Customer Reviews

The Ebony Tree

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Ebony Tree by Maxine Thompson is a journey back in time into the lives of The Shepherd family. Thompson does a wonderful job of placing you right into their lives as if you were a member of the family.

Jewel Shepherd has many secrets that she has kept from her kids. No one really knows the real Jewel, and at times she wonders if she really knows herself. She loves her children, and surprisingly, her husband, Solly - even though he has tried her patience time and time again. Jewel wonders what brought her to Delray, Michigan, and how will she get out with her children intact. Her youngest, Imani, has decided that it is time they find out how the Shepherd family came to be. Therefore, she tries to capture 53 years of marriage on tape. Unfortunately, being the youngest she does not know how to read between the lines of the web her mother has weaved. Only her older siblings know the truth.

I loved the history, loved the family life - even if it was not so perfect, it was real. This book will make you think about the relationship you have with your own mother, and wonder what secrets may be hidden between the stories she has told you. I recommend this book to all of those who are history buffs at heart. The Ebony Tree by Maxine Thompson won't disappoint you.

Jacki

APOOO BookClub

The Ebony Tree is a CLASSIC. I loved every drop of it. The author is TRULY and I mean TRULY a master at her craft. This book was wonderfully written, compelling and thought-provoking. I thoroughly enjoyed following on the journey of Jewel's life, the main character. Again, this book is WONDERFUL. Ms. Thompson put so much passion into writing this wonderful book. I cannot wait to read her other books. I'm a fan for life!

The Ebony Tree uncovers the often rich, spiritual yet hidden layers of family dynamics. Written with visually captivating dialogue. Each character familiar. Maxine Thompson manages to do what a writer should always strive to do-- she tells the truth. There are lessons in the joys as well as the sorrows. You will come to care, as well as emphasize with the characters. Whether you are a female or a male---you will learn that family love and loyalty should be as strong as an "Ebony Tree." In particular, the relationship between mothers and daughters. Everyone will be hearing more about this dynamic writer.

The Ebony Tree is a book that will stay with me. It delves into the dynamics of mother-daughter relationships as few books do. I loved some characters. Nearly hated others. Thompson does a very good job of making the characters in her book *real*. The Ebony Tree happens at a time when women were deemed honorable if they served the men in their lives like they were made to be servants rather than wives . . . daughters. The hurt. The pain. The defeat this brings to the women in The Ebony Tree cut at me. Not only did The Ebony Tree entertain me, it reinforced my belief that going after your dreams is truly the only way to live!

I read The Ebony Tree in less than 24 hrs. I couldn't put the book down. The characters remind me of my family and the struggles and joys of the black familes during the Motown era. The writers metaphors, and imagery are excellent. Maxine Thompson leaves nothing undone in her mother dauther story of love, family secrets, and denials that plague the lives of the charcters. This book is a must read, it's full of history, emotions, and gives a greater understanding of the secrets of our ancestors.

I found The Ebony Tree to be evocative of other old Black Classics, such as I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and The Bluest Eye. It is a coming of age story laced with an intergenerational saga. It is a beautiful tale as wrought with pain and sorrow as it is with beauty and triumph. This book will go down in history as a great book.

Nancy Downs, Publisher of Jewel Publications

I enjoyed reading about my old neighbor hood. A lot of memories I had long forgotten. A great read.

The Ebony Tree has so much truth to it that it makes you feel as if you are a part of it. This novel belongs in all libraries and schools. Excellently written. Like Alex Haley's novel Roots whether fact or fiction, The Ebony Tree encourages you to look at your own background.

The Ebony Tree couldn't seem more real. It's a very wholesome story. You don't see any 'sugar coating' as you read about what the women in this novel went through for the welfare of their children, and to keep their hopes and dreams alive.

The story tugged at my heart because it made me think about my own mother and grandmothers.

It's a novel I will hold onto and enjoy reading again.

Maxine E. Thompson's, The Ebony Tree, vividly depicts the coming of age of the Shepherd family in Delrey, Michigan during the oppressive 1950's. The Ebony Tree narrates the sometimes woeful and disconcerting tales of matriarch, Jewel Shepherd. A woman who sacrificed aspirations and individuality to rear a family during the darkest moments in her life.

It is 1993 and Imani Shepherd puts her journalistic training to use by interviewing her elderly parents regarding their lineage. Instead of a family gushing with pride, her mother, Jewel is tight-lipped and filled with indignity. Through hesitancy, Jewel relates the story of abandonment by her mother, Luralee; tutelage from Aunt Beulah that boys are superior to girls; husband Solly's infidelity and drunkenness; and the ill-treatment she bestowed upon eldest daughter, Midge, because she was a girl. A woman in that era did not have the resources nor the wherewithal that Imani has today to be an independent woman in control of her own destiny. Therefore, Imani would never understand Jewel's feelings of degradation or regrets of leaving her family in Richmond, California. These secrets, Jewel would rather keep hidden from her twenty-five year old daughter. Secrets too painful to utter, yet necessary to provide healing and answers for a young woman seeking insight into her family tree.

Protagonist Jewel Shepherd is a thought-provoking character; a woman before her time. Women will identify with her...cry with her...and rejoice with her as Jewel struggles to shed memories of the past and reach for a brighter future. Maxine E. Thompson's The Ebony Tree is a paradigm of the struggles African-American mothers have endured in raising black children.

Reviewed by Nicki Lancaster
APOOO BookClub