Gonna Lay Down My Burdens [Unabridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Mary Monroe (Author), Lizan Mitchell (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2003

Mary Monroe is the author of Essence best-sellers including The Upper Room (F0065). Here, she examines the emotional webs that are woven between friends, lovers, and families. Carmen Taylor is absolutely dependable; she feels responsible for everyone she knows. It will take one reckless night to make Carmen realize that she might be able to lay her burdens down and take a chance on real happiness.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Recorded Books, LLC (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402570651
• ISBN-13: 978-1402570650
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,503,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read!, September 15, 2002

By 

K. Kimbrough "kkimbr7" (Bakersfield, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gonna Lay Down My Burdens (Hardcover)

When one carries their own burdens they weigh heavily; but when the burdens are not your own they change your life. Carmen Taylor has designated herself the official burden carrier for all, however when she runs to her friend Desiree's rescue again, she finds this just may be the one burden that she's gonna have to lay down.

Gonna Lay Down My Burdens is a complex story of love, loyalty and loss. Carmen Taylor, from the time she was thirteen years old, has found herself bound to people in friendship out of a strange sense of obligation and loyalty. Throughout the story, with every show of loyalty, there is a loss and she constantly reaches right down and bears one more cross. The one other constant for Carmen is her love for Chester Sheffield and her inability to have him. Whether it's because at the time he wasn't interested in her, she was pushing him away or her best friend decided she wanted him, Carmen seemed to be on the outside looking in.

Ms. Monroe portrays a stunning picture of how children (like Carmen) can take on responsibilities that are not theirs to bear and will carry that habit into adulthood. She also paints a very clear picture of how people will take advantage of the burden bearers in their life and Desiree, Burl, and all of Carmen's burden ridden friends do just this.

This book was a bit difficult for me to get started, but once I did, I was hooked. It moved at a steady pace and Ms. Monroe has a way of walking through a person's life and giving you insight to all of their idiosyncrasies without loading down the reader with mundane details. I became so involved with the story that I talked to the characters with warnings and reprimands. I even became frustrated to the point I wanted to put the book down, but Ms. Monroe's gift of storytelling is made evident in that no matter how you feel about what is going on in the story you have to know how it ends. This is a really good read.

Kotanya
APOOO BookClub

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great one from Mary Monroe, March 27, 2003

By 

Stacy D. Campbell (Author of Secretes www.stacydcampbell.com) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gonna Lay Down My Burdens (Hardcover)

Mary Monroe has done it again. Her latest book Gonna Lay Down My
Burdens is another example of her great creative imagination. This
well written piece of art is entertaining, heartfelt, as well as
hilarious. It will keep you in suspense until the very end. Once you
read the first page, the characters come alive and keep you wanting
more.

The main character, Carmen, learns life lessons through carrying
emotional draining secrets which become burdens that are just too
heavy to carry. From childhood to womanhood she carries the burdens
caused from unwise and unnecessary decisions along with lies and
secrets that have snowballed out of control. In return, these issues
enabled her to live a life that is unhealthy in all areas of
relationships.

Carmen's friend Desiree is living and loving simply for the moment.
Desiree's own secrets helped her to become the free spirit person she
is. She finds strength in her friend Carmen, who feels dedicated to
carry her burdens as well. When being faced with having to run away
from all the people she loves most, due to yet another mistake,
Carmen realizes it's time to lay down the burdens and let them go and
try to put the pieces of life back together in some type of orderly
fashion. However, she was not prepared for what was to follow.

This book was different from Ms. Monroe's previous two books which
dealt with mentally challenged characters. She came with a different
angle with this book allowing her readers to see the versatile style
of writing she can offer. I think she is an exceptional author. If
you have never experienced the joy her writing can bring, I advise
you not to only read this book, but also God Don't Like Ugly and the
Upper Room.

Stacy Campbell

APOOO BookClub

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't lay down right....., January 6, 2004

By 

Boop "caramelchocolate" (Aiken, South Carolina United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gonna Lay Down My Burdens (Hardcover)

This book was ok.

Ok, let's start it like this....

You help your bestfriend out by going to her house to help her get away from her boyfriend beating her, then you turn around and hit him in the head thinking you killed him. Not to mention the fact that this is a man you have been in love with since he was a boy and he is also the person that took your virginity, but you would not let yourself be with him because you owed another man your life because you paralyzed a man playing a trick on him.

Good grief, that story line was jacked up from the beginning. Call me selfish, but there is not that much guilt in the world to put your life on hold for someone else. Yes, Carmen can feel like she was in debt to Burl for the rest of his life because of his accident that she helped cause, but as fas as her love life, she can love whomever she wants.

If you read this book you will see that Carmen was just too dayum friendly and she let people take advangtage of her.

I was suprise at Mary Monroe, because this story line what just tired.

Later!!!