A memorable story of a matriarch whose bravery and tenacity inspired her children.
An inspiring novel of a runaway’s journey through heartache.
In this novel’s introduction, the real-life Essie Brown’s son eulogizes her as a woman of sacrifice—a heroine who led a turbulent life until she found God and turned her life around. Her fictionalized story begins in Jamaica—a gutsy 14-year-old determined to make a life for herself, who escapes her resentful adoptive family and the arduous work they make her do. After she runs away from tiny Cascade to the city of Montego Bay, Essie hunts for work and soon finds a job working for the Ferguson family, baby-sitting their children and cooking their meals. She begins to enjoy her life in the big city, making friends and even finding a boyfriend, Stedman; then she gets pregnant and miscarries. Although she and Stedman are determined to stay together and have a family, she has another miscarriage and then another, and Stedman leaves her for her best friend, Cherry. Heartbroken and angry, she once again resolves to make it on her own and lands a job as a hotel chef. She soon finds herself pregnant once more, but this time, the father wants nothing to do with her, and she brings the pregnancy to full term. After a series of ill-fated affairs, Essie finds Tim Brown, a friend from childhood who now promises to be the first man to stand by her. But soon enough, Essie moves on and searches for a wealthy man to take care of her. This novel shows how, in the end, Essie’s journey and faith helped her grow strong and focused; she eventually raised eight children on her own, molding them into ambitious, motivated sons and daughters. She held her unwieldy family together with gumption, stoicism and a willingness to recreate herself whenever life proved difficult. Her determination is powerful, as is this fictionalized collection of key moments in her life.
A memorable story of a matriarch whose bravery and tenacity inspired her children.Pub Date: March 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-1483987279
Page Count: 274
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
Hoffman (The Red Garden, 2011, etc.) births literature from tragedy: the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple, the siege of Masada and the loss of Zion.
This is a feminist tale, a story of strong, intelligent women wedded to destiny by love and sacrifice. Told in four parts, the first comes from Yael, daughter of Yosef bar Elhanan, a Sicarii Zealot assassin, rejected by her father because of her mother's death in childbirth. It is 70 CE, and the Temple is destroyed. Yael, her father, and another Sicarii assassin, Jachim ben Simon, and his family flee Jerusalem. Hoffman's research renders the ancient world real as the group treks into Judea's desert, where they encounter Essenes, search for sustenance and burn under the sun. There too Jachim and Yael begin a tragic love affair. At Masada, Yael is sent to work in the dovecote, gathering eggs and fertilizer. She meets Shirah, her daughters, and Revka, who narrates part two. Revka's husband was killed when Romans sacked their village. Later, her daughter was murdered. At Masada, caring for grandsons turned mute by tragedy, Revka worries over her scholarly son-in-law, Yoav, now consumed by vengeance. Aziza, daughter of Shirah, carries the story onward. Born out of wedlock, Aziza grew up in Moab, among the people of the blue tunic. Her passion and curse is that she was raised as a warrior by her foster father. In part four, Shirah tells of her Alexandrian youth, the cherished daughter of a consort of the high priests. Shirah is a keshaphim, a woman of amulets, spells and medicine, and a woman connected to Shechinah, the feminine aspect of God. The women are irretrievably bound to Eleazar ben Ya'ir, Masada's charismatic leader; Amram, Yael's brother; and Yoav, Aziza's companion and protector in battle. The plot is intriguingly complex, with only a single element unresolved. An enthralling tale rendered with consummate literary skill.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1747-4
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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