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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Physician, Heal Thy Self, July 9, 2007
This review is from: Keeper of Secrets: Translations of an Incident (Paperback)
Anjuelle Floyd makes her debut in a captivating collection of interconnected stories, Keeper of Secrets...Translations of an Incident. The stories center on a group of accomplished, upper-middle class Blacks living in the Oakland/San Francisco area of California who are either acquainted with each other from the past or through the proverbial six degrees of separation.
In Dancing Sivah, Raven Clarke, a former psychotherapist, is having dinner with her husband, Drew, an attorney and one of his clients in an elegant restaurant in San Francisco. Raven is a reluctant dinner companion, suffering from fatigue and sleeplessness, having been plagued by her infant daughter's nonstop nightly crying. Raven has flashbacks to the night she chose Drew over Absylom, her Ugandan/Rajasthani lover. Can she get back to that place where in the distant past, visions and meditations were the key to her sanity and harmony? Will overcoming the sins of the mother be the key to reclaiming her life and restful sleep? She is jarred out of her reverie by an argument which turns violent and Raven finds herself in the middle of it with Drew hovering over her. That incident witnessed by a roomful of people triggers a series of back stories, secrets and lies from the past, and a look at the complex cast of characters.
The ensuing stories delve into the psyche of wounded, scarred and sometimes tortured souls of several individuals and families. In the title story Keeper of Secrets, psychoanalyst Lahni Irete seeks psychotherapy for herself in order to come to terms with childhood demons as well as doubts about her choice in marrying a blind Nigerian financier instead of her longtime friend. In Three Movements, Arianne Gadsenf's faith in her ability to counsel terminally ill patients is questioned when she discovers a deceased patient was not who she purported to be. Michael Banks is a workaholic, a bridge engineer, who is losing a grip on his marriage in The Bridge. His life is forever changed when things spiral out of control one day on the Richmond Bridge.
All of these characters appear to have it all; they are accomplished, highly educated and successful in their fields, what W.E.B. Dubois would call the Talented Tenth of the New Millennium. Yet, there is a darkness lurking in each of their pasts that haunts, lingers and prohibits them from living their lives to the fullest. Some of them have suffered parental death or abandonment during childhood, one escaped a near female circumcision, and another denied access to her father. Some find themselves in the ironic position of healing others when, in fact, they are the ones in need of a cure.
Floyd's collection is a formidable debut worthy of classic status incorporating elements of Edith Wharton, Andrea Lee and Gwynne Forster. The convoluted lives of upper-class Blacks break new ground in American literature which includes the dynamics of psychotherapy, religion, mysticism, and international cultures. With skillful, imaginative writing this first literary offering of Three Muses Press is sure to be a crossover hit.
Dera R. Williams
APOOO BookClub
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A psychological ripple effect in eight short stories, August 20, 2008
This review is from: Keeper of Secrets: Translations of an Incident (Paperback)
In a sequence of eight stories whose epicenter revolves around a near-fatal incident in a restaurant, Anjuelle Floyd explores the ripple effect of this event as it touches a network of interconnected individuals. They make up a community of successful, artistic African Americans, traumatized emotionally and physically by their past or recent experiences dealing with life, love, violence, apathy, death, and blame.
Floyd uses her psychiatric training and interest in Buddhism to illustrate how one shocking moment pushes people along the path to self-reflection and self-awareness as well as how to forgive both themselves and others.
Though these stories primarily involve African-Americans in the Bay Area, the stories are universally appealing and relate to the lives of all of us. The last two stories of the suite, however, seem a bit disjointed from the rest; as though the author absolutely wanted to include the horrors of 9/11 and the Iraq War in this collection to illustrate other ways of suffering and healing. These two seem a bit moralizing, going beyond the theme of moving towards inner peace, which rings clear throughout the rest of the narrative.
If you want a thoughtful short-length read, this book provides an opportunity to explore identity and universal themes that touch us all throughout our lives, with a heady dose of good psychiatry and meditation.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Uncommonly Good, November 26, 2007
This review is from: Keeper of Secrets: Translations of an Incident (Paperback)
Poetry in literary motion, this is Anjuelle Floyd's freshman (fiction) offering... Keeper of Secrets -Translations of an incident.
Taking you on a journey you've never been on before this book--8 short stories intricately threaded together to create a full-length novel will not disappoint. For distinguishing taste, each story will take on the voice of a character that travels with Anjuelle guiding her into the life of the next story, touching on real topics such as motherhood, marriage, politics and war, while in fantastic settings. So uncommon is this read that you'll find yourself pondering it for a long time.
Having heard Anjuelle read from the work it's not hard to see her heart pouring out over Raven and her inner pain to the blind, Sahel and her inner sight...just two of the many well developed, poignant characters.
I know I haven't told you much about the stories but they are not easy to put into everyday words, you'd have to be where I was to really appreciate and understand how--out of the ordinary Ms. Floyd's literary work really is. Suffice it to say, I had the advantage of hearing her read the words which could only enhance your experience but trust me...I highly recommend you picking up this book and reading the it yourself. It's well worth it.
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