Black Rose: In the Garden Trilogy (In the Garden)

Book Description

Roz is a woman of independent means who thinks love is all in the past-but she's about to be taken by surprise.

Number-one bestselling author Nora Roberts presents the second novel of her In the Garden trilogy, as three women discover the secrets from the past contained within their historic home.

Customer Reviews:

Very Good.......2007-08-06

Another of Nora's books that grabs you within the first 10 pages, but this book is a little slower than the Blue Dahlia.

Trilogy.......2007-07-19

This was a very good trilogy. It will keep you interested to the last page!

fantastic.......2007-04-12

All three books in the trilogy will go on my keeper shelf forever. I love books that are connected through women who become close friends.

Saving Graces is another favorite of mine, although there all three heroines get their stories within one book.The Saving Graces: A Novel

And I just started a new 4 book mini series that feature 4 women who are thrown together in adversity and end up friends as they fight for their lives. Secret Contract (Harlequin Intrigue Series)

The best of Nora Roberts.......2007-02-15

This is my favorite Nora Roberts book. I am an avid gardener, so the setting of the garden center, and details of the business was an added bonus. The characters in all her books seem real, but never more than in the In The Garden series. I love the balance of personalities, and their wonderful interaction. I felt as if I knew these people! When I started reading Black Rose it was like visiting old friends. Black Rose is my favorite, I think, because it is centered on Roz. She is such a strong woman, but does not let her strength take away from her warmth and femininity. I usually pass on my paperbacks to the library, but will not give away the In The Garden series. I have read them several times and enjoyed them each time!

Great read.......2007-02-09

Nora Roberts has done it again. The way she brings characters to life is enchanting. I loved reading this part of the trilogy and following the lives of the women involved. I especially loved the plot line of the Harper Bride. Needless to say, the gardens were an intricate part of this book and their descriptions were just lovely.

Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music/Culture)

Average customer rating:

Thorough
Essential! Rich!
powerful topic: execution?
Very interesting (but "brilliant"???)
"more brilliant than the sun"

Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music/Culture)
Tricia Rose
Manufacturer: Wesleyan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Linguistics | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture
Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop
That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader
Hip Hop America

ASIN: 0819562750

Book Description

From its beginnings in hip hop culture, the dense rhythms and aggressive lyrics of rap music have made it a provocative fixture on the American cultural landscape. In Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America, Tricia Rose, described by the New York Times as a "hip hop theorist," takes a comprehensive look at the lyrics, music, cultures, themes, and styles of this highly rhythmic, rhymed storytelling and grapples with the most salient issues and debates that surround it.

Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and History at New York University, Tricia Rose sorts through rap's multiple voices by exploring its underlying urban cultural politics, particularly the influential New York City rap scene, and discusses rap as a unique musical form in which traditional African-based oral traditions fuse with cutting-edge music technologies. Next she takes up rap's racial politics, its sharp criticisms of the police and the government, and the responses of those institutions. Finally, she explores the complex sexual politics of rap, including questions of misogyny, sexual domination, and female rappers' critiques of men.

But these debates do not overshadow rappers' own words and thoughts. Rose also closely examines the lyrics and videos for songs by artists such as Public Enemy, KRS-One, Salt N' Pepa, MC Lyte, and L. L. Cool J. and draws on candid interviews with Queen Latifah, music producer Eric "Vietnam" Sadler, dancer Crazy Legs, and others to paint the full range of rap's political and aesthetic spectrum. In the end, Rose observes, rap music remains a vibrant force with its own aesthetic, "a noisy and powerful element of contemporary American popular culture which continues to draw a great deal of attention to itself."

Customer Reviews:

Thorough.......2003-03-26

Hip Hop is founded on the valorization--rather than villification--of recontextualization, revision, and redaction. In a examplary work of musical and cultural studies scholarship, Rose traces the ways prior black musical/oral traditions, technological advances, and sexism undergird the discourse (just to mention a couple of the lens through which she takes on rap). The work highly accessible to hip hoppers non hip hoppers alike, furthermore. Finally, it is to Rose's benefit that she comes from an "insider's" vantage point, giving the text a genuine concern for where the music comes from, finds itself, and is indefatigably headed towards.

Essential! Rich!.......2000-07-25

Tricia Rose details the Hip-Hop Culture - and its beauty and depth - in this book I call "essential for Hip-Hoppers". For example: I'm writing 'bout Brazilian hip-hop and "Black Noise" cleared many doubts I had on hystoric, artistic, and politic aspects of the 'Culture of Streetz'. Another contribution that elevates this 'Bible of Hip-Hop' is the way Tricia Rose writes. The words flow natural, with many rich informations reduced in a very agradable text. If you don't like this book, you'll never understand the 'Black Noise' of this new millenium! Peace!

powerful topic: execution?.......2000-04-03

I read this book as a compulsory action for the 'Poetry of Rap' course in which I am currently enrolled at a major university. As a narrative and dialectic of black culture, or rather a single faction of black culture, this book is powerful and informative, providing analysis of many, many social thinkers of the Black Arts and later movements as well as Rose's perspective(s) on the developments of the culture. However, the execution of this text, ostensibly an academic account, is weakened by a diffuse structure, imprecise diction (beyond that necessitated by dealing with a topic heretofore untreated in academic circles with any rigor) and atrocious editing. I highly recommend the text, but by the same token recommend it with a disclaimer: hear why she says, and not what she says.

Very interesting (but "brilliant"???).......1999-06-03

This is an impressive interpretation of Black musical culture, with loads of interesting information and pertinent feminist content. I've read several books with somewhat similar subject matter, from Dick Hebdige's broad and helpful survey to the rather pretentious book by Russell Potter; but none of them captured my interest as much as this one.

"more brilliant than the sun".......1999-02-08

brilliant, exhausting and informative... provides a feminist point of view from the inside for all important aspects... read it and love it...

The White Rose: A Novel of the Black Company (Chronicles of The Black Company)

Average customer rating:

almost-end of first trilogy aside from the obvious sequel set-up for The Silver Spike
Grave Doings
Glen Cook at his best
The pinnacle of a masterpiece trilogy...
Final battle in the north

The White Rose: A Novel of the Black Company (Chronicles of The Black Company)
Glen Cook
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Shadows Linger: A Novel of the Black Company (Chronicles of The Black Company)
The Silver Spike: The Chronicles of the Black Company (Chronicles of The Black Company)
The Black Company (Chronicles of The Black Company #1)
Dreams of Steel (The Fifth Chronicle of the Black Company)
Bleak Seasons (Chronicles of The Black Company)

ASIN: 0812508440

Book Description

She is the last hope of good in the war against the evil sorceress known as the Lady. From a secret base on the Plains of Fear, where even the Lady hesitates to go, the Black Company, once in service to the Lady, now fights to bring victory to the White Rose. But now an even greater evil threatens the world. All the great battles that have gone before will seem a skirmishes when the Dominator rises from the grave.

Customer Reviews:

almost-end of first trilogy aside from the obvious sequel set-up for The Silver Spike.......2007-01-12

this review contains spoilers for this novel, the silver spike, and shadow games.

This is the third Black Company novel, and resolves most of the major conflicts set up in the first and (especially) second novels. The story starts out in three narrative lines, one being the Croaker narrative as the company has fled to the Plain of Fear with Darling, another being the story of the sorceror Bomanz right before he inadvertently freed the Lady and the Taken, and the third being a character we obviously suspect to be Raven in Barrowlands in present-time. The second and third narratives end about halfway through the book and Croaker is the perspective for the rest of the story.

The plains of fear seemed very well done (they were just a footnote in the previous appearance if I recall correctly), with odd creatures and flora described in sufficient detail to make them seen quite alien.

The Bomanz and Raven narratives were supplemental but informative.

The final battle with the dominator had enough surprises to be entertaining, though the obvious setup of leaving Toadkiller Dog free and the Limper's head unfound was clearly with a sequel (the silver spike) in mind.

On page 72 Cook seems to offer the idea that the various taken from the original novel might still be around. This is expounded on later when Darling mentioned that burning the Limper might have worked at the end of Shadows Linger. I think from this time Cook was actively playing with the idea inside the story of un-killing some Taken.

Grave Doings.......2006-06-03

This is the third volume of the first of four segments of the 10 volume story of the Black Company (whew!) Unlike many long series, Glen Cook has the knack of always being just inventive enough to maintain a high level of interest without over-amping on any one volume and then running out of plot at a critical moment. The story opens on the final series of conflicts with The Empire, with The Black Company on the side of the good guys for a chance. Hidden away on The Plain of Fear, the last of The Black Company, and other supporters of Darling, The White Rose, carry out what remains of the rebellion. Life is harsh as harsh can be, and they all know that The Lady and her Taken will soon appear and try to squash them like bugs.

Their only secret advantages are Darling herself, who is a Null - magic doesn't work around her - and the Plain itself a vast desert populated with a host of strange and intelligent life forms. Giant whale like creatures sail the skies, giant talking menhirs wander the dunes, stopping only to mutter "There are strangers on the Plain," and an ancient tree guards an even more ancient evil. Life is not good in the tunnels beneath the sand. And someone, somewhere, keeps sending Croaker pages from Bomanz's Diary - the self same wizard who worked the release of The Lady and The Taken, and who no lies trapped in the Barrow Lands in the tangled net that still guards the Dominator and some of his darker friends.

The story continues to alternate between past and present (a favorite Glen Cook device). Gradually we realize that The Dominator is still working on escape and that something evil has worked its way free as the result of Raven's interference in the guardian spells. This time the risk is even worse than that in Shadows Linger. So dire, in fact that The Lady convinces Croaker to get her acess to The White Rose in order to work out a tactical treaty until the big threat is past. This is a Black Company novel, so if you are intuiting a serious blowout, you're right. Everyone gets into the act - rocks, whales, monsters, you name it.

This is a transition volume, bringing most of the loose ends together as preparation for moving into the next phase of the story - the Black Company's ride back into its own history. Much will change, but it is one of Cook's strengths that he can work changes without breaking the reader's concentration. This is one of the few series where neither the writer nor the reader seem to get overtired.

Glen Cook at his best.......2006-01-14

This is without a doubt Glen Cook at the top of his form. The book is original, unusual, fast-paced, and very enjoyable. The original Black Company trilogy are the best of the nine Black Company novels, and this third book is the best of the trilogy. Read the previous two books first, but definitely get this one too. You might be up all night. The tight prose on display here is easy to follow while still interesting and exciting. It makes for wonderful light reading.

The pinnacle of a masterpiece trilogy..........2003-10-04

I just don't find many books that purely entertain me like this very often. Here again, Cook mixes in several plotlines separated in time all culminating in one of the best "show-downs" I've ever read. I just can't say enough good things about this book. The ending was totally unexpected and Cook drove me insane with curiosity about: the Lady's real name, what Bomans was looking for and what happened, who Corbie was, which Taken were loyal to the Lady, who would ultimately win in the end. One is never quite sure who's playing who until the very end. This is the capstone to one of the best trilogies in any genre.

Final battle in the north.......2003-09-12

The White Rose, the third in Glen Cook's Black Company series, completes this mercenary army's adventures in the north country. It is as different from the first two as they are different from each other. The men grow older, their numbers, dwindle, yet they are feared by their enemies.

All of the threads come together, but not altogether cleanly. The differences between good and evil are not always clear. The beginning of the story is disjointed and not nearly as action-oriented as the first two. No one is what he -- or she -- seems to be. Yet at the end, the story is satisfying enough.

Book Description

This book traces the lives of the Snowdens, an African American family of musicians and farmers living in rural Knox County, Ohio. Howard L. Sacks and Judith Rose Sacks examine the Snowdens' musical and social exchanges with rural whites from the 1850s through the early 1920s and provide a detailed exploration of the claim that the Snowden family taught the song "Dixie" to Dan Emmett--the white musician and blackface minstrel credited with writing the song. This edition features a new introduction in which the authors discuss the public response to this controversial claim, and present new information on the Snowdens' musical and social experiences.

Nora Roberts In the Garden CD Collection: Blue Dahlia, Black Rose, Red Lily (In the Garden)

Average customer rating:

Nora Roberts In the Garden CD Collection: Blue Dahlia, Black Rose, Red Lily (In the Garden)
Nora Roberts
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio on CD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

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Romance | Books on CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
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Nora Roberts Key Trilogy CD Collection: Key of Light, Key of Knowledge, Key of Valor (Key Trilogy)
Nora Roberts Three Sisters Island CD Collection: Dance Upon the Air, Heaven and Earth, Face the Fire (Three Sisters Island Trilogy)
Nora Roberts CD Collection 3: Birthright, Northern Lights, Blue Smoke
Nora Roberts CD Collection : Hidden Riches, True Betrayals, Homeport, The Reef
Nora Roberts Chesapeake Bay CD Collection: Sea Swept, Rising Tides, Inner Harbor, Chesapeake Blue (Chesapeake Bay)

ASIN: 1423323149
Release Date: 2007-05-29

Book Description

A Harper has always lived at Harper House, the centuries-old mansion just outside of Memphis. And for as long as anyone alive remembers, the ghostly Harper Bride has walked the halls, singing lullabies at night…

Blue Dahlia: Young widow Stella Rothchild, along with her two energetic little boys, has moved back to her roots in southern Tennessee - and into her new life at Harper House and In the Garden nursery. She finds a nurturing friendship with Roz and with expectant mother Hayley. And she discovers a fierce attraction with ruggedly handsome landscaper Logan Kitridge. But someone isn't happy about the budding romance…the Harper Bride.

Black Rose: A widow with three grown sons, Rosalind Harper survived a disastrous second marriage, and built her In the Garden nursery from the ground up. Hired to investigate Roz's Harper ancestors, Dr. Mitchell Carnegie finds himself just as intrigued with Roz herself. As they begin to unravel the puzzle of the Harper Bride's identity, Roz is shocked to find herself falling for the fascinating genealogist.

Red Lily: Hayley Phillips has found a home surrounded by beauty and the best friends she's ever had - including Roz's son Harper. To Hayley's delight, her new daughter Lily has really taken to him. To Hayley's chagrin, she has begun to dream about Harper - as much more than a friend... But Hayley's begun to suspect that her feelings are no longer completely her own.

Average customer rating:

Scandal of the Black Rose
easy read
A Passionate Read!
Suspenseful and very passionate!
exciting Regency romantic suspense

Scandal of the Black Rose
Debra Mullins
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

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Just One Touch
Two Weeks With a Stranger (Avon Romantic Treasure)
A Necessary Bride
A Necessary Husband
Pride and Petticoats

ASIN: 0060799234
Release Date: 2006-01-31

Book Description

A chance encounter and a case of mistaken identity leads to a passionate, yet forbidden, affair. Talented author Debra Mullins creates another sensuous and mesmerizing tale romance readers won't want to miss!

Anna Rosewood had always known her duty was to marry Lord Haverford. But when her twin brother is killed under mysterious circumstances, she risks her pending betrothal to discover the truth behind his death, even posing as a light skirt at a dinner party that she feels the killer may be attending.

Roman Devereaux, having proven his honor in battle, is about to realize his dream of working for the English government. But a deathbed promise has him helping another escape the clutches of a secret dueling society whose members have started turning up dead. During the course of his investigation, he passes a passionate interlude with a doxy who turns out to be no doxy...

When Anna and Rome accidentally meet again, Rome realizes he's in the appalling position of having seduced a Haverford bride. If Haverford finds out, they are both ruined. Everything hangs in the balance as Anna and Rome both investigate the same society. Each time they are thrown together, they must fight their rising desire for each other to do what is right––but sometimes doing the right thing can be the hardest thing to do...

Customer Reviews:

Scandal of the Black Rose.......2007-02-08

Anna Rosewood is lost without her beloved twin brother. Knowing that it is up to her to make an advantageous marriage, Anna can't help but try and find out the real reason her twin died. It is in doing that very thing that Anna runs into Roman Deveraux in Vauxhall Gardens disguised as a loose woman.

Roman Deveraux is in Vauxhall Gardens watching out for the younger brother of a friend. He is also investigating a secret society in which death seems to follow. Attending the party, he spies a beautiful and somewhat allusive woman he immediately wants to know better. Cornering her, the two share passionate kisses until she alludes him and scatters off into the night.

It is not until the next day at his cousin's home that Roman realizes the woman he had been with was in actuality his cousin's newly betrothed fiancé. Then and there, the two realize who the other is and both are taken aback by the emotion that this knowing commands. Anna knows she needs to marry, Roman knows she needs to marry, but neither want her to marry Roman's cousin. Plus, they now have to get to the bottom of the Black Rose society's tendency to lose members to death.

Scandal of the Black Rose took my breath away and I almost didn't find it. From the very start of this book I was taken aback by the imagery and emotions of both characters as well as their feelings for loved ones lost. Anna broke my heart yearning to find out the truth about her beloved brother and I wanted to hold her closely and assure her things would be okay. However, Roman beat me to it and his honor and loyalty to family almost completely did me in. I wanted him to stop being so honorable and grab what he wanted.

Scandal of the Black Rose is tied to Two Weeks with a Stranger, also by Debra Mullins. I could not put this book down and can't wait to see what Ms. Mullins writes next.

Talia
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

easy read.......2006-03-27

I would recommend this as an easy read. Even too easy, as if the author were explaining things to a child. Much was thought out word for word and then further rehashed out in simple dialogue. The scenes were sexy though sadly most of the romance scenes came post-grief.

The author does have a certain way with male characters view points. They come across manly, very sexy. That and the story of the rose society was enough to keep me interested in Scandal of the Black Rose. Plus, I wanted to find out who dunnit. But, there were no real clues, anybody could be the killer; sigh.

A Passionate Read!.......2006-03-15

Anna Rosewood is on a mission to discover who killed her twin brother a year ago and why. The authorities claim it was caused by footpads, but Anna thinks otherwise. While looking back over letters she'd written her twin she finds a mysterious piece of parchment that has a black rose crossed with a sword. She is convinced this has something to do with her brother's death so she sets out to find out what it means. Then on one night she infiltrates a meeting of a band of swordsmen she realizes she's out of her element but before she can leave...a handsome stranger notices her and thinking she's a new courtesan introduces her to passion she never knew existed. This one night of magic needs to be all she experiences with the man who calls himself Rome. She is as good as engaged and it's a good match...but will she be able to do forget Rome.

Rome has promised to look out for a friend's younger brother. When they attend a secret society meeting...he doesn't expect the night to turn out like it does and he certainly doesn't expect to find his mystery lady in his own cousin's house. When he realizes what and who "Rose" is he's bound and determined to walk away...but he can't and the danger she insists in getting into won't allow him to move on. But will this tale have a happy ending or will danger and honor get in the way?

This was another passionate and suspenseful read. Finally drawn characters with an intriguing plot will keep the reader motivated to finish this story. Anna and Rome are very engaging characters and their romance will captivate. Ms. Mullins has indeed penned another winner.

Suspenseful and very passionate!.......2006-02-14

You could feel the heat between this couple. Roman and Anna immediately connected and you wanted them to somehow find a way to be together. These prearranged marriages when they were children, how in the world did these people manage to deal with this? Backing up this powerful love story was the very mysterious unmasking of the Black Rose society who have been killing young men in death duels. I loved how Anna was so loyal to her dead twin, wanting to find out how he had been killed. Which of course, constantly keeps throwing her again and again with Rome who she cannot seem to control her emotions with. Poor Roman is so in love, for the first time, and yet he cannot find happiness without destroying his family in the same way his father did. How can this be happening to him the only girl he will ever love is his cousins betrothed? He will not do what his father did and steal his cousins future wife but he will forever be in love with Anna! Sometimes true love wins out, and if it did not would any of us ever read these books? This was a great love story with a good mysterious plot that totally fooled me!

exciting Regency romantic suspense .......2006-02-01

Her parents expect her to concentrate on marrying the Earl, Marcus Deveraux, but Anna Rosewood is distracted; she vows to bring to justice the unknown assailant who murdered her twin brother Anthony. Her only clue is a letter Anthony had containing no words just a circle with pictures of a sword and black rose inside.

At a Vauxhall Gardens masquerade party, Anna pretends to be a light skirt so that she can enter a pavilion with the same symbols as the letter contains. Working undercover for the government to uncover the person responsible for the dueling deaths of young aristocrats, Marcus' cousin, Roman Deveraux, sees Rose and makes a bid for her; both are stunned by his kiss, but she flees.

At a family dinner to introduce Anna to Marcus' family, "Rose" and Rome recognize one another. He wonders if she is taking his cousin for a ride so he investigates her while she continues her inquiries into her sibling's death while they also fall in love. However, he rejects his feelings because he refuses to cause the same type of scandal that his father once caused; besides which he does not trust the enigmatic Rose.

This exciting Regency romantic suspense catches the reader's attention on two levels; that of who leads the mysterious sword and black rose gang and how the lead couple will come together without hurting the nice Marcus. The former is what brings Anna and Rome together though that also includes a strong dose of distrust; while the latter turns into a delightful triangle and more. Historical romance fans will enjoy this fine thriller with a final shocker of a twist that leaves a secondary protagonist deserving a future tale.

Harriet Klausner

Is Modeling for You?: The Handbook and Guide for the Young Aspiring Black Model

Average customer rating:

Very helpful!
Tells you things other modeling guides don't, like...
a great book for all models

Is Modeling for You?: The Handbook and Guide for the Young Aspiring Black Model
Yvonne Rose , and Tony Rose
Manufacturer: Amber Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Guides | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Models | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Being a Model
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ASIN: 0965506401

Book Description

The Ultimate How-To Book for the Young Aspiring Black Model

The new national bestseller Is Modeling for You? The Handbook and Guide for the Young Aspiring Black Model is the first and only comprehensive book on modeling written for and about the African-American model.

The 272 page book has over 60 pages of Black models, and includes such topics as: Super Models and How they Made it to the Top, Finding an Agency, The Modeling Agency and How it Works, How to be Successful in the Modeling Industry, Planning Your Portfolio, Plus Size Modeling, and Children as Models, plus a listing of leading Black Modeling and Management Agencies and a full listing of Modeling Agencies in the United states, as well as International Agencies.

The Handbook and Guide is your constant reference to modeling, the Agencies, where to go, what to do, how to get there, and what not to do in this billion dollar industry. Whether you are aspiring to do runway, commercial print, showroom, trade shows or video modeling nationally or internationally, male or female, teenage or adult, plus-size or child modeling this book is a must have.

Customer Reviews:

Very helpful!.......2000-01-12

I am just starting out as a model and I had so many questions. Is modeling for you? was the perfect find. It gave me insight into the modeling business and helped me to understand the steps that are necessary to succeed. I feel much more conffident now that I have read this book. Every aspiring model should read it.

Tells you things other modeling guides don't, like..........1999-10-13

The fact that the majority of today's sucessful black models started at black agencies, and there's a listing of them in this book. It was helpful, but if you're already established as a model, it may seem redundant.

a great book for all models.......1998-02-18

i recommend this book, because it gave me all the information i needed to get started in a modeling career.

The Black Rose: The Dramatic Story of Madam C.J. Walker, America's First Black Female Millionaire

Average customer rating:

Wonderful read
We lost Sarah when she became Mme Walker.
Inspiring.....
Absolutely Amazing!
A remarkable tale

The Black Rose: The Dramatic Story of Madam C.J. Walker, America's First Black Female Millionaire
Tananarive Due
Manufacturer: One World/Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker (Lisa Drew Books)
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ASIN: 0345441567
Release Date: 2001-01-02

Book Description

Born to former slaves on a Louisiana plantation in 1867, Madam C.J. Walker rose from poverty and indignity to become America's first black female millionaire, the head of a hugely successful beauty company, and a leading philanthropist in African American causes. Renowned author Alex Haley became fascinated by the story of this extraordinary heroine, and before his death in 1992, he embarked on the research and outline of a major novel based on her life. Now with The Black Rose, critically acclaimed writer Tananarive Due brings Haley's work to an inspiring completion.

Blending documented history, vivid dialogue, and a sweeping fictionalized narrative, Tananarive Due paints a vivid portrait of this passionate and tenacious pioneer and the unforgettable era in which she lived.

Download Description

In 1867, Madame C.J. Walker was born to former slaves on a Louisiana plantation. The story of how she rose from poverty and indignity to become America's first black female millionaire fascinated renowned author Alex Haley. Before his death in 1992 he embarked on the research and planning of a major novel based on her life. Now, with "The Black Rose", critically acclaimed writer Tananarive Due brings his work to inspiring completion in a compelling, richly textured narrative.

"I got my start by giving myself a start", Madame C.J. was fond of saying as she recounted her transformation from the uneducated laundress Sarah Breedlove to a woman of wealth, culture, and celebrity. Seemingly overnight, she employed her wonder-working hair-care method as the foundation for building a marketing empire that gave work to thousands of bright young African American women. A dynamic, brilliantly creative businesswoman, Madame C.J. also became an early activist in the fight against racial oppression. Yet she paid a steep emotional price for her worldly triumphs.

In "The Black Rose", Tananarive Due weaves a spellbinding story out of the same blend of documented history, vivid dialogue, and sweeping fictionalized narrative that made Alex Haley's Roots such a huge success.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful read.......2006-08-26

Madame C.J.Walker's climb from abject poverty to successful entrepreneur at any time in history would be judged extraordinary.This book is a great blend of fact and fiction to give the reader a better feel for what it must of been like for this phenomenal woman to acheive this level of success. The use of fiction to "fill in the gaps" of what we know of her motivation and personal life may offend the purist in search of a historical picture of this great woman. Those books are available and are great sources for the facts. Ms. Due's book just gives us a different view that I found simply delightful.

We lost Sarah when she became Mme Walker........2005-09-14

I DO understand that a fictionnalized biography as nothing to do with a complete biography. And that kind of book can be very enjoyable. But this book read AS a biography, and not a very good one. It is a rather long list of Mme Walker's actions and we lose her character, the one we liked in the first half of the book, somewhere when she gets rich. What I mean is that we lose the connection on Sarah Breedlove on the way. This can happen when reading a biography, when fact follows fact after fact, but it should never happen in a novel becaus we lose interest.
It reads like a Danielle Steel novel. The one about the Titanic, remember? No Greater Love.
I wonder what jewel Alex Hailey would have done with this!
Maybe I should read A'Lelia Perry Bundles, Mme Walker's great-great granddaugther, biography... Or go back to The Body Project by Kathy Peiss...

Inspiring............2004-03-22

I enjoyed reading this book - I had put it off for a long time for some reason, but I'm glad I finally sat down & read it. I admired Sarah Bredlove's perseverence to go after her dream which was propelled by her adversities while growing up. This books gives the age-old message; keep your head up, follow your dreams & if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible unto you.

Absolutely Amazing!.......2003-03-07

I waited a year before I read this book, I deeply regret this.

I was absolutely amazed at the way this book was written. I couldn't put this book down until it was completed! I read it everywhere!

When I read this book, it was like I was transported into the story. If I believed in time travel, I'd swear that Tananarive went back in time to witness and record Madame C. J. Walker's real life story.

This is a must read. I look forward to reading all the books that Tananarive writes. All of her books are absolutely amazing!

A remarkable tale.......2003-02-02

I've read much about Madame Walker and how she created an empire through sheer determination and hard work, yet most of these accounts don't give a whole lot of insight into Sarah Breedlove McWilliams Walker, the person behind the legend. Madame Walker's life is such an awe-inspiring one that you can hardly blame her biographers if they seemed to focus mainly on her business accomplishments. But there was so much more to her. I understand that this is historical fiction, and as such, certain instances and characters are fabricated, but the gist of the book is based on research completed by Alex Haley. Still there are certain things that remain unknown about the great lady.

Because this is a novel, it allowed the author to create dialogue and situations that may not have actually happened to Madame Walker, but were certainly possiblities for Black women during that time period. The slights from other Black folks who thought themselves superior to the former laundress, the incident with the White men who accosted her when she was alone at the train station, pulling a gun on her cheating husband in a hotel room with his other woman, these incidents may not have occured to Madame Walker as described by Due, but these situations help flesh out the story.

Madame Walker believed in herself and in the worthiness of Black women when no one else did. Unlike other wealthy women of that era, Madame was a self-made millionaire. Her wealth didn't come from marriage or inheritance, and she helped other women make their own money along the way. Despite all this, there were those who held her in disdain either because of her humble beginnings or because they thought that she was only trying to get Black women to straighten their hair.

Tananarive Due is an wondrous storyteller, and this book will impress upon the reader just how remarkable Madam Walker really was.

Whatever Happened to Daddy's Little Girl?: The Impact of Fatherlessness on Black Women
Average customer rating:

Healing is needed

It broke my heart

It Can Be True...

A must-read for African Americans of both genders

anti-feminist, overstated claptrap......from a sista!

Whatever Happened to Daddy's Little Girl?: The Impact of Fatherlessness on Black Women
Jonetta Rose Barras
Manufacturer: One World/Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
African-American Studies | Special Groups | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Fatherhood | Family Relationships | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Family Relationships | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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Longing for Daddy: Healing from the Pain of an Absent or Emotionally Distant Father

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Accessories:

philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 0345434838
Release Date: 2002-01-29

Amazon.com

Passionate and provocative, Whatever Happened to Daddy's Little Girl? explores the impact of fatherlessness on black women from a thoughtful and highly personal perspective. A woman who has herself "lost" three fathers, Jonetta Rose Barras interweaves her own experience of the "fatherless woman syndrome" with those of other fatherless black women, observations by psychologists and sociologists, and research findings. Barras concludes that factors such as the shift to a service economy, the "gender war of the 1970s through the 1990s," and affirmative action and quota policies caused black men to be "kicked to the curbside." Consequently, many black men began to perceive themselves as superfluous to their families, and by 1996, 60 percent of all black children were living in fatherless homes.

While some attention has been given to the impact of fatherlessness upon sons, Barras notes that very little has been paid to the effect on daughters. She powerfully shows the seriousness of this oversight, arguing that fatherless daughters often believe themselves unworthy and unlovable; strongly fear abandonment, rejection, and commitment; possess strong aversions to intimacy or, conversely, act promiscuously; overcompensate in work and relationships or oversaturate with food, alcohol, sex, or drugs; and experience extreme anger, rage, and/or depression. Barras offers suggestions to begin the healing process (on several fronts, for she is concerned too with the related issues of daughterless fathers and broken maternal trust). Perhaps one of the most important means of healing (both individually and societally) is the conversation Barras opens with this significant work. --Stephanie Wickersham

Book Description

What happens to a little girl who grows up without a father? Can she ever feel truly loved and fully alive? Does she ever heal--or is she doomed to live a wounded, fragmented life and to pass her wounds down to her own children? Fatherlessness afflicts nearly half the households in America, and it has reached epidemic proportions in the African-American community, with especially devastating consequences for black women. In this powerful book, accomplished journalist Jonetta Rose Barras breaks the code of silence and gives voice to the experiences of America's fatherless women--starting with herself.

Passionate and shockingly frank, Whatever Happened to Daddy's Little Girl? is the first book to explore the plight of America's fatherless daughters from the unique perspective of the African-American community. This brilliant volume gives all fatherless daughters the knowledge that they are not alone and the courage to overcome the hidden pain they have suffered for so long.

Download Description

What happens to a little girl who grows up without a father? Can she ever feel truly loved and fully alive? Fatherlessness afflicts nearly half the households in America, and it has reached epidemic proportions in the African American community. Jonetta Rose Barras knows from personal experience the traps and the fury of being a black fatherless daughter, and she makes her own life story the heart and soul of her book, alternating chapters of spellbinding memoir with the stories she has gathered from women all over the country.

In this groundbreaking volume, Barras identifies the "fatherless woman syndrome" and discusses the research that confirms that fatherless daughters are far more likely to suffer from debilitating rage, depression, abuse, and addictions, they tend to seek "sexual healing" through promiscuity or anti-intimate behavior and often end up fearing or despising the men whose love they crave.

Passionate and shockingly frank, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL? is the first book to explore the plight of the African American community's fatherless daughters. Like Hope Edelman's New York Times bestseller Motherless Daughters, this brilliant volume gives fatherless daughters the knowledge that they are not alone and the courage to overcome their hidden pain.

Customer Reviews:

Healing is needed.......2007-02-03

I am so pleased to write this review. I read this book several years ago, but continued to deny that this girl couldn't possibly be me. Well it is a cold day when you look in the mirror and see your reflection clearly. I am so thankful for the honest account provided by Jonetta Barras. Ladies please realize you have to heal to move on. When you continue to cover hurt and pain the situation only gets worse. Choose healing, forgiveness, and love. Soon you will realize that uncovering the layers of pain truly does reveal the real you. As black women we have so many burdens to bear, and father loss and absence is real and it impacts us in many ways. Let's finally stand up united take the hand of another sister so that we may all heal together.
Be Blessed........

It broke my heart.......2006-02-15

I spent a lot of time in tears while reading this book. It allowed me to really look at my own interactions with men and how terribly I was impacted when my father abandoned the family. I recommend it to all women and men who are considering breaking up. My hope is that it reminds them of the real damage they can do when one partner demonizes the other and seeks to drive them from thier daughter's life.

It Can Be True..........2005-09-30

Reading this book was a very startling experience for me. There were many passages that I personally related to, but there were others that did not apply. I gained a lot of understanding about just how grave and deep a mark not having a father can be, even if you have already resolved that there will never be a relationship. However, I can see how some would take offense to the implication that black women must overcome damage done by absent fathers as opposed to black men taking the responsibility to raise their daughters/children. Bottom line - in a perfect world, people who commit wrongdoing against others would be strictly accountable and make amends. But in THIS world, right or wronged, you must often find a way to piece things back together that you did not break. For the careful and reflective reader, this book can provide some insight into doing such, but only for those who can identify with the author's viewpoint. Not everyone has the responses she details and to another reviewer's credit, some of the contents of this book could be used to put down black women through "blaming the victim," but if you've truly experienced being a fatherless black woman in this American culture, it's not a concept you're unfamiliar with and you can find a way to work through it.

A must-read for African Americans of both genders.......2005-04-06

I was moved to seek out this book when, during a black male discussion group session, it dawned on me that nearly every woman in my immediate family had either poor or non-existent relationships with their biological fathers, whether due to divorce, premature death, substance abuse, lack of marital connection to the mother or other causes. This includes my mother, two sisters, two sisters-in-law, three maternal aunts, former wife, current wife and two of my three daughters. Nearly all of them have exhibited the life-choices and behavior patterns identified in Barras' book. As Barras' book illustrates, the implications of this echo beyond isolated, individual women and are clearly multigenerational, affecting black men as well. I found Barras' book to be eyeopening and extremely helpful to me as a son, brother, husband and father seeking to better understand and relate to the women in my life. With all due respect to Mr. Mingo's less-than-glowing review (I, too, am a journalist; the last time I checked, it was a professional, not amateur, pursuit), Barras' insights, observations and personal experiences combine to make an eminently credible and thought-provoking book, with practical, realistic solutions for our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. I bought copies for several women in my family. All did not choose to read them; those who did benefitted immensely and recommended the book to others. A great companion book to this is "More Than Sex: Reinventing the Black Male Image" by Dr. George Edmond Smith.

anti-feminist, overstated claptrap......from a sista!.......2002-09-30

This is another example of what happens when good articles are extended into poor booklength works. The author's mother said the author's father forced her through a glass window once and yet the author blames her mother and all women with a backbone on fatherlessness in Black America. Daniel Moynihan's 1965 report on the Black family has been attacked by African-American thinkers of both genders, yet Barras hardly sees a problem with it. This book does nothing but blame women for being victims. Like all conservative rants, it blames feminists, rather than sexism for the problems that women have. This could have been an exciting, thoughtful book; instead, the author speaks in hyperbole and sees no problem with being ridiculously one-sided. Further, she's a journalist, not an academic or an author. Thus, not only should the book be seen as amateur, but it's written in an allegorical style that I found silly. This book should not be embraced by the African-American community. As a pro-feminist brotha, I can't understand why a sista would created this misogynistic tool to harm Black single mothers and womanists throughout the nation.

Average customer rating:

Sweeps You Up
The Jist of My Opinion...
A Fantastic Read!
My favorite historical novel, bar none.
Great Book! Wonderfully Pictured!

The Black Rose
Thomas B. Costain
Manufacturer: Buccaneer Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Medieval | World | History | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 1568497016

Book Description

Walter of Gurnie, bastard son of an English peer, is forced to flee from Oxford for his part in the university riots of 1273. Inspired by Friar Bacon, he determines to travel to China.

With his friend Tristam, he fights his way to the heart of the fabulous Mongol Empire, and returns famous, to find that he must choose between the first love he thought lost and the exotic flower that he found in the East.

"Solid in its facts, colorful and romantic...a rich and remarkable historical tapestry." (Christian Science Monitor)

Customer Reviews:

Sweeps You Up.......2006-12-22

My experience with Thomas Costain's 1945 novel "The Black Rose" is that it sweeps you up in its arms and refuses to let you go. The tale of Walter of Gurnie starts with his radical student days at Oxford University circa 1273, his infatuation with the aristocratic beauty Engaine and then takes you on his adventures with the Mongols into China. His friend Tristam is one of the great supporting characters as is his love for the Black Rose herself, Maryam. The novel is episodic in structure, covering a period of many years. Historical figures like Roger Bacon, Kubli Kahn & King Edward I are referenced. This is a romantic adventure story that is nonstop thrills. By the time I reached page 300, I had to stay up to 4 a.m. to finish the final quarter of the book. I could not put it down. Some of the language was a bit strange with implements used in the Dark Ages referenced, but it gives the novel a good historical grounding. Costain's work is an excellent adventure. Enjoy!

The Jist of My Opinion..........2005-11-09

It is quite amazing to me how you can simply read a book, no matter the place or the time of the story, and feel so deeply involved and part of the characters' lives. In The Black Rose, Thomas B. Costain does an explicit job of taking your attention and bringing you into the world and life of Walter of Gurnie.

I love the part about a book when you are always left thinking, always wanting to read more. During this novel, you will always be left wondering. One thing I pondered over throughout the whole time of reading it was; how is this going to end? There were so many things happening. But it all tied together and made an excellent ending.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone. It has a great storyline. It includes: hardships, life lessons, friendships, the love shared between not only a man and woman but a man and his best friend as well, and an amazing breakthrough of a young, lifeless boy, to a brave, strong, successful man.

A Fantastic Read!.......2005-03-02

Walter is the bastard son of an English peer. Because of his involvement in the Oxford University riots of 1273, he is forced to flee England along with his friend Tristram, leaving behind the love of his live.
This book, as all Costain's novels, is well researched and thoroughly entertaining.
The reader will follow Walter's adventures in exotic places such as Antioch, Cathay, Bombay, Venice, Marseilles.
During his travels he will fall in love with another woman, and upon his return to England, he must submit to the king's decision on which of the two women he must marry: his first love, Engaine, or the "Black Rose".
I highly recommend this book.

My favorite historical novel, bar none........2001-10-20

I first read The Black Rose in the late sixties while still in high school. I have read it at least 4 or 5 times since. I always disliked history in school but this book and others like it make history come alive. Admittedly, as Costain notes in his forward, he meant the book to be more about Edward I and Bayan of the Hundred Eyes, but became more caught up in the legend of Thomas a Becket's parents: an English knight married to an Eastern girl. In spite of this, it is well researched and shows good attention to detail while keeping the reader truly engrossed in the story line. All the locales are marvelously described: Oxford, medieval castles and their mores, Antioch, Cathay, Bombay, Venice, and Marseilles. This is the story of how a young man born to a privileged family comes to believe in the rights of the common man and the journey that forces this change in his beliefs. It is also the story of a great love between the unlikliest of lovers; an illegitimate young man of noble English family and the sister of a powerful merchant of Antioch. It is a good read, as are all of Costain's books. Other books by Costain that are worth exploring are Below the Salt ( a sci-fi take on the Magna Carta era a la "Back to the Future), The Silver Chalice (about Joseph of Arimathea and the Apostles), and The Darkness and the Dawn (about Attila the Hun). All are very good reads, will get you interested in history, and ready to explore more detailed books on the subject.

Great Book! Wonderfully Pictured!.......2000-05-24

The adventure and excitment is phenominal! Everything is spelled out with a certain elegance that goes wonderfully with the 1200's picture in your mind. Walter and Tristram have good times and bad. Love and hate. And it is all displayed in a way that is hard to find. Costain is a wonderful writer. I am now reading his book "The Tontine"

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