Tempest Rising

Rating:
Summary: It was alright
Review: I like the whole sixties concept but it needed some energy this book seemed to be so slow, yet it had good parts to but
I wouldn't suggest you rush to the store to get it it's not that wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: I'm already planning to read her next book.
Review: In her second work, the author again takes us to some familiar place in Philadelphia full of quirky characters that we may be related to by blood,marriage or guilt. The story begins in 1965 and we are given a generous sprinkling of Vietnam/civil rights era history. We follow the daughters of Clarise and Finch,Shern,Veronica and Bliss, from the sweetness of a priviledged life to placement in foster care,after their father's death and Clarise' subsequent mental collapse. The beautiful Clarise,so beautiful that the neighborhood crazyman wants to claim paternity,is raised by her mother's four never married siblings who devoted themselves to her nurture and the manufacture of handmade coconut-honey barsoaps. Clarise is as devoted to her girls as the aunts and uncles are to her and we feel real fear when bad blood spills over and fate places them in the hands of Ramona and Mae. "Now Vie was talking about the thirty years that it took her to go from general clerk to case manager and she was damned if she was gonna undignify her position and allow those girls to go with that convicted felon Til."Furthermore, I still have serious concerns about their lifestyle, all of them in that house,serious concerns." We know from the beginning that these girls will be saved before the anvil drops,and McKinney-Whetstone's storytelling makes us like finding out just how that happens.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating account of a rich Black family's fall from grace
Review: Tempest Rising was an absolutely intriguing novel brimming with lively and realistic characters. Being a Philadelphia native, I was especially delighted to read the author's familiar portrayal of the city, and the life of an affluent black family prospering during the time set in the novel.

The timeless romance of Clarise and Finch was heartwarming, as much as the struggle by Shern, Victoria, and Bliss, the unwavering love of the aunts and unlces for their family, made the novel a definite page turner.

One review I read that I had to agree with was the initial dislike for Ramona invoked in the reader, which subsides as the story progresses, with one hoping for a positive outcome for the character.

This was actually the first novel of McKinney-Whetstone's that I had the pleasure to read. Tempest Rising will not disappoint for first time readers of McKinney-Whetstone's, her depiction of Philadelphia 1965, well thought out excellent prose and realistic characters was a rewarding read.