Tempest Rising Contributor(s): McKinney-Whetstone, Diane (Author) |
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ISBN: 0688166407 ISBN-13: 9780688166403 Publisher: Harper Perennial OUR PRICE: $16.14 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 1999 Annotation: It is 1965 in Philadelphia. Clarise, Finch, and their three adolescent daughters are living the dream life of the black financially privileged when suddenly Finch's lucrative catering business falls on hard times and Clarise suffers an apparent nervous collapse. The daughters are discharged into the foster care of Mae, a politically connected card shark, and her stunningly beautiful, yet mean-spirited, daughter, Ramona. The girls are not only faced with the status change of being catapulted into a working-class neighborhood; they must also deal with the spirit of malignity and jealousy that seems to hover over Mae's house. The girls' presence in and subsequent disappearance from Mae's house force Mae and Ramona to move beyond the abuse that has characterized their relationship and confront the brutal secret that caused their hearts to lock against one another. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Literary - Fiction | African American - Women - Fiction | Women |
Dewey: FIC |
Physical Information: 0.79" H x 5.54" W x 8.12" (0.60 lbs) 288 pages |
Themes: - Chronological Period - 1950-1999 - Chronological Period - 1960's - Cultural Region - Mid-Atlantic - Cultural Region - Northeast U.S. - Demographic Orientation - Urban - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Geographic Orientation - Pennsylvania - Locality - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Accelerated Reader Info |
Quiz #: 42978 Reading Level: 6.6 Interest Level: Upper Grades Point Value: 16.0 |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Class, race, and sexuality converge in this page-turning story of desire, jealousy, and survival. Set in west Philadelphia in the early sixties, Tempest Rising tells the story of three sisters, Bliss, Victoria, and Shern, budding adolescents raised in a world of financial privilege among the upper-black-class. But their lives quickly unravel as their father's lucrative catering business collapses. When their father disappears suddenly, he is presumed dead, sending their mother spiraling into an apparent breakdown. The girls are wrenched from their mother and dumped into foster care in a working-class neighborhood in the home of Mae, a politically connected card shark. Though Mae lavishes affection onto her foster children, she is abusive to her own child, Ramona, a twenty-something stunning beauty. As Ramona struggles with Mae's abuse and her own hatred for the foster children, she also tries to keep at bay a powerful attraction she has for her boyfriend's father. In Tempest Rising, McKinney-Whetstone richly evokes the early 1960s in west Philadelphia in this story of loss and healing, redemption, and love. |
Contributor Bio(s): McKinney-Whetstone, Diane: - The author of the critically acclaimed novels Tumbling, Tempest Rising, Blues Dancing, Leaving Cecil Street, and Trading Dreams at Midnight, Diane McKinney-Whetstone is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Black Caucus of the American Library Association's Literary Award for Fiction, which she won twice. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband. For more on Diane McKinney-Whetstone please visit www.mckinney-whetstone.com or follow her on Twitter @Dianemckwh. |