More Than You Know

by Rosalyn Story

This debut novel opens with a 9-year-old boy carefully bearing a tiny infant through a furious thunderstorm. Sworn to hide the baby's origins, he delivers the nameless child safely to the doorstep of an unaware family. Decades later, the boy, L.J. Tillman, has matured into a brilliant young jazz saxophonist and is happily married to Olivia, a promising singer who works as a beautician. When the secret L.J. has kept so faithfully is finally revealed, it tears apart his relationship with Olivia and starts a downward spiral that ends with him homeless and playing for pocket change on the streets of New York. For her part, the tormented Olivia, abandoned by L.J., sinks into depression. More Than You Know is the elegantly crafted story of how this shattered couple rescues their shaken to the core, they discover that truth conforms to its own rules and that love can endure even the most profound injuries. Rosalyn Story, herself a successful musician and writer about music, has created an emotionally consuming page-turner that delves deeply into the mysteries of family and marriage in rich, lyrical prose. Rosalyn Story is a violinist with the Fort Worth Symphony and author of And So I Sing (Amistad, 1990), a nonfiction work about African American opera singers. More Than You Know is her first novel.

Genres: Fiction, Drama, Contemporary Romance, African American

300 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Rosalyn Story lives in Dallas. Her first book, And So I Sing: African American Divas Of Opera And Concert (Warner), inspired the PBS documentary Aida’s Brothers and Sisters: A History of Blacks in Opera, in which she appeared as featured narrator. She has written on music and art for Essence, Emerge, American Visions, Stagebill, Opera News, and The Crisis magazines. A full-time classical musician, she plays violin with the Fort Worth Symphony.

Reviews

[Trelani Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow but good read. the pace complemented the plot, therefore no complaints. kind of predictable too but that didn't take away from how good the story is. enjoyed the authors writing style

[She Reads for Jesus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed by this book. I discovered this novel through a recommendation from a fellow bibliophile, and thought that the plot sounded interesting enough to read. Well, the book was interesting in the beginning, became extremely boring and dragged on for a good portion of the book, but the end was pretty intriguing. Author Rosalyn Story did a great job of establishing a good story line to write about, however she failed with the structure of the book. There were moments in the book that Rosalyn Story would jump to a completely different subject, while the reader is left wondering, what happened? Some things just didnt pertain to the plot of the story, which made the book quite frustrating to read. Usually it takes a maximum of two weeks for me to read a book like this, however it took me almost two months to get through this novel. More than once, I wanted to just give up and stop reading it, however I can't ever give up on a novel. If I started, I have to finish it. Overall, I believe that Rosalyn Story is a talented writer, and I'm hoping to read more of her works.

[Sarah Weathersby · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Rosalyn Story's Wading Home, I loved it so much that I had to read her first novel, More Than You Know. When I first saw the title, I started singing the old standard by that name, without knowing the song was a thread throughout the novel.

It's a sweet, poignant love story of a nine-year-old boy who promised never to tell where the infant came from before he delivered her to Big Mama to adopt and raise. Eighteen years later he finds that baby all grown up, and they have a happy marriage for 25 years, until he tell her the secret. She banishes him, he runs away, and we find him living homeless on the streets of New York City.

I loved the lyrical quality of this story, but not as much as I loved Wading Home. I loved the jazz music that tells it's own story as background to the plight of LJ and Olivia as the secret slowly unravels with all the threads that tore them apart and would finally bring them back together.

I give it four stars

[Nakia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few missteps midway through and an unrealistic ending, but Rosalyn Story is such a great storyteller that I didn't mind at all. She reeled me in immediately, and made it hard to turn away. I am in love with her writing style, the way she pays homage to music and musicians, and the care and attention she gives when detailing complicated relationships. Her stories make me giddy. Those who enjoy Diane McKinney-Whetstone should give this one a try.

[Ruthann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a fabulous book with characters I wish I could meet. Ms. Story brings each of the principals to life through descriptive language and dialogue in their interactions. This is a heart-rending tale that ties all of them together in sadness and joy.
One of the unique features of this book is that Jazz, as in music genre, is a primary character in this novel. Rosalyn Story must know jazz intimately and shares that knowledge in unique ways in this book.
This book will rank in the top 5 of 2020 books that I have read at the end of the year. It is a book I plan to read again just for the pure joy found in its writing.

[Robin Spindt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A satisfying moment from beginning to end.

Like a good meal this serves a great appetizer through dessert. Sets the stage for a terrific suspense and teases out a fulfilling ending. Thank you for a lovely read.

[Katie Tillman-cecil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being from KC made this a fun read!

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

More Than You Know is about how keeping secrets can destroy the family. Rosalyn Story writes this tale using a series of flashbacks that conduct a wonderful symphony of music in the detail of her words. As the secrets begin to unravel, the supporting characters in the book shed light on their involvement in the continuation of the betrayal.

During one of the worst storms of the decade, a nine-year-old boy, L.J. Tillman, drops off a note and a baby, Olivia, to Big Mama's front door. Big Mama, Glodean, Country, Uncle Joon, and Clo T. share in the parenting of Olivia. Big Mama believes God delivered Olivia to them as an answer to years of prayer. Nearly 20 years later, that nine-year-old boy, L.J. Tillman is reintroduced to Olivia. They fall in love and get married. L.J. lives the ideal musicians life until he reveals a deep, dark family secret to Olivia.

She banishes him from the house forever not knowing that her wish may come true. Grief-stricken by his wife's outburst and dismissal from his dream job, L.J. turns to the bottle. Drinking and wallowing in despair, he plunges off an embankment landing in the river. He escapes the car and the city that doesn't want him by jumping a train to New York City.

New York City has little to offer a poor black man with a saxophone. He travels from corner to corner and park bench to homeless shelter playing his horn while living on the streets. One-day Covington, a jazz singer, turns him onto an open club spot. L.J. slowly starts piecing his life back together as this gig allows him to save a few dollars.

As the story unfolds, you learn that keeping secrets can tear a relationship apart and deepen your resolve to stay true to yourself. As Olivia learns bits and pieces of the truth, her heart opens and she realizes her purpose in life. But will her purpose and L.J.'s dream meet again?

Every family has at least one dark secret, but it is how you live with that knowledge which makes the difference. The development of characters, along with the use of flashbacks, will keep you turning the pages of this novel. The outcome was unexpected, yet heartwarming. Story has a gift for writing that is refreshing. It reminds me of the writings of Maya Angelou and Sonia Sanchez. Finally a saga about family that is not street or gang-related but focuses on down home folks. I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for her next book.

[Missy Michaels · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out with a mini prologue from Arkansas 1955. More Than You Know picks up the story in 90's New York. It starts out by describing the weather with beautiful words and introduces a character with initials for a name. L.J. I hate initials for names in novels. It's a personal thing.
More Than You Know moves along about as fast as a turtle with arthritis in the kneecaps. The novel does weave a very interesting history for L.J and Olivia once the book finally gets around to it. Which feels like 5 years later because of the way the book is paced. The Big Mama, Olivia, L.J., Vaughn connection is a long time coming.
The writing is very pretty and the pacing is very slow.
This is not my type of book but the story idea is quite good. If you like flowery descriptions of weather, skin tones and music then this book will be terrific for you. And I like that the author lives in Dallas too.

[Dana Caldarone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosalyn Story tells an intriguing tale of family relationships that are connected in the most improbable, but fascinating ways. She effectively infuses the story with the richness of jazz as well as the contrasts of rural living and city living. The books characters are portrayed with the true complexity you would expect from a skilled author. She weaves it all together with a level of detail that makes you feel as if you were there with the characters, witnessing their triumphs and struggles. As a fellow author, I can appreciate the liberty she takes with changing tenses... a little used but effective literary tool that I have used myself but only seen infrequently used by other authors of fiction. This is a work of substance that I would recommend to everyone.

[pcb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't love the book but loved this paragraph:
“Child, I done had just about enough of your sackdraggin' Now get upstairs and take your bath and put some decent clothes on. You one sorry sight. You been wearing that old ratty robe since baby Jesus was born." She whacked the spoon against the bowl again, sending a glop of mayonnaise flying. "And looka that hair. Don't look at me in that tone of voice; gone and get up there while I fix this dinner. Winona, baby, go bring in the mail. I don't want this child out there cause it's too many old people in this neighborhood with bad hearts.”
― Rosalyn Story, More Than You Know

[Sarah M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well realized characters LJ and Olivia, and a mystery hidden in their past mark a satisfying novel. I stayed up late reading- could not put it down. The glimpses of LJ's life on the street in New York contrast with a rich feeling of appreciation for the jazz community, and the characters are nuanced such that you sympathize with Olivia while at the same time want to chide her self-centered behaviors.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked this book. It was interesting and well crafted, I thought.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think you have to be more familiar with US culture than me to appreciate this book.