#BookReview: A CUPBOARD FULL OF COATS by Yvvette Edwards

Jinx has wrapped herself in a coat of guilt and shame since her mother's passing.  Though she was only a teenager when it happened, Jinx has shouldered the blame for what took place in their house years ago.  The heavy burden on her heart has caused her to push her husband and young son away.  Believing that she deserves nothing, she lives in a world of solitude among the dead.  And then Lemon appears on her doorstep.

Initially, it's unclear why Lemon is there and that causes the story to drag just a little.  He offers no explanation, yet Jinx still welcomes him in.  As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that he's there to ease her load and, at the same time, unburden himself.  Knowing that she has blamed herself for that tragic night, he's come to absolve her.

The adult Lemon was around to witness the deterioration of the relationship between Jinx and her mother.  Their once close relationship is fractured when Joy begins to date Berris.  As Berris' closest friend, Lemon is well aware of his friend's insecurities, but that doesn't stop him from baiting him occasionally.  In fact, rather than calling them friends, I'd say they were frenemies.  Berris' badmouthing has gotten him banned from Lemon's house and Lemon covets Berris' most prized possession, Joy.

Jealousy rears its ugly head repeatedly as Jinx begins to feel pushed aside by her mother in favor of Berris.  Berris' jealousy knows no bounds and he delivers brutal blows to say with his fists what he can't say with words.  Lemon's jealousy sets in motion a chain of events that ultimately lead to the demise of the woman all three love.

As I stated before, this book started off slow with a tendency to drag.  I was tempted to put it down, but it picked up dramatically after a few chapters.  Once it got good, I was so drawn in that I stayed up late, and would have continued reading until I finished if I hadn't had to work the next day.  It was all I could do to make it to lunch so I could find out what happened next.  Edwards' style is reminiscent of Zadie Smith, a beloved author by most, but one I've never been able to really get into.  However, I thoroughly enjoyed A Cupboard Full of Coats.

Now let's talk about the cover.  In the book, whenever Joy and Berris fight, he always buys her a gorgeous coat, hence, she ends up with a cupboard full of coats.  So, in my opinion, a cover showing said coats would have been gorgeous, but I can live with the current cover.  The characters are originally from, or descendants of, Montserrat, a Caribbean island.  Many of the scenes are centered around food, the cooking and eating of it.  So to me, the cover shows the ingredients needed to make sorrel, a Caribbean drink, which Lemon does.
 

@reads4pleasure I feel like stories about people of color internationally always have fruit and flowers on the cover.
— Tayari Jones (@tayari) August 31, 2012

Not everyone agrees, but I'll let you read the book and form your own opinion.  In the meantime, what are your thoughts on Caribbean lit covers? Have you noticed an overabundance of fruit and flowers where their covers are concerned?

272pp
Published: July 2012
Disclaimer: Copy of book received from publisher as part of TLC Book Tours, opinions are my own.

Theme: Hot, Hot, Hot by Arrow

#BookReview: Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I come late to her fan club, but Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's work is truly worthy of all the accolades it receives.  In Purple Hibiscus, she skillfully combines a coming of age story with a military coup and domestic abuse.  Each of these topics could have been difficult to handle, but Adichie manages to write about each of them in a way that doesn't overwhelm the reader.

Fifteen year old Kambili and her older brother, Jaja, live a good life in Enugu, Nigeria.  Their father, Eugene, is a big man, meaning wealthy and well-connected, so they enjoy privileges that their classmates and friends do not.  But because their father is a big man, no one suspects that he rules his family with an iron fist in the name of religion.  So strict in his faith is Eugene, that has renounced his own father, who has not converted to Catholicism, and limits the children's time with him to 15 minutes during the Christmas holiday.

It's not until Kambili and Jaja get to visit their Aunt Ifeoma and cousins that they learn that everyone does not live by a daily schedule.  Every aspect of their lives, from the time they wake up until they go to bed is dictated by schedules their father has created for them. In Aunt Ifeoma's house, children are encouraged to have a voice and actually use it.  At home, speaking out of turn or acting independently without guidance from their father is a cause for immediate disciplinary action.  In Aunt Ifeoma's home, there is laughter and open emotion, things that have been stifled in Kambili and Jaja's home.

At one point, Eugene boasts that his Kambili and Jaja are “not like those loud children people are raising these days, with no home training and no fear of God;” to which Ade Coker replies: “Imagine what the standard would be if we were all quiet.”  This conversation really hit on so many things for me. The children and their mother's silence has enabled Eugene to keep them living in constant fear of his punishment, should one of them step out of line.  The voices of the students and faculty at the university where Aunty Ifeoma teaches have been raised, resulting in a military coup and the persecution of those that have spoken up.

Forced to leave Nigeria as a result of the coup, Aunty Ifeoma moves to the United States to teach.  Though her daughter, Amaka, always saw the U.S. as the promised land, she soon begins to believe that though times were sometimes hard in Nigeria, there was a freer sense of self and others there than in her new home.

 “There has never been a power outage and hot water runs from a tap, but we don’t laugh anymore . . . because we no longer have the time to laugh, because we don’t even see one another.”

By the end of this book, I was drained.  While I was hoping for a happy ending, instead I got a,, "okay, this is life, make the best of it" ending.  And I'm okay with that.  I just wanted better for characters that I became deeply invested in during the course of my listening.

I do have to point out that I didn't care for the narrator's voice, so I was tempted to stop listening and read the book instead.  The problem I had with it is the story is told from the point of view of Kambili, a fifteen year old Igbo girl from Nigeria.  The narrator was significantly older and sounded nothing like I would imagine Kambili to sound.  I was so thrown by her voice that I actually looked her up.  I understand that she's narrated several of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, but since I've never listened to them, I wasn't familiar with her voice.  Much like I like my female characters voiced by women and not men, I like my characters to sound more like the actual character than a distinctly older person.

307pp
Listening time: 11 hours
Published: October 2003

Theme: Sorrow, Tears & Blood by Fela Kuti   

#BookReview: The Warmest December - Bernice L. McFadden

What would it take for you to go sit at the deathbed of the person that brought you the most unhappiness?  As a child, Kenzie Lowe watched her father abuse her mother physically and emotionally, all the while losing his battle with alcoholism.  But Kenzie's father wasn't just abusive when drinking, he was down right mean.  So why does she catch buses and trudge through the snow daily  to sit at his bedside as he dies?

I've said it before, but it bears repeating.  Bernice McFadden sure can tell a tale.  Sitting at her father, Hy-Lo's, bedside, Kenzie reminisces on her childhood and once she starts, there's no way you can put the book down until she finishes.  Through her flashbacks you learn that the mother that used to protect her and her brother became an alcoholic and that Kenzie, herself, is a recovering alcoholic, continuing the cycle that started with her paternal grandmother.  Hy-Lo gets his nasty spirit honestly from his mother, a woman that would turn her back on her fleeing daughter-in-law and grandchildren in their time of need.

The bright spot in Kenzie's world is her maternal grandmother.  Escaping to Mable's house is a welcome respite from the verbal and emotional abuse Kenzie deals with at home, but her mother, Delia, is never strong enough to keep Hy-Lo at bay.  In a way, it reminded me of people that commit suicide, but feel the need to take someone else with them.  Instead of Delia recognizing and putting her children's happiness ahead of Hy-Lo's and allowing them to stay with Mable, she took them back each and every time, as if to say, "If I'm going to suffer, you're going to suffer too."  It's Mable who eventually gives Kenzie the tools to escape her parents, but with an already shattered foundation, Kenzie is set up to fail and repeat the cycle herself.

One of the things I found quite interesting was that Kenzie was angry with her father, but not her mother.  Her father was the abuser, but her mother was the enabler.  Perhaps Kenzie had already made peace with her mother, but their conversations as adults seemed stunted, so it was difficult to tell.  Of all things, The Warmest December is a story of forgiveness, not necessarily out of love, but out of a need to close a bad chapter in life so that one can move on to other things.

288pp
Published: February 2001

 

Theme: Too Late by Rachelle Ferrell

#BookReview: Sixty-7 - Aynoit Ashor

Only available in ebook format for now, Sixty-7 is a novella from Aynoit Ashor's Family Secrets series.  Told from the point of view of a 10 year old boy, it's an account of the abuse of his mother by her boyfriend.  Ashor covers a lot of territory in this short read.

With his father in jail, the young boy is being raised by his mother, but he has fond memories of the times when the three were a complete family.  Even with his father in jail, they maintain a relationship through visits and frequent phone calls.  When his mother gains the attention of a shady newcomer, the boy seeks ways to protect her by any means possible, even if she doesn't realize that she's in danger.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  Told in simplistic words, this is a short that could and should be used in schools to educate children on what domestic violence looks like. Too many children begin to think that it's the norm when they see it on a daily basis.  And if nothing else motivates you to share or read this, the author offers an interesting statistic, "Sixty-seven percent of boys in jail for murder are there for killing their mother's abuser." 

Domestic violence is best understood as a pattern of abusive behaviors -- including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks as well as economic coercion -- used by one intimate partner against another (adult or adolescent) to gain, maintain, or regain power and control in the relationship. Batterers use of a range of tactics to frighten, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, often injure, and sometimes kill a current or former intimate partner.

For more general information about domestic violence, including potential warning signs for emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline's information page: What is Domestic Violence?

Available: Kindle or Nook format
Published: March 2011

Theme: Love is Blind by Eve

#BookReview: You Are Free - Danzy Senna

From the acclaimed author of Caucasia comes a collection of short stories exploring identity based mostly on race, but also class and gender.  Told entirely from the point of view of women, the eight stories are okay, but nothing about them really stood out for me with the exception of the short, Admission.

Admission is a short about an upwardly mobile black couple that applies to an exclusive school for their pre-schooler as part of the mother's research for a film on which she's working.  When their son is accepted, Cassie dreams of enrolling him, believing that it will open doors for him later in life.  Her husband, Duncan, is firmly against it.  Each has their own reason for wanting and/or not wanting Cody to attend.

Beyond Admission, where race truly was a factor, the remaining stories could have been based on women of any race.  And maybe that was the message that Senna was trying to get across.  Though the women in her book may have been separated by class, though not by much, their stories carried universal themes.  We are much more alike than we are different.

What did you like about this book?
It was a very quick read.

What didn't you like about this book?
Everyone I know that has read this has talked about how great it was.  I thought it was just okay.  It was well written, but not necessarily memorable.

What could the author do to improve this book?
Remove the short story The Land of Beulah and extend Admission.

240pp
Published May 2011 

Theme: Everyday People by Sly & the Family Stone

#BookReview: Karma II - Sabrina A. Eubanks

I loved Karma and I was really looking forward to reading the sequel to it.  Unfortunately, Karma II doesn't quite live up to the promise of the initial book.  Even so, it's still a fairly decent read.

The loss of his fiance left Lucas Cain devastated.  With the support of his best friend and fellow detective, Noah, Lucas has gotten his head straight, at least on the job.  Noah's womanizing ways amuse Lucas, but he's in no rush to connect with another woman as long as Jasmine remains on his mind.

When the two detectives are paired with lady detectives Leah and Nichole, sparks immediately fly.  The case that the foursome is working on really gets buried under the blossoming romance between Lucas and Nichole and Noah's personal problems.  In fact, the undercover operation could have been left out of the book and I don't know that anyone would have cared or noticed.

The one thing that really stood out in this book was the treatment of women as property and/or less than human.  Several women in the book are abused at the hands of men, both physically and emotionally.  While I realize that that is a reality, especially in the world that the author has created, it made for quite a few cringe worthy moments.

What did you like about this book?
The relationship with Lucas and Nichole was cute, but it evolved entirely too soon to be realistic.

What didn't you like about this book?
As I said above, the mistreatment of women left a bad taste in my mouth.  I got no sense that any of the men perpetrating the abuse regretted it or apologized for it either.  Just as disturbing as the physical abuse was the mental abuse carried out by someone that would otherwise be a likable character.

What could the author do to improve this book?
Returning to what worked for the first book would be helpful.

309pp
Published March 2010



Theme: Black and Blue by Raheem Devaughn

#BookReview: When I Get Where I'm Going - Cheryl Robinson

Alicia Day is a struggling actress originally from Detroit, now living in Hollywood.  When she headed west with her best friend, Aubrey, both were determined to become the next big thing.  So far Aubrey has made it big, but the only big things about Alicia are the fibroid tumors she keeps ignoring.

Hope Teesdale lost her second husband in a boating accident.  At twenty-seven she's too young to be the bitter, widow that she's become.  She's locked into her small corner of the world that consists solely of work and her daughter, Havana.

At only twenty, Heaven Jetter has lived entirely too much.  As a child she grew up knowing that her father had killed her mother.  This alone should have been enough to keep her from abusive men and the mean streets of Detroit, but it hasn't.  She's a born party girl and even though she knows that her actions hurt those closest to her, she can't stop.

Heaven and Hope grow up as sisters, but it's not until a letter from their imprisoned father comes to Heaven that she learns that they have an older sister, Alicia.  Alicia is thrown off by the brash, in your face young lady that reaches out to her long distance.  A trip home solidifies their relationship, but trying to create a happy family complete with Hope is going to be a lot more difficult than either Heaven or Alicia imagined.

What did you like about this book?
Each of the sisters is a mess and the author doesn't try to "prettify" their situations.  Each is dealing with realistic issues and I fully appreciated the author exploring them.

What didn't you like about this book?
The story is told in third person narrative for the most part and I really would have preferred first person, especially since each character is given their own chapters to tell their stories.


What could be done to improve this book?
It's so minor that I feel silly even typing it, but I hated the cover model's cankles.  Yes, I said cankles. How do I know that her calves and ankles are the same size, thus producing cankles? I don't.  It just looks like it to me.  Could be the cheap red shoes or the fact that I hate seeing heels like that worn with jean, I don't know.  I just hate the look.

448pp
Published September 2010
Disclaimer: A copy of this book was sent to me by the author.

 

#BookReview: A Taste of Honey: Stories - Jabari Asim

When Jabari Asim rolled through St. Louis earlier this year, I didn't attend the book signing because I hadn't yet read the book.  Now I really wish I had gone just to hear him read.  Billed as a set of sixteen short stories, A Taste of Honey is so much more than that.  It would be impossible to tell just one story and not wonder where it leads to or how the characters in that particular story affect characters in other stories.

Set in 1967 Gateway City, residents and those familiar with St. Louis will immediately recognize street names and neighborhood distinctions sprinkled throughout.  With a healthy cast of characters who could all be the main character, it is young Crispus that grabs my attention.  Though all stories are told in third person, when reading this I felt as if they were being told through the eyes of this young man.

There is the story of Rose, a young woman with the voice of an angel who lives to sing at church on Sundays, but spends the rest of the week pretending that her husband isn't as bad as he seems.  There's the friendship between the Reverend Washington and the notorious gangster, Ananais Goode, that no one can figure out. The neighborhood is rounded out with Guts Tolliver, the hit man with a sense of humor; Ray Mortimer, a white cop patrolling the beat; and several others that make this an absolutely delightful read.

What did you like about this book?
The author is a master of language and uses it to set the backdrop for an absolutely fascinating take on what life in St. Louis must have been like for African Americans, especially a nine year old boy.

What did you dislike about this book?
At just a little over 200 pages, I could have used a bit more.

What could the author do to improve this book?
Nothing.  If J. California Cooper were to decide to stop writing tomorrow, Jabari Asims could easily step into her role as the master of the short story.

205pp
Published March 2010




Theme: People Make the World Go Round by The Stylistics

#BookReview: Visions: The Story of a Black Girl Determined to Make It Despite the Odds - Williette D. Dotson

For the life of me, I couldn't tell you why I picked this book up. Oh wait, yes I can. I forgot to request books ahead of time from the library so I was left to wander the shelves trying to find something good to read. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Self-published in 1993, Visions is the story of Verna (no last name given), a poor black woman from a small Arkansas town who moves to St. Louis in the 1960s for a better life.

Arriving in St. Louis with her young child from a previous marriage and little more, Verna soon marries the father of the child she's currently carrying, Paul. The collapse of her second marriage leaves Verna alone to raise Waymon and Paula. When the handsome A.D. moves in with the family of three, life begins to changes in ways Paula and Waymon can't imagine. Waymon escapes by leaving for college, leaving Paula to fend for herself. At this point in the book, the story really becomes Paula's, while the others become secondary characters.

Determined to make a better life for herself, Paula sets off for college. The roadblocks she encountered while growing up are nothing compared to what lies in store for her in the coming years.

What did you like about this book?
It was a very quick read.

What did you dislike about this book?
It was extremely predictable for the most part. Occasionally I was surprised, but not very often.

What could the author do to improve this book?
More insight into the lives of Paula's mother and brother after she left home would have provided a more well rounded story. Instead the reader is left to guess why they act as they do.

190pp
Published March 1993

#BookReview: Color Me Butterfly - L.Y. Marlow

Color Me Butterfly is the true story of a Philadelphia family living through four generations of mental and physical abuse. It's not until a potential victim takes steps to save herself and, in turn, her daughter, that the cycle is broken. The book focuses on one member of each generation that is a victim of abuse, but never a perpetrator. I guess I would have liked to know if any of the members abused because of their abuse. This is a quick read with a happy ending.