson to learn which makes it worth reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment