Hand-me-down Heartache: A Novel (Strivers Row) [Paperback]

Tajuana Butler (Author)

Book Description

Series: Strivers Row | Publication Date: April 8, 2003

Nina Lander is a recent college grad, struggling to be independent, who has moved back home with her parents as she tries to start a career in sports broadcasting. But she’s increasingly frustrated with both her father’s treatment of her mother and her mother’s acceptance of her own unhappy life.

Though Nina is wracked with uncertainty, the one thing she thinks she can hold on to is her budding relationship with Maurice, a charming, handsome rookie NBA player. Nina rationalizes his silence as strength and his jealousy as love. When there is evidence of his infidelity, Nina is hurt but not surprised. Her father has cheated on her mother, and her brother has cheated on his girlfriends. All men cheat, Nina believes.

But then Maurice abruptly ends the relationship, sending Nina into an emotional tailspin. After she recovers and is on the brink of falling in love with Leo LJ Love, an up-and-coming rapper who has had a crush on her since high school, Maurice reenters her life, claiming to be a changed man. Will she take him back?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Butler's second novel (after Sorority Sisters) deals sensitively with the impact of domestic abuse on an African-American family and the choices made by a young woman dealing with issues of self-doubt while seeking acceptance in her relationships. Nina Landers has just graduated with a B.A. in journalism and dreams of becoming a broadcast sports announcer. Until she lands a job and can afford her own apartment, she returns to Atlanta to live at home. There she discovers that all is not well between her parents: her mother Juanita's attempts to please her husband, Smitty, only result in her being the target of his rage. Nina and her brother, Brice, must finally acknowledge to each other that the relationship between their parents has worsened, and that Smitty's behavior is out of hand. Meanwhile, at a party with her good friend Janelle, Nina meets Maurice, a Georgetown graduate and basketball player soon to be drafted by the Miami Heat. She falls hard for the good-looking star, believing that he is everything she wants in a man; she is even willing to explain away his subsequent infidelity and temper. Eventually, she is forced to face up to reality and decide just who she really is and whether she has been foolish to ignore the attentions of another, more loyal, suitor, a rapper she has known since high school. Building on the successful formula of her first novel, Butler continues to focus on the lives of sorority sisters as they make the transition from college coeds to young women dealing with life, the job market, love and relationships. 11-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Abusive relationships and the power of sisterhood are addressed in this novel. Nina Lander graduates from college and moves back home, where she becomes painfully aware of her father's abuse of her mother. At the same time, she begins a relationship with Maurice, a promising basketball player with a bad attitude and an abusive nature. While out at a nightclub, the young woman bumps into a high school classmate, now a successful rapper. Leo makes it very clear that he is interested in her, but she is committed to making her relationship with Maurice work. Things come to a head when her mother becomes ill. The two women become close and begin to share some of the reasons they find themselves attracted to abusive men. Nina begins to see her mother change from a passive wife into a person who stands up to her husband and speaks her mind. With the support of her friends and family, Nina learns what true love really is. Her parents, her brother, her best friend, and Maurice and Leo all ring true. Sadly, there are teens who can identify all too strongly with the young woman's struggles to keep her relationship going with her boyfriend, and the desperate measures she takes to try to hold onto something that's not really there. This work is a sequel to Sorority Sisters (Villard, 2000), which deals with college life and love relationships. Teens will find both works worthwhile reading.
Patricia White-Williams, Kings Park Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Villard (April 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812968336
• ISBN-13: 978-0812968330
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,082,438 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:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hand-Me-Down more of this book, October 19, 2001

By 

"misslove" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hand-me-down Heartache: A Novel (Hardcover)

Using simple words, an intense plot, and a clever voice, TJ Butler dispels a compelling, honest story of a young woman battling with family secrets, relationships, and inner growth.
What I like most about this novel is that there are no frills or thrills present, just an intoxicating story that heightens your interest with each chapter.

Nina recently graduated from college, relocated, and is attempting to find a position in her desired career. Hand-Me-Down Heartache sketches her efforts in making a life for herself after graduation. Nina's emotional journey in and out of herself is capricious. As readers, we are privy to points of views that Nina is clueless about. This encourages even more interest because we are dying to know how she will handle certain issues.

The characters are seemingly familiar, having personalities of denial and desperation that reside in someone that you know. Butler maintains a vivacious protagonist/antagonist reticulation by making some of the characters endearing, but errant, and others just plain mean and selfish...then she provides a balance by interspersing strong, acute characters that promote growth and aplomb in the weaker characters.

Butler intertwines an intoxicating innocence with stygian debacles. Her characters are fluid and colorful, full of candor and audacity. The story is fresh and speculative with a dash of coarse reality. Hand-Me-Down Heartache is not for the faint of heart. It's a deep, toxic story that you'll remember long after you've finished the novel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RIGHT ON POINT, October 19, 2001

By 

MOMMIE (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hand-me-down Heartache: A Novel (Hardcover)

ALL FAMILY HAve SECRETS. SOME WORSE THAN OTHERS, BUT SECRETS ALL THE SAME.

I COULD RELATE TO THIS BOOK, FROM A PERSONAL STAND POINT. MOST OF US ARE, OR KNOW A "NINA". KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO SHARE OR LISTEN TO OTHERS DISCUSS "SHAMEFUL" THINGS.

THIS BOOK HITS ON QUITE A FEW SUBJECTS. FADELITY, ABUSE AND SELF LOVE BEING AMONG THE TOP FEW.

THE SCENE AT (THE DOG) MAURICES HOUSE, HAS BEEN PLAYED OUT TOO MANY TIMES, BY TOO MANY SISTER FOR US (AFRICAN AMERICANS) NOT TO FEEL WHAT THE AUTHOR IS PUTTING OUT THERE.

IT IS A STAND ALONE, SO EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE AUTHORS PREVIOUS BOOK "SORORITY SISTERS", YOU WILL INJOY IT.

THIS BOOK IS A FAST, ENTERTAINING AND ENLIGHTNING READ. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT.

MS. BUTLER HAS DONE IT AGAIN. HER FIRST NOVEL WAS ALSO WONDERFUL. I LOOK FORWARD TO HER NEXT RELEASE WITH ANTICIPATION.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Sweet tale of Self-Discovery, January 13, 2002

By 

Prolific Writers Network (Internet) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hand-me-down Heartache: A Novel (Hardcover)

From the author of Sorority Sisters comes a sweet tale of self-discovery as her characters struggle to find and define themselves in the context of their existence. While Butler's prose is sometimes understated, the message of family love and responsibility for one's actions resounds throughout the pages. A light and entertaining read that leaves a smooth and pleasant taste on your literary palate.