Film director, Nolan McClain is focused and strategically making moves in his career. He also navigates his romantic life in a seemingly effortless way. He has the perfect formula for success. His well-crafted life gets a shake up when Bridgette Turner moves into his orbit. He just can’t seem to shake her from his mind.
Bridgette Turner, an up-and-coming actress is making the most of her budding career. She is destined for stardom. When Nolan’s romantic interest in her is made known, she’s uncertain that it could be real. In addition to her doubt, her past threatens to snatch anything positive in her future, including her potential romance with Nolan.
I enjoyed the exposition into Nolan and Bridgette’s background. It was refreshing to see both step out of the familiar. The banter between the McClain siblings was in this book as well and is always hilarious. I love the connection and warmth in the family. Yet another hit in the McClain brothers series.
Kayla is a young woman with a bright future. She is in love with Geno and life is good. However, the moniker that her close friends refer to her as “Drama Queen” starts to ring true. One major incident sets off a crazy chain of events. She decides to move her life forward in a different direction and meets Craig. After meeting Craig, she gets more than she bargained for when she becomes pregnant with his baby.
This was an entertaining and quick read. The story was packed with interesting characters and drama filled situations that just spilled over to more chaos. There were some serious moments in the story, but overall, it was a light and funny read. It was a welcomed reprieve from weightier books.
Sara Lancaster left Georgia after she is raped. She vowed to stay away as long as she possibly could. However, she is forced to return home when her father becomes ill. With her eight-year-old daughter Alana in tow, Sara’s past meets the present and it’s both bittersweet and hopeful.
Jacob Wyler left Georgia under a cloak of shame. His rich and influential family was brought to near ruin in a trail of unfortunate events. His brother raped Sara Lancaster, his sister Naomi died in a car accident, his father Tom committed suicide, his mother Birdie, normally a cold and indifferent woman, became insufferable.
Jacob sought out work in faraway places as an astrophysicist while simultaneously attempting to rebuild his identity. However, visions of his deceased sister lead him to return home.
In Georgia, Jacob and Sara’s paths cross. Things get convoluted when love develops in the most unlikely of ways.
I read this story as a part of Libby’s Together We Read campaign. This was a very layered story. The theme of forgiveness was evident. I found the building blocks the author used to present forgiveness in the story to be unconventional. I personally found it difficult to grasp the idea of the romantic love that developed between Sara and Jacob. The idea for the concept was explained in the back of the book in A Conversation with the Author.
I do know love can form under unlikely circumstances. However, Sara didn’t want to speak about Daniel, barely wanted to utter his name, or want to see him. Sara’s reluctance and hang-ups about Daniel was still very apparent throughout the book, and rightfully so. So, her falling in love with his identical twin felt out of place to me.
Alana was the bright shining star for me in the book, such a breath of fresh air. She brought everything together. She was the healing source in more ways than one. I also enjoyed seeing the warmth displayed in Sara’s family. Sara’s father speaking only in poems was intriguing. I would have liked to know more about why he chose this way to speak. Overall, I liked this story. It was rich and intriguing.
Jacob Swinton’s life is coming to a close. He is met with a sense of urgency to write to his son Isaac. He shares his life’s story through a series of letters. The letters; part revelation, part remorse, detail Jacob’s upbringing, his marriage, his divorce, and his beliefs on manhood, etc.
Jacob’s view on life and manhood is challenged when his son Isaac is born. Isaac, an expressive child bubbling over with feelings, did not enter the world in typical male fashion. This serves as the catalyst for the complexities that make up he and his father’s relationship.
Jacob’s letters shed light into the intergenerational divide of societal norms that is so deep between father and son. Although vestiges of growth is apparent in the letters, it struggles against his innate inability to have a demonstrative love towards his son. He is a flawed man ridden with inner conflict that is true to men of a particular generation.
What I appreciated most about Don’t Cry For Me is the authenticity. It shed light on the less than ideal reality of some family relationships.
*****Some insightful and poignant quotes from the book:
November 27th, 2003 chapter “If you still don’t understand why I’m telling you all this, just keep reading. A man’s history is all he has. It says more than his mouth ever will. You’ll see what I mean soon enough. ” ~Jacob
November 28th, 2003 chapter “I stood there wondering how this had happened to me, thinking of all the things I’d do differently if I could live again. It was useless thinking, if course. Nothing was about to change. Not for me. There are no do-overs in this life. Either you get it right or wish you had.”~ Jacob
December 24th, 2003 chapter I always called you boy. When a father calls a boy son, he’s declaring his pride in him. I didn’t feel this way about you, even when you got grown.~Jacob
January 17th, 2004 chapter The more I read, the more I saw myself. Knowledge is a funny thing, Isaac. It informs by exposing. It shows you precisely how much you don’t know.~Jacob
January 26th, 2003 chapter Silence isn’t always quiet though. It troubles a man’s soul, forcing him to admit what he’d rather forget.~ Jacob
February 5th, 2004 chapter Reading taught me that a man’s own life is his own responsibility, his own creation. Blaming others is a waste of time. No one can make you happy if you’re determined to be miserable.
All I wanted was to look you in the face and tell you I’m sorry. I had wounded you beyond my capacity to heal you.
Love doesn’t make us perfect; it makes us, want to be. By the time you discover this, your imperfections have done their damage.
February 8th, 2004 chapter A man’s son is his truth unadorned. When he can look at him and be proud, his fatherhood is complete.
February 10th, 2004 You must learn to uproot unwanted seeds without destroying the entire harvest.
Escaping the shattered home life she shared with her parents, ten-year old Joan relocates to Memphis with her younger sister, Mya and their mother, Miriam. Memphis is quite the experience and wide-eyed, Joan takes it all in, this magical, colorful place.
When they all arrive in Miriam’s childhood home, a home built by love, Joan feels the weight of a thing in this very safe haven they’ve escaped to. Her artwork is her balm for the powerful weight she’s carrying from years ago.
Joan melts into the fabric of her community, which includes people like her sassy aunt August and the ever present elders Miss Dawn and Miss Jade. She is surrounded by love, secrets, and wisdom. It ushers her into an understanding of both her family’s past and her own identity and purpose.
I absolutely loved reading this story. I especially appreciated the lyrical language the author used. It was a well written and poignant story about fierce women and their life choices and journeys. It was a refreshing experience to be overtaken by such a rich story.
Identical twin sisters Stella and Desiree Vignes were products of a small black community in Louisiana. The community had clear expectations based on class, as well as a more definitive way of being that was rooted in colorism. After running away at the age of sixteen, the twin sisters’ lives take on different forms. Stella decides to leave all she knows to live out her life as a white woman. Desiree, lost after being abandoned by her twin, decides to move on and purposely goes in the opposite direction of her sister. Years later, their paths cross again by way of their daughters’ lives. Will they pick up where they left off or will the wounds of abandonment and betrayal be too much to heal?
This was such a rich and interesting story. The layers of lies that Stella had to weave to ensure a solid chance of a self proclaimed better life was hard to watch. It seeped into her daughter Kennedy’s life in the strangest of ways. Desiree restarting her life in a fit of rebellion caused by resentment and betrayal, affected both her and her daughter Jude deeply. Even though the chasm between Stella and Desiree was profound, the connection that resurfaced was undeniable and ran extremely deep. A beautifully written tale of loss and love with many lessons sprinkled in between. I really enjoyed reading this.
FOREVER BOOK FEVER 