Customer Reviews

Keeper of Secrets: Translations of an Incident

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.

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.

I loved how this novel was made up of eight, shorter stories, which are all interwoven with shared characters and their interpretations of one incident in a restaurant. The characters are wealthy African-American professionals of a variety of religions, but I think anyone can related to how all of them have their pasts and baggage to deal with before they can manage their current relationships well.

The Keeper of Secrets: Translations of an Incident
By Anjuelle Floyd

Breaking the Mold - August 20, 2007

In a world where cookie-cutter novels have become the norm rather than the exception - debut author Anjuelle Floyd has broken the mold.

The Keeper of Secrets: Translations of an Incident, a collection of interconnecting short stories, is a literary case study in how one incident can be translated into many scenarios.

Author Floyd does a magnificent job of making the reader privy to a specific incident with tentacles that touch the lives of others. Embracing her fund of knowledge as a psychologist and grasp of multiple cultures, readers are skillfully and enjoyably drawn into the world of a diverse group of professionals and those in their close and outer circle. A majority of them are carrying luggage that should have been unpacked years ago. A variety of reasons as to why they have not is what will hold your attention.

In each story we are introduced to individuals who outwardly are living the life fairy tales are made of. With each turned page you will be exposed to past experiences robbing them of the fullness of the present. You will wonder why Raven is tortured by the cries of her infant? What is it from Lahni Irete's childhood that led to selecting a blind man rather than the man she truly loves as her husband? Why does Arianne seek comfort in the ghost of a deceased patient rather than the arms of her husband? Will Trey's past be the salvation for a positive future?

Told in a refreshingly intellectual tone, The Keeper of Secrets, rather than excluding, invites a wide range of readers to imbibe words that stimulate, educate and entertain.

Reviewer/Dr. Linda Beed
On Assignment Reviews/Author of Business Unusual

An entanglement of lives and lies, Keeper of Secrets, the newest masterpiece by Anjuelle Floyd, is a collection of works which circumvent a single event. This one event provides an opportune moment to further weave the lies lived. The stories written are believable to the extreme that you will likely wonder if this is fiction or fact. While reading Keeper of Secrets, you are taken in by the characters and the situations of their stories. - J.L. Graham, Author/Columnist/Reviewer www.creativesolutions.page.tl

Keeper of Secrets: Translations of an Incident
Anjuelle Floyd
Rating: 4

A single incident is hardly ever told the same way. Many people interpret things differently so when the story is told back to another the translation can become distorted while the foundation tends to be complacent. In Keeper of Secrets one incident witnessed by different people in a restaurant has the power to change the lives of many, even those not in attendance. Told through a series of short stories this book goes to show just how small this big world can be.

The book was very well written and kept me entertained through and through. However it also opened my eyes to the world of formal therapy. I'm talking psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, psychologist...etc. The biggest thing that stood out to me was the fact that the therapist, counselor or as referred to in this book Keeper of Secrets, many times may not be keeping our secrets at all. There were multiple times when things disclosed during private consultations were recanted to people who had absolutely no purpose in hearing the story aside from the desire to share the story. This was unsettling, because what many times was told in confidence ended up being a general topic of discussion. It seemed like every therapist in the book didn't really hold anything sacred, and if this is the case who can you share your inner thoughts with and they not be discussed if not with your therapist. I for one love to see the `real' side behind everything so while it dismayed me in regards to the profession, I was intrigued because it was a lot different from everything I had come to know about therapist.

There were a few loose ends I would have liked to be tied up in the story such as, who was the woman Raven passed tissue to in the bathroom if not the woman with the pink hair? I just assumed that the story of the man and woman with the pink hair would have been resolved at some point. Also the fact that the story jumped from past to present frequently in the story along with all the charecters made it sometimes difficult to keep up with the current story line. Aside from that overall it was a good book.

Reviewed by:
Nikkea Smithers
RWA Bookclub President
rwabookclub@yahoo.com
www.rwabookclub.com

How do the lives of several individuals with unique histories connect and intersect? The characters in Keeper of Secrets: Translations of an Incident are well-educated African Americans, living in the Bay Area of California. Within this group, there are psychotherapists, judges, lawyers, and businessmen.

In the introductory story, we meet a couple with three children, who are going out to dinner. Raven, the wife, is sleep-deprived after the birth of her third child and doesn't really want to go out, but reluctantly agrees to anyway. Throughout the day, she reflects on the past and the ambivalence she felt from the beginning of this relationship. When she met her husband, Drew, she was living with another man. She kept the relationships separate, as if she could somehow carry on with parallel lives, but in the end, she reluctantly confesses. Even so, she sometimes wonders about the choice she made. Other choices from that time in her life still affect her in the here and now, and when at a low point, as she is now, she wonders if one of her more devastating choices has had a negative effect on her new daughter. In this state of mind and while feeling vulnerable and exhausted, she is shocked by an incident that occurs at the restaurant between two customers.

In the next series of stories, there is some reference to this incident, which seemingly ripples through the lives of all of the characters, and then triggers reflection and self-examination; many of the players are either in therapy or therapists themselves, thus producing the opportunity for healing and transformation.

The author's training and practice as a psychotherapist informs the content of the eight stories and reveals how troubled individuals, despite their secrets and past misdeeds, can grow and change.

Perceptive and colorful, these stories lead the reader on a healing journey along with the characters.

Five stars.

Keeper of Secrets is a series of 8 shorts stories all tied together by the near stabbing of a patron at a restaurant. Each story shows the inner secrets and issues that are resurfaced by this traumatic event. The characters are deep, with past events, that alter their present day lives. The psychotherapists in this book, also have past issue that haunt them as well. A fascinating read.

"Keeper of Secrets...Translation of an Incident"
By Anjuelle Floyd
Reviewed by Kenae - Real Ladies Read Book Club

One incident and numerous perspectives is what you get from the "Keeper of Secrets...Translation of an Incident," by Anjuelle Floyd. Eight beautifully woven stories reveal the secrets and truths that can be shaded by the color of individual perspectives. Although perfectly combined, each story stands on its own to divulge the truth of each secret in a way that not only allows the reader to relate to the characters, but to put your self in their shoes.

Through each of the stories the readers will experience love, lost, hurt, despair, confusion, and hope, exposing secrets to the full circle of its truths. "Keeper of Secrets" uniquely connects each story without over shadowing the importance of the next. Leaving to you to determine where the connections lye.

I thoroughly enjoyed each moment in the lives of these characters. I caught myself carefully dissecting each section, but at my conclusion I can honestly say "secrets lock up our world and truths set it free."

Winner of the 2008 New "Real" Author Search - Real Ladies Read Book Club