Camilla's Roses

In another amazing piece of work from this author, readers are drawn into the lives of the Rose women....beginning with sisters Velma and Maggie. Velma, the eldest, is the plain jane of the two; Maggie, although blessed with beauty, is definitely lacking in the brains department. The beautiful, naive Maggie is seduced by Velma's boyfriend Lloyd, and caught in the act. Velma is filled with anger and an incredible sense of betrayal; Maggie, of course is unaware of any wrongdoing ("but we were just loving, Velma, like the animals do"). Their father, however, meets with Lloyd and the decision is made that he will marry Maggie. Lloyed genuinely loves Maggie, and Maggie loves Lloyd (that's all she knows to do), and all is well (Velma moves on and marries someone of her own) until tragedy strikes...leaving Maggie widowed, scarred, forever mourning her beloved Lloyd and changing the course of their lives forever. Life finds Velma raising her children, with husband Chuck, and then raising her children's children, all the while struggling to make ends meet. Maggie lives with Velma also--forever mentally and physically scarred by a tragedy long ago. But Velma's biggest cross to bear throughout this tale is Audrey Rose--beloved child who grows up to love a monster, court the "white lady" and all of the evils that accompany that addiction, and abandon her child--the lovely Camilla Rose. Raised by her grandparents, like the rest of her cousins, Camilla grows up viewing her blackness as a cross to bear...and associates that with everything negative in her life; poverty, her mother's heroin addiction, sickness, joblessness and the like. Subconsciously, Camilla's goal is to leave it all behind....she leaves for college, concocts a fictitious past, lightens her skin, and abandons her family. She marries light, has a child, and almost manages to leave it all behind...until she is confronted with a family legacy that may seek to claim her life. Wonderfully constructed, Ms. McFadden's work flows much like poetry. Her manipulation of the written word is incredibly visual...truly a beautiful work.

Bernice has really done it again. In Camilla's Roses, there are several messages that lie within the pages..however, the one I'd like to speak to is the FACT that no matter, FAMILY is ever so important in our lives. Bernice is a grand storyteller that I have enjoyed since she kicked the door down in the literary arena with "Sugar". If you have NEVER read anything by Bernice, you must do so soon. Bernice thanks for bringing these characters (THE ROSES) to our lives, they live on...in our memories, even after the last page in the book is turned.BRAVO on another BEST SELLER!Fan for LIFE,SL

A comfortable lifestyle rocked by a not so routine doctor's visit forces Camilla Rose Boston to face a past she'd rather forget. A less than stellar lineage comes face-to-face with the present when Camilla Rose, a long time wannabe is diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. "Where are your people?" A simple question that requires a complex answer. Family, hmmmph. Velma Rose, the disillusioned maternal grandmother who raised her and is still smarting from the loss of her first love. Maggie Rose, once simple and beautiful, now just simple. Her grandfather, Chuck, married to Velma Rose, a lifetime of loving a shadow of a woman whose heart was buried years ago.Audrey Rose Brown, her drug-addicted mother whose thoughts are anywhere but on the daughter she brought into the world.Leroy Brown, a father by birthright only. Now, a well-known advice columnist, Camilla Rose is living the life she carefully crafted in college. A successful husband, a house in the 'burbs, and Zola, her contribution to being fruitful and multiplying come crashing down with the force of a demolition ball. Images from yesteryear provoke unsettling memories from one who has abandoned her family. But when the chips are down and despair takes up residence, Camilla wonders if sage advice passed down through the generations has any merit. "Family is precious, t'aint nothing greater, 'cept God." "Camilla's Roses" by Bernice McFadden is a moving, motion picture skillfully compressed within the covers of a book. Expertly mingling the past with the present in a series of vignettes the reader comes to know Camilla Rose Boston through the roots that spawned her. With her knack for right on the money descriptive prose, realistic and flawed characters, and the bittersweet side of the human condition, Ms. McFadden regales readers with yet another classic literary rendering.-(...)

The stark realities of life are often mind-boggling and overwhelming for many. Some people can handle them and some can't. Those who can't tend to cover it up or ignore their life. In CAMILLA'S ROSES, we meet Camilla and Bryant Boston. During a Tuesday afternoon tryst, Bryant discovers a lump in Camilla's breast-a discovery that will change their lives forever. Camilla is immediately consumed with fear and impending doom that her husband doesn't seem to comprehend. As she considers all the possibilities of her fate, she thinks back to her past and starts to panic about the things that Bryant has yet to find out. These things have become her silent torment. Camilla Rose, as she was called during her childhood years, grew up surrounded by love, but in a very frenzied household. That home is haven to myths, half-truths and secret fears as she grew to adulthood. She and her grandparents watch her mother and father succumb to a drug-addicted lifestyle. She witnesses the comings and goings of other family members who at times live in the very cramped quarters. So when she receives an opportunity to escape, Camilla leaves the home and tries to erase all vestiges of her former life and race. The cancer and a self-absorbed husband, pushes her to do what she never envisioned doing again. Bernice McFadden has shaped yet another great piece of fiction that looks into the very soul of human suffering and produced a very stirring and thought-provoking account for readers to explore. The depth of the characters was outstanding, as they seemed to come alive within the pages of this novel and then took root within my heart as I experienced their trials and tribulations. McFadden covers a myriad of issues in this book to include the legends and feelings associated with breast cancer; being black and trying to look white; the effects of infidelity; and the power of the family unit. This is an excellent book and kudos to Ms. McFadden for another job well done. Reviewed by Brenda M. Lisbonof The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Ms. McFadden has a way with words -- this is nothing to new to her many fans. But I think I forget that that is a fact in the months that fall between the release of each new book and just like the previous years I become enchanted with her mastery of the written word all over again.For some reason, Camilla's Roses reminds me of a modern day version of Alice Walker's - The Third Life of Grange Copeland. The delivery is intense,unforgiving and beautiful.