Blackgammon [Paperback]

Heather Neff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2001

A sweeping, unforgettable debut novel that traces remarkable parallel voyages of self-discovery, Blackgammon reveals the intertwined lives of two African American women: soul sisters whose vow to stay true to one another will carry them through love, loss, and triumph on the way to finding out who they really are–and who they were meant to be. . . .

Legendary artist Chloe Emmanuel has been swept up into the seductive world of high fashion and art gallery intrigues in Paris. She’s so devoted to her craft that she can’t find room to love. A young idealist working in England, distinguished professor Michael Davies Northcross has modeled her life on the lies that Chloe has lived and now faces a crisis in her marriage. Unwilling to sacrifice the dreams they dared to make real, Chloe and Michael are forced to the limits of their strength and independence. They must gamble everything to recapture what they have lost . . . in a dazzling game called

BLACKGAMMON

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This ambitious first novel attempts to chronicle the lives of two African-American women expatriates. Chloe, an artist in her 30s, and Michael, a bright teenage girl with a boy's name, meet at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., in 1970, when Michael inadvertently steps on Chloe's foot. Michael is in search of a role model, and Chloe warms to the eager girl; in time, the two grow close, and one day they each make the same vow: "to be a strong black woman, to become a success, and never to let a man turn me away from my dreams." Chloe is crowned the "Pre-eminent Black Artist in Europe," while Michael becomes a distinguished literature professor at a small college outside of London. Their professional identities serve as little more than lifestyle indicators, however, since both women spend so much time in dramatic encounters with a series of men. Determined not to relinquish her independence for love, Chloe sabotages relationships with an actor and a playboy businessman, but discovers too late that her arid emotional life has leached her art of meaning. Michael, meanwhile, is emulating Chloe. Giving up the man she really loves for a phantom ideal, she comes close to losing everything before Chloe confesses that she has been living a lie. Although Neff attempts to frame the book as a conversation between her protagonists in which they look back on their lives, she seems often to forget this device, and the chronological confusion on top of the flatness of characterization leaves the reader without a foothold. There is always room for new books about strong and successful black women, and few have been written about female African-American expatriates. Unfortunately, this meandering, occasionally incoherent novel doesn't adequately fill any gaps. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Chloe and Michael, two ambitious black women, alternately recount their lifelong friendship and journeys of self-discovery in this debut novel. They met when Chloe was rebounding from a failed marriage and divorce and Michael was just embarking on womanhood. They vow never to let men interfere with their ambitions as Chloe sets off for Paris to pursue a career as an artist. Years later, with Chloe's support, Michael pursues a career as a writer and scholar in England. Success and a coterie of friends don't help Chloe overcome a childhood trauma that has left her unable to trust men. Michael's distrust of her husband, a white professor, nearly destroys her marriage. Both women cope with the racial politics of American blacks in Europe, troubled relationships, and career challenges as they maintain their friendship. As in most relationship stories, the protagonists are faced with dilemmas, of a sort--has Chloe's bitterness caused her to ruin Michael's chances for true love; and must Michael reconsider her goal to pattern her life after her role model? Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: One World/Ballantine; Reprint edition (October 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345437519
• ISBN-13: 978-0345437518
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,673,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't say enough, February 13, 2002

By 

"July Lady" (MS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blackgammon (Paperback)

I just love reading books with settings in other countries. This is the story of Michael, and Chloe. Michael and Chloe are two women who meet in the states, and from that moment on consider theirselves sisters. Both of the ladies leave the US, Chloe to leave Paris to try to Paris where she assumes people will be more accepting of her paintings. Michael ends up teaching at a college in England, goes against everything she believes in an marries a white man. Chloe is keeping a terrible secret that hinders all her relationship with the men that comes in her life. Michael never really get's over that she marries a white guy, especially when a new teacher from the states come in the picture, and it causes big problems in her marriage. It was interesting in reading what the two women went through to finally find their place in the world. By reading Blackgammon you get to learn something of other cultures, and prespective of black people. A great book, can't wait for her next one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic.....And So Totally Real, February 11, 2002

By 

Heather Marshall Negahdar "Haze" (Bridgetown, Barbados) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blackgammon (Paperback)

Blackgammon is a page turner that most women will be able to indentify with, and will want to read. The story centres around two African American women who have made a pact that they will not allow any man they enter into a realionship with, to control them or hinder them in their quest for fullfiling their dreams, ambitions and their careers.

The story is fast paced as Chloe the elder, flees from her ex-husband in Washington for France to pursue her talent as an artist. Living in Paris Nice and Aix, she falls in love many times over but is she able to keep this pact with her soul-sister? The two women communicate constantly by letter, telephone or visits, but protege Michael a professor in England who fashions her life after Chloe relies heavily on that moral support and advice.

There are lots of surprises in this wonderful book with it's share of disappointments, lies, shame deceit and plenty nostalgia. You'll love all the artists, the poets the actors, and the entire creative shebang.

Most women will read this book and say "yes, I remember when something like that happened to me too." or "I almost did the same very thing, are they writing about me?" Heather Neff's Blackgammon is that real.... with real life characters that will certainly fill your senses. Take a bow Ms. Neff and come again soon.

nutface
February 10th 2002

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Black women in Europe, October 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Blackgammon (Hardcover)

BLACKGAMMON is a lustrous mediatation on race, love, sisterhood success and life, and I fell headlong into its exotic world from the moment I began reading it. If you've ever lived outside of the United States -- or wondered what it must be like -- then BLACKGAMMON is a must-read. Heather Neff is a unique voice in African-American fiction.