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A Family
Gathering
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Where Was God On May 15, 1974?
Product Details
- Published on: 2006-01-01
- Binding: Hardcover
- 512 pages
- ISBN:0-9649756-2-9
REVIEW by MIDWEST
BOOK REVIEW
(MBR)
Highly recommended.
Written by Gene Cartwright, A Family Gathering is an extensive
novel of tragedy, triumph, extreme hardship, bitter secrets,
and one woman's long struggle to survive and overcome since
a pivotal day in her girlhood. Set in the American South, across
years in which racial equality was a dream to hope for but all
too often dispelled by hate and violence, A Family Gathering
explores such diverse subjects as black-on-black hatred, prostitution,
family strife, and the mysterious comings and goings of enigmatic
figures. A large cast interweaves their complicated tangle of
conflicting desires, though the main focus is upon Deborah Yvonne
Davis, the girl and later grown woman caught amid a shocking
world filled with lies and betrayal, but also hope and love.
Highly recommended.
Review
A FAMILY GATHERING
A Family Gathering places you in the south during some of our
most turbulent times in African-American history. Although segregation
had been abolished, someone forgot to mention that to the people
of Reedville, Arkansas. In 1974, Reedville still epitomized
the separate but not equal policies of the rural south.
Yet, there is a family whose secrets become the impetus to heartache,
pain, lies and even murder. May 15, 1974, forever changed the
life of twelve-year-old Deborah Davis and the entire Davis clan.
Deborah is one of four children of the Reverend Henry Davis
and his wife Mabel. They have raised their children in the church
and in a strict household. Unbeknownst to Deborah, an innocent
ride with the son of the wealthiest and most powerful family
in Reedville would change the course of her life irrevocably.
This unforgettable day leaves Deborah battered physically and
feeling mentally battered and all alone.
However, when the Reverend and his wife decide it would be best
for Deborah to move to Chicago with her aunt and uncle, Deborah
is heartbroken and she realizes the self she once knew is dead.
The life she once revered is no longer one she can cling to
because she has another life within her to protect. Deborah
boards a bus to Chicago and does not return until the Reverend
is on his deathbed. She returns home as a famous novelist but
with trepidation because she has had little contact with her
siblings and mother and none with the Reverend.
Yet, she knows upon returning home she must forgive her parents
and siblings for ostracizing her so she can move pass the pain
of her childhood. Upon her return, Deborah and the family gather
in love, forgiveness and hope but underneath this thin veil
are the secrets that slowly unfold. Deborah is forced to relive
the events of May 15, 1974 and she must share her secrets with
the family. Yet, Deborah is not the only one in the family or
in Reedville with secrets. This family lived with secrets and
those secrets and will come to light.
Gene Cartwright, has written a saga that relishes in dark secrets
and it will take a sequel to tell them all. He has created characters
with so much strength the reader can actually visualize this
novel on the big or small screen. The Davis family and their
secrets will keep the reader enthralled until the very end.
The reader will not be disappointed that all the secrets are
not revealed; they know the sequel will be even better. This
is a well-crafted, strong story of a family and the secrets
they try to hide in the light, but surely will come alive in
the dark. A FAMILY GATHERING also gives the reader a powerful
message of hope, truth and strength. The sequel is sure to be
even more enlightening.
Reviewed by Cashana Seals of The RAWSISTAZª
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