Solomon's Blues
Just after WWII, when America is redefining itself both domestically and abroad, Esther Allen embarks on a profound spiritual journey to redefine herself as an African American and as a woman. Set in a rural East Texas town in the early 1950s, Solomon’s Blues tells the story of Esther’s journey of self-discovery during a countrywide time of transition and upheaval. When Esther goes to work for her new employer, Taylor Payne, a predictable and professional friendship ensues. However, when that friendship leads to romance, their budding connection will have to contend with the shifting roles of relationships and expectations in an ever-changing world. Solomon’s Blues is a dramatic novel about the complex relationship journey that takes place between two people in a mercurial era in American history. By bringing forth the challenges of living a faithful life and how hard it is to learn to trust people, the novel sheds light on the difficulties that all people face when adapting to change. Esther’s remarkable task of accepting and redefining herself amidst the emotional, social, and physical circumstances that bring about changes in roles and responsibilities takes readers on a thought-provoking and dramatic ride through one woman’s difficult period in life. The unique exploration of the ambivalent feelings shared by many black Americans who love a country that they don’t feel values them is an engaging background to Esther’s remarkable spiritual journey. Solomon’s Blues mixes a love of history with a profound interest in the evolution of human relationships.
Published December 2011 and available at Amazon.com
My Published Work
Walk On Water
Rachel Cunningham is a recently divorced woman living in Texas. However, when a chance encounter with a former lover’s mother leads to a rekindled friendship, Rachel immediately finds all of her old feelings rushing to the surface. With more than twenty years and two failed marriages between her and Luke Sterling, can they overcome the distance and adversity and restore their past friendship and possibly more? Can Rachel conquer her insecurities and learn to trust Luke again? Because after all, he left her once and she can’t seem to get the question of whether or not he will leave her again out of her mind. Touching on topics such as self-image, disability, trust, and social class, Walk on Water is a romantic novel that forgoes the traditional and stereotypical structures and settings. With a mature protagonist who has deep-seated insecurities and her disabled love interest, the novel broaches the subject of love and how it can overcome life’s adversities. Between Luke’s disability and elitist mother, and Rachel’s inability to trust him or herself, their love proves to be a struggle that may not have the happy ending that Rachel so desperately wants.
Published January 2013 and available at Amazon.com.
A Banner of Love
In the United States of the 1950s, there is peace, prosperity, and the American Dream. Aiming to claim their fair share of it, Taylor and Esther Payne begin their lives as a married couple in the haven of Haverly Street in Greenwich Village, New York. Here they can have their love and their license, and though their journey is one of love and trust, it is not without its challenges.
As a Negro woman, Esther learns to live in Taylor’s white world no longer as his housekeeper but as his wife. In addition to the social conventions that are still against them, even in New York, Esther fears that their marriage has exacerbated the distance between Taylor and his family. Taylor won’t talk about it. He is dismissive of his sister and uncle, but Esther is haunted by their absence. She yearns for their family to be whole—but what she learns in the process may endanger their happiness permanently.
Set in New York in the 1950s, A Banner of Love is the sequel to Solomon’sBlues, and continues the story of a bold passion between two people as they change their ways for the sake of love.
Published September 2015 and available at Amazon.com.
A Banner of Love named Foreword Reviews' 2015 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards Finalist!