Blues From Down Deep

by Gwynne Forster

No one brings home the power of family to shape and heal us like national bestselling author Gwynne Forster. Now, in BLUES FROM DOWN DEEP, she crafts an unforgettable story of one woman’s search for the family she’s never known—but whose pull she’ll never be able to escape again… BLUES FROM DOWN DEEP Regina Pearson has never really known any family other than her late, widowed father. He cut ties with his family in North Carolina long ago and moved to Hawaii with Regina’s mother, then raised Regina alone following his wife’s accidental death. Living among the native Hawaiians so different from herself created in Regina an aching for people to call her own. Regina finds among her late parents’ effects a letter written forty years earlier that leads to her mother’s sister, Maude, a been-there, done-that blues singer, and her nonagenarian maternal grandfather, head of the extended family in New Bern, North Carolina. For Regina, going to North Carolina to see Aunt Maude is the chance of a lifetime—an opportunity to bond with the people who share her roots, her blood, and her heart, and find the pieces of her she’s been lonely for all these years. But the big, warm, loving family Regina’s dreamed about is nowhere in sight. Instead, she finds uncles, aunts, and cousins torn apart by secrets and lies, petty squabbles and heartbreaking wounds stretching back for years—a contentious clan ready to draw Regina front-and-center into their troubles whether she wants to be there or not. And just as her new family conflict threatens to overwhelm her, Regina discovers a passionate connection she hadn’t counted on with a man who’s ready to show her what real family’s all about—and what it takes to keep the love flowing. Filled with heartfelt wit and homespun wisdom, BLUES FROM DOWN DEEP is a joyous reminder that love comes when we least expect it, from every side of life, and the family that makes us crazy can also lead us home to the place where we belong.

Genres: African American Romance

300 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Gwynne Forster (1922-2015) was the pseudonym of American novelist, short fiction writer, demographer, and sociologist Gwendolyn Johnson-Acsadi. Forster was best known as an early innovator of the African American Romance fiction tradition. Forster was a prolific writer who authored more than 50 books, as well as multiple studies in the field of demography. Forster won a wide readership with her novels and garnered awards, including the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Black Writers Alliance Gold Pen Award.

Reviews

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT NOVEL!!!!

[Geena Kenemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

FAMILY?????????????????

[Nikka · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't care for this book at all. It was too predictable (Regina and Juliet's relation was obvious from the beginning), the writing was horrible, the dialogue was worse and the some of the story lines were just plain boring (sSarting a chili canning company?! Not interesting at all). It was very slow in the beginning and and then all of a sudden in the last chapter, she rushed everything. I felt like the important parts of the book (the reveal of the relation between Regina and Juliet & Regina falling for Justin) were developed well but when what we'd been waiting for actually happened it was less than exciting and not detailed enough. The epilogue was pointless. I didn't care to know what happened with the chili company. I wanted to know if Justin and Regina made it to the alter and started a family. I'm not a fan of books that have a ton of characters and I feel like this book had way too many characters to keep up with. This book gets two thumbs down from me.

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give it a 2.5 stars. It seemed like a good story line but I had trouble staying focused, it just didn't keep my attention at all times.

[Jean]

Knowing your family tree is important.