Glorious

Great Read

Really injoyed it......

I would by this book again

I use the book for leisure reading

Still enjoying her work...

This is actually a read for my book club

Glorious

I simply adore the raw intensity of this novel. This only continues to increase my love for Bernice McFadden's writing.

Too good!

Ms. McFadden does it again! A great read. It flowed from beginning to end. I love reading about this period - Harlem Renaissance. Also, I love th mix of history and fiction. I have read most of Ms. McFadden's novels and each one has been excellent. I look forwarrd to her next novel.

Begins with a fire

Very easy read, wildly colorful in painting a vivid literary picture. However, ran out of steam at a crucial point in the story. Bernice is a wonderful storyteller with rich and engrossing characters. I feel she may have short changed herself and her readers at the end. Still worth the read.

Great Book!!

Didn't want the book to end. Look forward to reading more by McFadden.

Terrific

Good read. I love the author writing style.

An Amazing Read!

Easter Bartlett flees the South and its hate and makes her way to Harlem. Easter's life is a story of "what ifs". Easter has some very colorful characters in her life; Rain and Meredith Tomas. Easter comes into her own as a writer during the Harlem Renaissance. By leaving "hate" in the South, Easter believed that people should be treated the same. Easter is betrayed in a bad way by Meredith Tomas, her benefactor. Easter flees Harlem and returns to her humble beginnings in the South. Bernice McFadden does an excellent job of combining fact and fiction to create this amazing story that takes us from the horrors of the South to Harlem. You can feel the hurt that Easter and other Blacks felt during those turbulent times in America. This book is a must read! --EbonyReader4Life (Circle of Color Book Club)

Okay but not the best

I enjoyed this book because I understood what the author, Bernice McFadden, was trying to do. All of the characters are simply archetypes of African Americans during that time period. That's why none of the characters are well-developed; they are simply meant to be compilations of certain types of Blacks as they migrated from the South to the North in search of a better life because of the racism of the South. And the main character, Easter, is meant to be a representation of Black authors and artists during the Harlem Renaissance.

The book was good in that it dealt with classic struggles in the Black community (racism, skin color bias among our own, relationships between Black men and women, underestimating our own worth, and honoring our history) and some that are evident in every community (sexual identity and orientation, abortion, and drug use). The main problem for me was that I never really empathized with any of the characters because they we all superficial. It was, however, a decent read.

Disappointed!

I am a serious fan of Berniece McFadden. This was not her best work by far. It is however an good start. I feel like the book lacked depth and there was a rush to complete the story. The premise is good but the sub stories could have been deleted to give better focus to the main character and her story. The story does jump around and will leave some confused especially since a lot is left to the reader's imagination. As for the period in which the story is set, it is a fascinating time and the history is rich and complex. That seems to be missing from the plot. Also lacking is McFadden's usual ability to develp her characters and make you love(or hate) them. I felt very little connection to most of the character including the main one and felt some of the characters weren't even necessary. In all, I was not impressed.

NOT Bernice Mcfadden's best work!!!!

Oh where do I start.First let me say this I am an avid historial fiction reader. But this book definitly misses the mark on so many levels. The plot and the characters are underdeveloped and the story jumps around making it a bit confusing to keep up. To make a long story short I didnt like it and would not recommend it at all. I recently read "The help" by Kathryn Stockett in three days (which is a 452 pg book) this one is only 235 and it Took me a month! I Have read "sugar" and this bitter earth and thought it was genious

Glorious was Awesome!

I really enjoyed this book because it educates as well as entertains. The characters were really well developed and the storyline really took you on an unexpectant journey. I would have loved 100 more pages!!!!!

Homelessness of the Brave

Easter Venetta Bartlett is a literary talent unrequited by her experiences and unable to fathom the envy and deceit of lesser talents of her gift. Knowing little of the publishing world, her work is stolen by someone close to her. She becomes victim of her talent and is branded a plagiarist.

Bernice McFadden's "Glorious" chronicles the life of affable Easter, from adolescence through her senior years. It is a story of betrayal, loss, talent and struggle in a hostile environment where choices are limited by the need to survive and hopes are mitigated by circumstances. Whether the Jim Crow South, the Renaissance of Harlem or the Civil Rights Era, the ability to participate in change(s) is limited by social position, and to a large extent, by physical characteristics. Through Easter, McFadden delves into bravery to survive multiple frustrations, delusions, disappointments and defeats, which reflect the triumph of the spirit over destiny. She weaves a tale that must be told when hope is lost and starting over may be a matter of being without roots and alone.

"Glorious" is well researched and at times heart-wrenching. I was so involved in Easter's story, however, that I felt a void when portions of her life were skipped over. I'd recommend "Glorious," especially for its historical perspective of the integration of gender norms and social philosophies through turbulent times. Some well know characters are presented from the perspective of a poor black woman awash. Interesting.

Reviewed by: Gail

Glorious

A touching historical fiction that forces the reader to sympathize not only to the main character but what the black Americans' struggles were throughout the early 1900's until the mid 1960's. The author brings joy, anger and sadness within the scope of the novel to bring full circle a deep seeded empathy for the people involved. This is a breathtaking novel that brings to life the trials and tribulations of the black American during this time period.

Nice Book

I got this book for my mom for Mother's Day and she really enjoyed it. She is going to let me borrow it (one of the advantages of getting your mom presents you like!) and I can't wait!

Glorious is glorious!

From the dirt roads of Waycross, Georgia to the busy streets of Harlem, Bernice McFadden once again delivers perfection in her latest novel, Glorious. With actual historical events playing in the background, we are introduced to Easter Bartlett and her family.

The historic "Fight of the Century" between Jack Johnson and James Jeffries sets in motion a series of events that eventually push Easter out of Georgia and eventually land her in Harlem. Much mention is made of Marcus Garvey and his Universal Negro Improvement Association. A story set in Harlem at such a time would be incomplete with referencing the Harlem Renaissance and Ms. McFadden deftly weaves in noted members of the Renaissance, including A'lelia Walker, daughter of Madame CJ Walker and a patron of the arts, and Langston Hughes. Others such as Claude McKay and Carl Van Vechten are also mentioned.

With writing as rich and vivid as only she can do it, Ms. McFadden draws you into the life of Easter Bartlett and doesn't release you easily. Though their stories are not the same, I couldn't help but to compare Easter Barlett to Wallace Thurman's Emma Lou Brown from The Blacker the Berry, with both women seeking refuge in Harlem. I found myself yearning to read this while at the same time putting it down in order to savor it and prolong the inevitable end. While I usually give away books that I've already read, this is one that will have to stay in my library.

What did you like about this book?
The author does a wonderful job of developing the characters, even minor ones. Through her words I was able to imagine exactly how everyone and everything looked.

What did you dislike about this book?
I wouldn't say it was a dislike, but there was a period of time of the main character's life that was kind of glossed over. While going into detail about it was not necessary to tell the story, I could have stood more than a few sentences about the timespan. That is only because I didn't want the book to end

How can the author improve this book?
No improvements needed!

glorious hope beautifully told

Back in 1910 a black man defeated a white man in a fair fight and the black people who'd laid bets on the result were understandably elated. Soon afterwards, a girl called Easter, who already had plenty of reasons for hatred in her life, wrote that one word HATE on a piece of paper, crumpled it up, and buried it.

Easter wrote many other words too as she grew older in a world of radical unfairness and unthinking cruelty. Glorious, by Bernice McFadden, is her tale. Reading how a pregnant black cook is murdered because a total stranger, unfortunately also black, has committed a crime, then watching the slaughter of her unborn child, leaves the reader sickened and saddened for all those others whose stories have not been, and surely should be told. But Easter buries her hate and herself and moves on.

The novel introduces a fascinating cast of characters, some larger than life, some smaller, some real and some imagined. But all the lives are gloriously genuine and so powerfully told. I even found myself searching for author E.V. Gibbs on the internet, to see if she really existed. But I've read Their Eyes were watching God, so I know Zora Neale Hurston was real.

The story progresses from Georgia to railroad tracks to Harlem and high-class apartments in New York. Through waves of powerful emotions, innocent errors and devastating betrayals, it all ends back where it began, in the small town of Waycross, Georgia. Years have passed and it's now 1961. The world is changing, but hasn't changed enough. And the reader learns where Easter's wonderful mind and words have led her. It could be tragic, but instead it's powerfully hopeful, beautiful and moving. And the quote from Zora Neale Hurston on the final page-"God balances the sheet in time"-rings gloriously true in the reader's mind.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.