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THE SISTERHOOD

A FORGOTTEN MINORITY: POWER AND INFLUENCE OF BLACK WOMEN

An absorbing and informative overview of black women’s history in need of stronger editing.

A history book centers on black women in Africa and the United States.

In this work, Fuller (Major Impact!, 2016) arranges his account of the history of women of African descent into themed chapters that explore their influence in politics, culture, the military, and the family, among other topics. Each chapter moves chronologically from ancient and medieval African societies through the 19th and 20th centuries and up to the present, with the focus in more recent times primarily but not exclusively on black women in the U.S. Among the women who appear in the text are Harriet Tubman, Maggie Lena Walker, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Dorothy Height. Discussing Tubman, he asserts that she made “around 19 trips to the South to bring relatives, friends, and strangers to freedom.” Fuller draws connections between historical and present-day figures and deftly shows how black women have always been leaders within their own communities and in the wider society as well. The book concludes with capsule biographies of many of the women who appear throughout the text. The work is deeply researched and fully cited, with a complete bibliography at the end. In addition, Fuller displays a clear enthusiasm for and knowledge about his subject. While the volume tells an intriguing story, highlighting the work and achievements of both famous and little-known African American women, it is hampered in its effectiveness by prose that could benefit from significant editing. There are non sequiturs (“On a side note,” actor Yul Brynner “portrayed Ramses II in the film, The Ten Commandments. There are other fictional representations of him in other films, adding to the controversy of the story related to the Exodus”); ungrammatical sentences (“Once believed that all life came from the African woman, the natural assumption was that she was a deity”); and an awkward tendency to use female as a noun (“These females became even closer when they each lost a son”). Adverbs are sometimes used incorrectly (for instance, “likewise” and “purportedly”), limiting readers’ comprehension of the text. Fuller has produced a thoughtful collection of stories about women who have often been overlooked by history, but it requires further polish to reach readers effectively.

An absorbing and informative overview of black women’s history in need of stronger editing.

Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-07-975298-4

Page Count: 286

Publisher: Self

Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2019

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.

Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955

ISBN: 0670717797

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955

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