Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring.....
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring.....
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: WONDERFUL HISTORICAL FICTION!
Review: I had often read small biographies of Madame C.J. Walker, especially when Black History Month rolled around. Tanarive Due, however, brought Sarah stunningly alive. It is one thing to know the facts of a person's biography with your head, but Tanarive breathed life into the real account of Sarah's rise from the poorest of the poor. Tanarive skillfully wove the patterns and threads of poverty, hard luck and pain with the true grit, hard work, inspiration and determination in Sarah's life to bring alive this wonderful person who never gave up on her dreams or denied her true destiny or her people. I look at Madame Walker's pride of ownership and the philosophy of teaching each person to help themselves and others. Leaders well known throughout history such as Booker T. Washington, Adam Clayton Powell and W.E.B. DuBois, just to name a few, emerge as more than just shadow figures without emotions. I totally enjoyed this glimpse into the psyche of a woman who I knew was great, but did not know how great. Tanarive has shown how her deeds have touched the descendants of the people she helped even now. I hope Mrs. Due continues to write, I will be waiting for many more to come.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Story!
Review: I had only heard of Madam C.J. Walker by way of hearsay that she was the first black female millionaire. I never knew anything more about her life, her struggles or her cause. So my curiosity got the best of me and I recommended to my bookclub that we educate ourselves on some history. Albeit The Black Rose is a fictionalize account of Madam Walker, I believe that the author did the necessary research to make her account as true to fact as she possibly could.With that said, this is definately by far, the best historical novel I have EVER read. The author did an incredible job with taking us back to Sarah's (nka Madam Walker) childhood so that the readers could understand the very beginning of her life struggles. The book literally walks you through Sarah's life of who she was and who she became but don't let this fool you. Sarah never lost sight of where she came from and even after she gained her wealth, she remained the same well grounded person of whom she grew from. As a reader, you find out about each and every person that Sarah encountered, many of which had some affect on her life in one way or the other. You learn of her family and how they affected her struggles, whether negative or positive. But most important, you learn of Sarah's strength. Considering the time frame that Sarah lived, she surpassed obstacles that not only women but even some men couldn't even dream of. This is a very enriching tale that every African American should read. This book is not just about making money. It's about a real life struggle to make a better life for not just self but for the entire black generation! Once you've read this story, you will immediately realize that had it not been for Madam C.J. Walker, us African Americans would not be where we are today (you'll have to read the book to figure out exactly what I'm talking about because I don't want to give it away). Ms. Due................you have truly outdone yourself with this literary piece of work and I still get goosebumps when I think about reading the last words of your story and recognizing the history I just gained by simple curiosity. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: A great start to learning about an extraordinary woman
Review: I have a new heroine. Not only did she rise above being black in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but also she rose above being a black woman to become America's first female millionaire. It's an incredible story. Her name is Madame C. J. Walker and her story is fictionalized in Tananarive Due's historical novel, The Black Rose. Based on the research and an extensive outline complete by famed author Alex Haley before his death in 1992, Due weaves a fascinating account of Walker and her times. Madam C. J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove to freed blacks in 1867. Sarah is proud that she is learning to read and write, and dreams of reading her mother's Bible and someday attending college. Her dreams are crushed when her parents, now tenant farmers on the same Delta, Louisiana, farm where they were once slaves, die of yellow fever in 1874. Eight-year-old Sarah and her siblings are left to struggle for survival on their own. By 1878, the crops were failing and their shack was all but falling down. A year later, Sarah and her sister, Lou, move to Vicksburg, Mississippi, to become washerwomen. The work is grueling but mind numbing. At 14, Sarah marries Moses McWilliams, a man she grows to love with all her heart, but who is killed less than a year later in one of Mississippi's infamous race riots. Devastated and left with a daughter, Lelia, to care for, Sarah moves to St. Louis. Life there is hard, but Sarah still dreams of college, of learning to read without having to struggle with each word. She has her own washing service and begins to save money so that Lelia can someday have the education she was categorically denied. St. Louis' Annie Malone begins a beauty supply business, hiring black women as representatives to sell the products door-to-door. Sarah admires Annie, but her products do not bring relief to her own itchy dandruff and dry scalp that have tormented her since childhood. In an effort to find relief, Sarah and Lelia being concocting different remedies in their kitchen. Thanks to the help of a dream about a field of black roses and the treatment of sulfur to an injury Lelia sustains, Sarah stumbles onto the secret formula that make hair grown-she is a living example that it works. A new business if founded! During this time she meets and marries C. J. Walker, an advertising whiz, and moves her business to Denver. With the help of C. J., but more of her own ambition and determination, Sarah begins her beauty supply business, recruiting women to sell it door-to-door. Before long, Sarah is the most sought after, most powerful woman, in America. Eventually she moves her business to Indianapolis and New York, where there is a more concentrated population of blacks. But the more time she spends working, the less time she has for Lelia and C. J. The three grow estranged and by the time of her death in 1919, Madame C. J. Walker was the wealthiest, loneliest woman in the United States. The Black Rose is more fiction than fact, according to Due who was in St. Louis recently. Scads of papers remain from The Madame C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company, which existed until the 1960s, but little personal documentation about this powerful woman have survived the years. Due reviewed thousands of interviews, documents, and papers that Alex Haley has complied before she began writing. "I tried to be true to the spirit of Sarah Breedlove McWilliams Walker," Due said. And from everything else I've read about this remarkable woman, Due has done as excellent job in capturing her essence. The Black Rose is a powerful, captivating tale of a real-life heroine.
Rating:
Summary: A great start to learning about an extraordinary woman
Review: I have a new heroine. Not only did she rise above being black in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but also she rose above being a black woman to become America's first female millionaire. It's an incredible story. Her name is Madame C. J. Walker and her story is fictionalized in Tananarive Due's historical novel, The Black Rose. Based on the research and an extensive outline complete by famed author Alex Haley before his death in 1992, Due weaves a fascinating account of Walker and her times. Madam C. J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove to freed blacks in 1867. Sarah is proud that she is learning to read and write, and dreams of reading her mother's Bible and someday attending college. Her dreams are crushed when her parents, now tenant farmers on the same Delta, Louisiana, farm where they were once slaves, die of yellow fever in 1874. Eight-year-old Sarah and her siblings are left to struggle for survival on their own. By 1878, the crops were failing and their shack was all but falling down. A year later, Sarah and her sister, Lou, move to Vicksburg, Mississippi, to become washerwomen. The work is grueling but mind numbing. At 14, Sarah marries Moses McWilliams, a man she grows to love with all her heart, but who is killed less than a year later in one of Mississippi's infamous race riots. Devastated and left with a daughter, Lelia, to care for, Sarah moves to St. Louis. Life there is hard, but Sarah still dreams of college, of learning to read without having to struggle with each word. She has her own washing service and begins to save money so that Lelia can someday have the education she was categorically denied. St. Louis' Annie Malone begins a beauty supply business, hiring black women as representatives to sell the products door-to-door. Sarah admires Annie, but her products do not bring relief to her own itchy dandruff and dry scalp that have tormented her since childhood. In an effort to find relief, Sarah and Lelia being concocting different remedies in their kitchen. Thanks to the help of a dream about a field of black roses and the treatment of sulfur to an injury Lelia sustains, Sarah stumbles onto the secret formula that make hair grown-she is a living example that it works. A new business if founded! During this time she meets and marries C. J. Walker, an advertising whiz, and moves her business to Denver. With the help of C. J., but more of her own ambition and determination, Sarah begins her beauty supply business, recruiting women to sell it door-to-door. Before long, Sarah is the most sought after, most powerful woman, in America. Eventually she moves her business to Indianapolis and New York, where there is a more concentrated population of blacks. But the more time she spends working, the less time she has for Lelia and C. J. The three grow estranged and by the time of her death in 1919, Madame C. J. Walker was the wealthiest, loneliest woman in the United States. The Black Rose is more fiction than fact, according to Due who was in St. Louis recently. Scads of papers remain from The Madame C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company, which existed until the 1960s, but little personal documentation about this powerful woman have survived the years. Due reviewed thousands of interviews, documents, and papers that Alex Haley has complied before she began writing. "I tried to be true to the spirit of Sarah Breedlove McWilliams Walker," Due said. And from everything else I've read about this remarkable woman, Due has done as excellent job in capturing her essence. The Black Rose is a powerful, captivating tale of a real-life heroine.
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable job well done
Review: I have read each of Tananarive Due's books and have enjoyed them immensely. This account of Madame CJ Walker's life was such an enjoyable read. I am thankful that Ms. Due reminded readers in the end that this was a book of fiction because I had become so engrossed in the storyline, I must admit that I forgot it was fiction. I did not know much about the life of Madame Walker but this story shed a lot of light and most of all it stressed for me that you must not allow fear to stand in your path. I will continue to support anything written by Tananarive Due and thanks for a wonderful story.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Amazing!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable tale
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Fictionalized - yet informative
Review: Many historians think that fictionalized accounts are useless. Being a historian myself, I have to beg to differ in this case. Due's facts were well-researched and her dialogue brought life to a character that many of us know only by name. I feel as if I knew Madame, as if I loved her, as if I mourned her, and as if I was taking a walk with her through hardship, loss, and, ultimately, to triumph's door. Due did a fantastic job of bringing to life the legacy of Madame CJ Walker. Thank you for remembering our history.
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