Maxine Thompson

Overall, this was a pretty good book. It was a difficult read for me, though. There were so many underlying stories, and the fact that it was told out of sequence, with so many characters, that I was a little confused at times. This book touches on slavery, voodoo, interracial marriage, family relations, prejudice in the African American community based on skin color, expectations for people who've “made” it in the African American community, genealogy...

There is a lot of racism, and a lot of the use of the “n-word”, that I was uncomfortable. Although I'm African American I've never experienced much of either of those two issues, which is probably what made them uncomfortable for me. I've never heard the “n-word” used in my immediate family – ever. Not from my parents or siblings. If my memory is correct, I was 18 the first time I heard that word, and I remember the specific circumstance. It wasn't pleasant, and I'll never forget it, though.

Oh my gosh this family has a LOT of issues and secrets. Whew! Nefertiti, called Titi, birthed a child at a young age and gave her up for adoption. She has been estranged from her family for years, and chooses the weekend of her father's 75th birthday celebration to come home and begin to search for the daughter she gave up for adoption. Her current husband, her second, doesn't know that she gave birth to a 3rd child, and is multi-racial, but could pass for white. Nefertiti's family and Nefertiti herself have unresolved issues around this. Isaac, her first husband and the father of her two other children, who cheated on her and ended up marrying the woman he cheated on her with, and who now makes him absolutely miserable, wants her back. Pharoah, who is the father of the girl she gave up for adoption, has served two tours in Vietnam, and is unstable, also wants her back.

Her father is down-right mean to her, and she doesn't understand it – except that she's being punished for getting pregnant at such a young age, which would ruin her father's standing in the community as a minister. The real reason is so much worse.

This book describes the events from the Wednesday that she comes back home to Shallow's Corner to the day after her father's birthday celebration, and is packed with intrigue. All the way to the last page. I didn't know that very last secret was even coming!… (mais)

HOSTAGE OF LIES: SECRETS OF A SMALL TOWN

Have you ever felt haunted by your past? Are you curious about your family history? Are you considered the black sheep in your family? If so, you can relate to the main character of “Hostage of Lies.”

Forty-year-old Nefertiti has finally returned home after seven long years. The man who banished her from Shallow’s Corner is celebrating his seventy-fifth birthday. But Titi didn’t come back to help with her father’s party. She came back home to Michigan for other personal reasons: to find the child she gave up for adoption in 1967. Meanwhile, brothers Isaac and Pharaoh are still fighting over Titi like a piece of property. It seems that old habits die hard, while the absence of Titi made their hearts grow fonder.

The story itself takes place over a span of five days. However, the history goes back generations. At times it was difficult to follow the storyline since it is told out of sequence. Although I understand the author’s intent to explain the past and prove its importance to the characters present lives. “Hostage of Lies” is a written example of how secrets affect a family. Dr. Maxine Thompson cleverly combines African-American history and suspense into a deep plot.

January 24, 2010

♠ L Marie ♥… (mais)