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This Side Of Eternity
After the death of her father in the late 1960s, Anne Russell and her family struggle to survive in the face of strikes, civil rights protests, and a deep-seated racial tension that permeates virtually every facet of their everyday lives, in a story set during the civil rights movement in Tennessee. 75,000 first printing.
- GenresFiction
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 29, 2014
Excellent novel based in Tennessee. Mixed in with the trials and tribulations of the main characters are actual historical events. Trash strike in Memphis. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. There are murders and drug usage. There are interracial relationships and the tension associated with class differences.
December 16, 2015
Great book!
July 25, 2020
I cannot deny that the beginning and middle part of this book is amazing. This book would have been rated 5 stars if it had not been for the ending of the book. It was just one huge disappointment and let down.
However, fist, I will give my thoughts on the first part of the book. The Russell family is a struggling African American family living in Memphis, Tennessee in the 70s. Anne, who is at the time only 13 years old, struggles with the recent death of her father. In addition, her brother and his wife also recently died, leaving Anne and her two siblings to take care of the 3 children her brother had. These 3 children are named Bentley, Nickie, and Wesley. Financially, they all struggle to stay afloat. Throughout the book, it follows the lives of these people.
At times, this book has made me emotional from just readings about all the situations and obstacles these characters have to deal with while growing up into adulthood. The book has a fast paced attitude which makes the reader feel as though the events in the book are occurring at such an emotional pace. It really impacts the reader and shows them how much hurt and pain these characters feel. The title as well impacts the reader to think about the lives that these characters lead as a whole and look at the bigger picture.
One of the biggest factors as to why this book was such a good read was because of the writing. The writing style was so unique and original to the writer. There wasn't any first person writing, but rather third person and the pace of the book was so fast. The author so much of these character's lives. From the characters being children themselves to the characters being already married with children to them being grandparents. It was amazing how well paced the story was and the order of events was really well spaced out. I also really appreciated the author incorporating real life event that occur during the dates the story is being told in. It really showed the reader how the social aspect of the society the characters are living in was at those times.
Now I will talk about the part which almost killed the book for me, the ending. Throughout the book, the readers are reading about a character named Isabella Ford. We read about how Isabella is intentionally plotting against the Russell family and trying to ruin all their lives. The readers read about her scheming and the actions she takes to make their lives harder. Naturally, as a reader, I am so curious as to know why she is doing all these things. The Russell family must have done something genuinely terrible for her to go to such lengths to destroy their lives. This is what I thought. I thought there must be some reasonable and logical reason as to why she's doing all this. But there's really no logic to her reason to destroy a whole family. The reason was because Isabel was in love with Scott, Anne Russell's husband who she married, and hated the fact that Scott didn't want to be with Isabel. When I read this, I had to literally close the book and walk away. All this time I'm waiting for the juicy details as why she's so mad, but at the end its just because she's a scorned lover. The author could've really chosen a way better route for justifying Isabel's actions. For example, in the beginning of the book, Anne's father died in an accident and it was mentioned that the family felt no justice for the father. The author could've done something with that. Or another example is when Bentley mentioned that her mother was not happy with her father and were fighting. The author could've tied Isabel with the reason for why Bentley's parents were fighting or something to do with the night that they died. I don't know, but there could've been something better than her just being a scorned lover. And also, it wasn't further elaborated on with what happened with Bentley's parents death and why they were fighting.
As a final note or critique, I will say that the whole ending was so rushed. These characters have so much life in them and the reader has grown so attached to them that it seemed kind of rushed to just have the ending being that everyone is happy and have gotten together to be at Nickie's wedding. But no matter, the author has proved her skills as a writer to everyone who reads this book. The author made me actually care about these characters and really write these characters to be in their most vulnerable form so that the reader can really relate and sympathize with the characters. Sure some of the word choice in the book and part of the plot downgraded an overall great book, but I truly enjoyed reading it and made me truly examine what people have to go through in this side of eternity.
However, fist, I will give my thoughts on the first part of the book. The Russell family is a struggling African American family living in Memphis, Tennessee in the 70s. Anne, who is at the time only 13 years old, struggles with the recent death of her father. In addition, her brother and his wife also recently died, leaving Anne and her two siblings to take care of the 3 children her brother had. These 3 children are named Bentley, Nickie, and Wesley. Financially, they all struggle to stay afloat. Throughout the book, it follows the lives of these people.
At times, this book has made me emotional from just readings about all the situations and obstacles these characters have to deal with while growing up into adulthood. The book has a fast paced attitude which makes the reader feel as though the events in the book are occurring at such an emotional pace. It really impacts the reader and shows them how much hurt and pain these characters feel. The title as well impacts the reader to think about the lives that these characters lead as a whole and look at the bigger picture.
One of the biggest factors as to why this book was such a good read was because of the writing. The writing style was so unique and original to the writer. There wasn't any first person writing, but rather third person and the pace of the book was so fast. The author so much of these character's lives. From the characters being children themselves to the characters being already married with children to them being grandparents. It was amazing how well paced the story was and the order of events was really well spaced out. I also really appreciated the author incorporating real life event that occur during the dates the story is being told in. It really showed the reader how the social aspect of the society the characters are living in was at those times.
Now I will talk about the part which almost killed the book for me, the ending. Throughout the book, the readers are reading about a character named Isabella Ford. We read about how Isabella is intentionally plotting against the Russell family and trying to ruin all their lives. The readers read about her scheming and the actions she takes to make their lives harder. Naturally, as a reader, I am so curious as to know why she is doing all these things. The Russell family must have done something genuinely terrible for her to go to such lengths to destroy their lives. This is what I thought. I thought there must be some reasonable and logical reason as to why she's doing all this. But there's really no logic to her reason to destroy a whole family. The reason was because Isabel was in love with Scott, Anne Russell's husband who she married, and hated the fact that Scott didn't want to be with Isabel. When I read this, I had to literally close the book and walk away. All this time I'm waiting for the juicy details as why she's so mad, but at the end its just because she's a scorned lover. The author could've really chosen a way better route for justifying Isabel's actions. For example, in the beginning of the book, Anne's father died in an accident and it was mentioned that the family felt no justice for the father. The author could've done something with that. Or another example is when Bentley mentioned that her mother was not happy with her father and were fighting. The author could've tied Isabel with the reason for why Bentley's parents were fighting or something to do with the night that they died. I don't know, but there could've been something better than her just being a scorned lover. And also, it wasn't further elaborated on with what happened with Bentley's parents death and why they were fighting.
As a final note or critique, I will say that the whole ending was so rushed. These characters have so much life in them and the reader has grown so attached to them that it seemed kind of rushed to just have the ending being that everyone is happy and have gotten together to be at Nickie's wedding. But no matter, the author has proved her skills as a writer to everyone who reads this book. The author made me actually care about these characters and really write these characters to be in their most vulnerable form so that the reader can really relate and sympathize with the characters. Sure some of the word choice in the book and part of the plot downgraded an overall great book, but I truly enjoyed reading it and made me truly examine what people have to go through in this side of eternity.
August 27, 2019
A compelling story of one family's struggle to survive and thrive from the mid 60's into the 2000's. If you are from the generation where you had to ask your parents "where were you when......" this book uses real-life landmark events as framework. A definite must read.
January 21, 2008
Look in the eyes of the other person
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews