Lemon City : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A REFRESHING CREATION!
Review: Elaine M. Brown does an excellent job in creating a world that is so vivid and true to life that one wants to visit. Her characters are people that we all know yet want to get to know better. This novel is the perfect blend of family, love, humor and mystery, which teaches some important life lessons as we are taken on a journey for the truth. Showing us how difficult it is to do the right thing for self when someone has such a loving family and a tight knit community with its own rules. This is a great read. I highly recommend it. Can't wait to read the next book to see how the Dunlap family is getting along.

Rating:
Summary: I loved Lemon City
Review: I just completed Lemon City last night and it was one of the most enjoyable reads in a long time. It was a real page turner. The author structures the book in such a clever way that you really can't wait to see how it ends. I loved the vivid characters and the whole concept of the town of Lemon City. It will really sweep you away. I loved the writing style (especially all those fun similes) and really found the main character Faye to be one of the most interesting I've ever seen on the page. This would make a great movie too.

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable
Review: In Lemon City, author Elaine Meryl Brown magically crafts a private world where African Americans are self-assured and self-motivated. They own shops, businesses, land. They support each other, marry each other, raise and discipline their children. There is no self-deprecation and they achieve their goals. It's a refreshing Utopia.

Then a young woman, who left town, returns to this refuge, but feels trapped. Colorful characters, a whodunit murder mystery plotline and thought-provoking social issues ensue. Brown's evocative storytelling spins this yarn like it was an old tale passed on through the generations.

Lemon City is a real page-turner, but read it in stages. It needs time to savor. Like a glass of fine vintage wine. The themes of self-determination, achieving goals and accepting outsiders need time to resonate.

A remarkable achievement.


Rating:
Summary: Sweeeet! Think Christmas gifts.
Review: Lemon City is full of sweetness and intelligence. The well drawn characters are full of warmth, wisdom, and of course, their own human impulses - which makes them all the more attractive. I loved getting the feel of an era (Civil Rights) so full of change, from a tight-knit family's perspective. The writing has as much charm and personality as the characters: I loved the writer's unique, fun metaphors, her imagery and masterly style. A winner and good for Christmas gifts!

Rating:
Summary: My new favorite family.....
Review: Lemon City was captivating and amusing. Elaine Brown is such a descriptive writer, I felt like the Dunlaps were old friends. Their personalities were so well described, it was as if I "knew" them from page one. Nana was my favorite character because she was so warm and loving. She and Granddaddy were amazing parents and it was nice to read about such a close knit, loving family.
Every chapter was the perfect length with the right amount of action happening. There was nothing confusing about the storyline and nothing left out. Everything just made sense.

The wit, character and warmth of the Dunlap family felt really good to read about. This was the perfect murder mystery novel.

The first page took me into a time and place of history (that I didn't really know so much about) and kept me immersed there the entire time. When I finished the book (and remembered my own surroundings) I wanted to crawl back into the safe-haven of Lemon City and be a part of the loving Dunlap Family!

This was an absolutely fabulous book and I recommend it to anyone in need of a "feel good" read.

Rating:
Summary: a great summer afternoon read
Review: Ms. Brown hooks you in from the very first sentence. Not since The Davinci Code have I had a book which demanded an "all-at-one-sitting" reading. You just have to know who killed the most despicable Harry and cannot rest until you do. The poetic justice of how it happened made me laugh out loud. Let's hope that Ms. Brown's inaugural novel is not her last.
Signed: Avid reader in Alabama

Rating:
Summary: When Life Gives You Lemons
Review: Nestled in the hills of Western Virginia, Lemon City is a small black-built, black-owned, black-inhabited town that its founders established during the end of the Civil War. There are rules in Lemon City; rules that all townsfolk must abide and live by. The rules range from "Never Marry An Outsider. If You Do The Bollweevil Will Bite You Back" to "Cheating Makes You Lower Than a Dog Scratching Up A Worm In The Dirt." The citizens of this town take the rules very seriously; they have been a beacon along their path to economic and social freedom within the city limits. But not all of the town's inhabitants are able to accept the rules without question. And, thus, the saga begins.

Faye Dunlap and her siblings were raised by her grandparents, two of the most upstanding Lemon City citizens belonging to one of its founding families. Though Faye's bloodlines were impressive within the city limits, she was also engrained with a case of wanderlust, as she constantly wondered what the world outside of Lemon City had to offer her. Faye attended college in another part of the state, working toward both her beautician's license and a ticket to anywhere but Lemon City. She had big dreams of creating her own hair care products and couldn't imagine that fitting into life in Lemon City. So, she did the unspeakable and married an outsider as a way out of her hometown and into the fast-paced land of opportunity - New York City. Plans aren't always foolproof, however, and Faye learned this lesson firsthand upon presenting her family with her new husband.

Elaine Meryl Brown kept me in stitches while I read this fabulous tale about roots, family, and dreams. Brown's writing flows so well that you barely notice it's there; you're too enraptured by the colorful characters and plot. Serious at times, but for the most part light and humorous, LEMON CITY is a story that perfectly describes how to make lemonade out of the lemons life sends our way.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers


Rating:
Summary: Wonderful & Witty!
Review: Originally founded by light-skinned ("high yellow, lemon" colored) former slaves, Lemon City, Virginia is cleaver backdrop for Brown's moralistic, social messages. The quirky self-contained and self-educated residents live by a set of 10 rules (upheld as stringently as the Ten Commandments) designed to protect and insolate their residents from the ills of the outside world and its awful sins. The rules are simple:

1. Never marry an outsider. If you do, the boll weevil will bite you back.
2. If you cannot be honest, you might as well be dead.
3. Airing your dirty laundry out in the street will smell up the neighborhood.
4. Do not let the Mojo lady know you got troubles. If you do, she'll give you more.
5. Cheating makes you lower than a dog scratching up a worm in the dirt.
6. What goes around will always come back around and hit you in the head.
7. Help those in need and never judge them by the holes in their socks.
8. Do business at home first, then with outsiders you can invite into your home, as a last resort.
9. Mind your business personally and professionally.
10. Support the community in every way possible and imaginable.

However, during the early 1970's, after generations of peace and prosperity, one of the town's youngest and most prominent residents, Faye Dunlap, acts on desires to become part of something bigger and attends college outside of Lemon City (much to the townsfolk dislike). She embraces the Black Power movement and marries an Outsider (breaking the #1 rule) as ticket out of Lemon City. This sets off a domino effect of events that upsets the delicate balance of Lemon City; every rule is broken with disastrous results. Faye's husband ends up dead and everyone in her immediate family is a suspect. Her hidden agenda is exposed and she must make some tough decisions.

This is a funny, witty, engaging tale about conformity, family love and values, and a sense of community and reciprocity. Brown sprinkles country wisdom and homespun love in the dialogue and evolution of the characters. Plenty of lessons learned can be garnered from this book.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
Nubian Circle Book Club

Rating:
Summary: Gripping !!!! My emotions went on a ride !!!!!
Review: This was truly enjoyable reading for me..Ms. Browns distinctly descriptive style of writing took me right back to the "seventies"....All of the characters come to life as you KNOW them in this fast paced, CAN'T PUT IT DOWN... read.I can't wait for her next novel!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Lemon City Rules
Review: Yes, Elaine Brown has written a captivating novel, Lemon City.
There are 10 rules for the residents of Lemon Ciy. I would like to sugggest one more rule for Outsiders--buy this book and suggest it for your book club.

I am going to buy several copies and present them as gifts for the holiday season.