Glorious Review & Giveaway!!!

Glorious is set against the backdrops of the Jim Crow South, the Harlem Renaissance, and the civil rights era. Blending the truth of American history with the fruits of Bernice L. McFadden’s rich imagination, this is the story of Easter Venetta Bartlett, a fictional Harlem Renaissance writer whose tumultuous path to success, ruin, and revival offers a candid portrait of the American experience in all its beauty and cruelty.

Glorious is ultimately an audacious exploration into the nature of self-hatred, love, possession, ego, betrayal, and, finally, redemption.
Taken from GoodReads

Glorious is the story of Easter Bartlett, living her life in the prejudice and hatred of the Jim Crow south, desperate to escape her horrific past life with her family. Her adventures take her across the US, teaching her different ways of life, learning how to live in a world where she's consistently put down because of her race, and discovering how to love herself. To live in a world where she doesn't exist, Easter writes stories, never hoping they'll published - just writes to know she's writing and alive. She marries, loves, loses, and lives just like everyone else, only to most - she becomes E.V. Gibbs, a writer, an author...but all the while inside, she's still Easterm, and the world is still unfair.

Glorious is the brainchild of Bernice L. McFadden, author of the powerful and moving, Sugar. It's the story of hope when everything else is filled with hatred and loss, and it is powerfully moving, albeit frightening. Easter saw terrible things - lynchings of pregnant women, murder of children, the disregard of rape. Yet somehow, later in life, Easter still clings to hope.

Strengths: Bernice L. McFadden is an incredible writer. Her portrayal of the world Easter lives in rings true and harsh. I actually looked up whether E.V. Gibbs was real because the character rang so true. It's moving, and it is incredibly powerful.

Weaknesses: This is a personal preference for me, but I don't like reading the N word in any context. Yes, it was relevant in the the story, but I find it cruel and crass, and it burns my conscience just to read it.

I give this book a strong 4 out of 5, and I would recommend it to more mature readers, as it is quite graphic. This book was given to me free of charge by the author in exchange for a review. This, in no way, influenced my opinion of this book.

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Now onto the good news...



The lovely Bernice L. McFadden has offered two (2) autographed copies of her book, Glorious, to my readers. Isn't that exciting?! Ok...the rules:

You MUST be a follower to enter.
You must leave a comment on this review with your email address included.
I will select two winners using Random.org.
This giveaway closes on Saturday, April 3, 2010 at midnight EST.
Good luck!