Soul with Heart Book Club: Books 2005 - 2006

With Lisa Frazier Page They grew up on the streets of Newark, facing city life's temptations, pitfalls, even jail. But one day they promised each other that they would all become doctors, and stick it out together through the long, difficult journey to attaining that dream. A New York Times best-seller, this is a story about the power of friendship, beating the odds and changing your life and the lives of those you love...together. ...an inspiration to young people... Their message can transform the world' - Bill Cosby'

Originally a self-published sensation, this funny, sexy and poignant novel introduces us to three black men at very different stages in their lives. The first is a womanising street hustler trying to turn his life around, the second a workaholic who is driving his wife into another man's arms, and the third, an old dying man who brings healing to those he touches, but can't seem to reach his own son. Through the struggles of these characters and their relationships with one another, newcomer Travis Hunter shows us what it truly means to have the heart of a man.

Billy Beede, the teenage daughter of the fast-running, no-account, and six-years-dead Willa Mae, comes home one day to find a fateful letter waiting for her: Willa Mae’s burial spot in LaJunta, Arizona, is about to be plowed up to make way for a supermarket. As Willa Mae’s only daughter, Billy is heiress to her mother’s substantial but unconfirmed fortune—a cache of jewels that Willa Mae’s lover, Dill Smiles, is said to have buried with her. Dirt poor, living in a trailer with her Aunt June and Uncle Roosevelt behind a gas station in a tumbleweedy Texas town, and pregnant with an illegitimate child, Billy knows that treasure could mean salvation. So she steals Dill’s pickup truck and, with her aunt and uncle in tow, heads for Arizona with Dill in hot pursuit. While everyone agrees it’s only polite to speak of getting mother’s body and moving her to a proper resting place, it’s well understood that digging up Willa Mae’s diamonds and pearls will make the whole trip a lot more worthwhile. The enormously accomplished fiction debut from Suzan-Lori Parks, the 2002 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama,GettingMother’sBodytakes its place in the company of the classic works of Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker. But when it comes to an ingenious, uproarious knack for depicting the trifling, hard-luck, down-and-out souls who need a little singing and laughing and lying and praying to get through the day, Suzan-Lori Parks shares the stage with no one. From the Hardcover edition.

The poignant tale of a woman who discovers the fragility of life and the strength of a family’s love, from an author praised by Toni Morrison for “searing, expertly imagined scenes” Known for bringing to life a host of endearing characters who reveal tender truths about humanity, Bernice L. McFadden now turns her storytelling talents to an unforgettable and deeply troubled woman named Camilla. Unfolding in a progression of stirring and powerful chapters, Camilla’s Rosespresents a life haunted by the past. Camilla’s childhood was immersed in chaos and love, and steeped in the myth of perfection. As an adult, she never looked back, refusing to acknowledge the people and places that had scarred her so many years ago. But a legacy of cancer proves inescapable, forcing Camilla to embrace the past—no matter how painful it may be—and to salvage what is left of her love in order to save her daughter. As Camilla discovers the bittersweet limitations of motherhood and reconciliation, she also awakens an inspiring message about the mortality issues we all must face. The author of four bestselling novels, Bernice L. McFadden receives consistent accolades from reviewers coast to coast, and has captured the hearts of thousands of readers. With Camilla’s Roses, she is poised to win over her widest audience yet.