Customer Reviews

The Hand I Fan With

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I found this book to be really disappointing. I'd read so many positive reviews about Ansa and in fairness, I read Baby of the Family and Ugly Ways prior to this title and must conclude that I'm not into her writing style. She has a very descriptive, detailed writing style that consumes pages upon pages of text that describe the environment but is so very weak on plot and story line. I know this was the sequel to Baby of the Family, but I felt she retold the same story within this one. Like in Baby of the Family, I kept waiting for something to happen to/with Lena, the main character. Sure, she summons up a ghost and has lots of sex and love..but basically, that's it. I kept waiting for a dramatic climax, but there was none. The problem is, every time the story started to move forward and show a little conflict (a female ghost rival, an angry town that feels forgotten by Lena), the conflict is resolved far too easily. The book encourages us to stop concentrating on the material and enjoy life as Lena learned to do..but her transformation was dull and truly uneventful for me. It took a lot for me to finish this book..and I had to skim/speed read to make it through it. I'm still trying to figure out what all the hype was about.....I'd agree with another reviewer and put this one at the bottom of the three Ansa books. In my opinion, this book could have been written in half the text and had the same impact.

All the signs were pointing to an enjoyable book: a teasing synopsis sounded interesting, a unique milieu was promised, there was a lauded writer. What no one mentioned was the SLOW PACE of this book. Lena McPherson finds love with a ghostly stud named Herman--why doesn't anybody mention that FIRST we have to wade through tedious descriptions of Lena's designer wardrobe--her luxurious house (complete with a sauna with hand-made tiles; Lena just can't find a decent maid to scrub those very tiles, darn it all!)--her expensive car--her hairstyles--her earrings--the color of her nylons, her shoes, her fingernails--before we even meet this Herman? Do we really CARE about Lena's many materialistic trappings? The townsfolk of Mulberry, GA, are less communal and caring than nosy and infuriating. The sex scenes are abrupt and raunchy--I relish decent erotica, but somehow Lena and/or Tina McElroy Ansa seem to flaunt "dirty words" and lascivious deeds in between pretentious musings on the past, the future, "love," ghosts, whatever. This isn't a beginning/middle/end kind of narrative, it's a New Agey hash of African goddess worship/voodoo/Catholicism/"smell the roses"/sexcapades/hedonism. It's supposed to be an eerie coincidence that Lena and a dead relative use the same expression: "Oh, Lord!" Is "Oh, Lord" considered that idiosyncratic? What next, the IRONY that both Lena and Herman say, "Shoot!"??? I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen--near the end, finally, two things actually did: The citizens of Mulberry try to have Lena committed, and Herman decides to disappear as suddenly as he appeared. Neither scene was played for its dramatic moment--they were simply one more thing that happened to passive, perfect Lena McPherson. More than bored by this book, I was ANGERED--why do so many other readers love this book? Don't they recognize rubbish when they see it?

The Hand I Fan With by Tina McElroy Ansa is a fascinating and entertaining novel. Lena McPherson, the protagonist of the story, is the hand that everyone in Mulberry, GA depends on physically, financially, emotionally and socially. Lena seems to have it all-the latest car, a thriving business, beautiful clothes, a fancy home, community status and so many people who depend on her call her "the hand I fan with". But Lena's life is strangely empty. Lena lacks the love, comfort, support and companionship of a man, and so Lena and a friend perform a magic ritual designed to "call her up a man". And a man Lena receives in the form of Herman(ie Her-Man) a ghost over 100 years old. Herman is the perfect man and helps Lena to understand/learn that she can give all she has to give and still have love left over for others. But do the townsfolk appreciate the new Lena or are they put off by the makeover and to what extent will they go to show Lena how they feel about the changes that she has made.

Due to mixed reviews, this book sat on my bookshelf for two years before I finally decided to read it. Aside from some parts of the story which were overwritten/too overly descriptive(i.e. Lena's house, Lena's clothes, Lena's shoes..et al) I really enjoyed this story. While Lena was the subject of the story, Ansa was really speaking to all women. In The Hand I Fan With, Ansa teaches us that as women it is important to explore the issue of how one lives as well as how one loves. She wants the reader to see beyond the clothes Lena wears or the car Lena drives, and see how women, can live a full life on this planet. How we live a spiritual life in the midst of plenty or in the midst of deprivation. How we reach the balance of duty to others and self-fulfillment. How attachment to things and fixing and doing saps us of the joy of living. How it is possible to be a mother without giving birth or without formal adoption. For this is a woman's story of giving too much to others without thought for self. It is the story of how many women live our lives in a rush of accumulating and sacrificing. It's a story of self-realization and the journey to change.

I must admit I'm sorry I listened to others as I missed out too long on an intriguing and delightful read. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. It was a story that I wanted to read in one sitting, but the story was so erotic and delectable that I decided to read it slowly and savor it for as long as I could because this was one story I really didn't want to end. Sometimes you can't believe what you hear or read you just have to pick up a book for yourself and see if you like it. The Hand I Fan With was that book for me. I'm glad I finally indulged myself as this book was worth the read and is one of my Top 10 reads for 2001.

Although I agree with some other reviewers that it took far too long to get to the story of Herman and Lena, this is still one of the best books I have ever read. I got the point early on that Lena was beautiful, wealthy, talented, business minded, etc. I didn't need 150 pages to explain it though. But once the story came to life with Herman the book moved rather quickly. Their spiritual and physical love for each other was so overpowering sometimes, I had to put the book down for a day to savor the chapter I had just read. Tina I usually can't stand to see the "f" word in a love scene, but your use of the word was very fitting and made the characters love-life jump off the page. I cried my way through the final chapters because like Lena I couldn't stand the thought of Herman not being with her. A powerful read indeed.

I know some books take some time to develop and i enjoy lengthy descriptions, but unfortunately every page is a lengthy description of every possible thing. I was reallly looking forward to a nice read - but had to stop after 70 pages.

African-American fiction is difficult to hold, slippery and new to identify, like fresh fish slapping into a boat with no ones hands on it. Will it flop right on out the boat or will it lay long enough for someone to grab it? I'm on vacation so I'm tearing through about 6 books a week, whatever my hand lands on I read and I finished Ugly Ways---laughing to myself and nodding with an Umm hmm--y'all know what I mean and discovered that I had another Ansa novel in a box so I dove in. Is it a good book? Would I give it to someone as a gift and say "Here, baby, read this, it'll help your heart." Yeah, I would and will. For awhile the love that everyone had for the spiritually in tune Lena was getting on my nerves, it was smothering but that was what it was meant to show and Her-Man showed up (anyone catch that play on words?) and Lord it got hot! There are a couple of chapters that start out with what Lena likes that I can't even type up in here but it was a true-true graphic---not hard and trying to be all hot to itself but simply the naked, sex true-true of the matter. Into the book I was trying to figure out where this could go, how this was gonna end and then I realized it wasn't so much about Lena and Herman and her coming to accept her gifts and be at peace but it was about the Disease to Please. I've had it and got the cure (comes in a small bottle labelled NO!) and that's what this book is really about. Lena wasn't responsible for everyone liking her, being okay in their own lives, doing well, listening to their stupid problems, making sure they took care of themselves---it was about Lena, 45 yrs. old standing up into fully of who she was and who she was suppose to be and not spending her life tending other people's gardens. She grew up, folks. That's what this book is about aside from all the ghosts and hoodoo, it's about accepting folk but not prostrating yourself for them and when I realized that, this little fish of a book sat right on up in my boat, let me put my hands around it and I smiled. Yeah, I guess this is a 4 star book. P.S. What's so wrong with a book being about a respectable woman getting herself well done? Be a lot happier people if there was less time judging and more time pleasuring each other....One word. Period.

Tina McElroy Ansa...mmh, mmh, mmh!! I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll start by saying I've fantasized about many men, but none as gifted as Herman. If I ever get the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Ansa, I'd shake the H-E-double hockey stick out of her hand. Girlfriend, put her foot in this.

This is the story of a woman named Lena whose blessed birth marked her to be the luckiest woman in Mulberry. She has the looks, the clothes, the cars, the house, the land, the business'S (I capitalized the 'S' for a reason) With all I ran down, one would think Miss Lena had all a woman could ask for. NOT!!!!!

During a busy life of selfless living for socially inept and ill-informed town's people, she meets a man that only we women can dream about. I'm talking about a palpably spiritual brother. His name is Herman. Who's B-A-D? Certainly not Micheal in comparison to Herman. If you're a woman whose ever talked about a man who was so good he could make your 'little sister' sing, or ever laid next to a man wishing you could absorb him into your body through the pores of your skin, you need to take a walk with Lena through Mulberry, via Tina McElroy Ansa.

Let me say this, the book is fantastic, so take your time reading it and follow along closely. You'll find out why the title of the book is what it is and why Herman's name is so befitting.

This was the romance of the Decade for me. Thank you Mrs. Ansa.

I completely agree w/ the other one-star reviews. The book started out much too slowly -- who cares about Lena's clothes, memories, and so on? Let's get to the story. The ghost visitor idea appealed to me, but it took forever for Herman to show up!

I made it through, though -- after the first chapter, I just skimmed the rest. Finished the thing in about 2 hours that way.

Won't read the rest of her stuff.

You have to be kiding. Tears of bordom prevented me from finishing this. It took fifty pages for her drive to work and be shown a room. She went had too many back flashes and when the author resumed to the present I'd forgotten where we were. Too much redundant information. I don't recommend this book at all.

I really liked this book. I felt as if I knew the life of the main character Lena. I could really identify with some of the spirtual phenomenon that she experienced in her life. Not so much the ghosts; but the heightened perception of my surroundings and the people in my life. I think that Ms Mcelroy-Ansa wrote a book about taking control of your own life and everything that goes with it. Some people achive that through therapy; some through events in their lives and some are just lucky enough to to find the real love and caring of a good mate to help them become more secure in who they are and most of all just learn to love and be happy. I normally read Anne Rice novels about ghosts and witches but I think a lot of the folklore in this book is so close to the grain and being from the rural south I've heard a lot of the stories and tales. Read it with an open mind it is very entertaing,just like listening to an old friend tell you a story.