Five stars for the writing and the healing/and thanks

books:


	• The Warmest December Bernice L. McFadden Plume, 2002 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 66 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Spellbinding and Shattering.

Kenzie Lowe is the adult daughter of an abusive alcoholic father, Hyman Lowe, called Hi-Lo throughout the book. She has grown up to be an alcoholic herself and, after starting out with a promising career because her grandmother Mabel helped her escape to boarding school, she has thrown it all away and finds herself living again in the projects with her mother Della. They are now on welfare and Kenzie is 6 months into a recovery program. Her father is laying in a hospital dying of liver disease, and she is forced to confront a painful past that she has been trying to run from for so many years.

It's just as Kenzie said, though; no matter where she went, she saw Hi-Lo, in may different colors and social statuses, so she was never truly far from home in her own mind. An incredible journey of a woman who must not only relive the pain of a man who broke ribs, killed a beloved cat, made Kenzie use white towels for showering after discovering her interest in boys, and was almost directly responsible for brother Malcolm's death among other tragic situations, but must learn if she can forgive the man responsible for ruining so many lives in order to win her own personal war.

This book runs a gamut of emotions. There is anger, shock, sadness, disbelief, and sometimes touches of warm humor that make the topic of alcoholism and abuse, though nothing new, an experience that is eye opening and sobering as if for the very first time. A highly recommended read, no matter what your life's experiences are.

for more information click here

A Thoughtful Piece

The reviews that were given, I too have to agree, it was thought provoking, page turner, you wanted more, you felt the pain and the hurt. You wanted to strike out and attack. WOW!!! I love being apart of the action. Please read this book.

for more information click here

DEPRESSING CONTENT BUT A FACT OF LIFE

First of all, this book is a difficult book to read, not because of the writing style but the subject matter itself. It tells the story of physical, verbal and emotional childhood abuse. Hy-lo is Kenzie's and Malcolm's father, and I use the term "father" very loosely because he is everything a father should never be. He is a controling, raging alcoholic who takes out his insecurities on his wife and children. "The Warmest December" is a work of fiction but, unfortunately, the story happens all too often in the real world. As Hy-lo lies dying in a hospital, Kenzie sits by his side recalling flashbacks from the past, the pain, the suffering and the horror. In the end, she discovers that her father's childhood was one similar to her own - the cyle continued. However, she does find forgiveness and in doing so, sets herself free to reclaim her life.

The only reason the book lost a star was the plot. It was not a novel one and can be found in many other books, both fiction and memoir. On the positive side, the book was a real page-turner and kept the reader on the edge of their seat from start to finish. Also recommended by the same author is, "Camilla's Roses."

for more information click here

Five stars for the writing and the healing/and thanks

For anyone who has had an abusive childhood with parents both feared - and sadly - loved at the same time - this book is a great healing. I happened upon it at my library, as a beautifully-read book-on-tape (Recorded Books, Inc.) and was enthralled from the beginning. Strangely, it was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. I have a story like the narrator's and was grappling with issues of addiction, rage and forgiveness, too. It helped me to understand, and yes, to let go. I recommend this book for anyone who needs to forgive the "grown-ups" who "ruined" their lives. They may just find that, like the author, they are stronger than they think. Thanks to Ms. McFadden for a great piece of literature...and the healing.

for more information click here

Too depressing

This book explicitly details the negative and dark world of alcoholism and the abuse associated with it. The author is very detailed with different abuse incidents and as the reader you feel your are right there witnessing it yourself. However, this book was far too depressing for me. Mc Fadden is one of my favorite authors but I can't say this was one of my favorite books.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

"Riveting . . . Searing and expertly imagined." (Toni Morrison)

Sugar, Bernice L. McFadden's bestselling debut novel, was hailed by critics and fellow authors alike. Ebony called it "unforgettable . . . unique . . . a haunting story that keeps the pages turning until the end." Terry McMillan praised it as "one of the most compelling and thought-provoking novels I've read in years." Now this Blackboard award-winning author returns to the Brooklyn of her childhood with The Warmest December.

For Kenzie, growing up in the Lowe home means opening the bottom drawer of her father's dresser to choose which belt she will be whipped with that night, furtive trips to the Bee Hive Liquor store for her father's vodka, and dreaming of the day she can escape apartment A5.

Buoyed by the lyrical, redemptive voice that distinguished Bernice L. McFadden's earlier novel, The Warmest December tells the powerful, deeply moving story of one family and the alcoholism and abuse that marked all of their lives. Moving fluidly between the past and the present-as the adult Kenzie visits the bedside of her dying father-it is an ultimately cathartic tale of hope, healing, and forgiveness.

"Bernice L. McFadden has proven she knows how to tell a story with insight and clarity . . . McFadden's prose is lyrical." (USA Today)

for more information click here

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Best Of African-American Books - Classic and Contemporary
See what Leatha Has been reading
African-American Fiction 3
African American Fiction 8
My favorite fiction novels

search for books
warmest december, december, warmest

Impressum / about us