Customer Reviews

Leaving Cecil Street

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In her latest novel, Leaving Cecil Street, Diane McKinney-Whetstone transports the reader to 1969, suburban Philadelphia. Life is good for the residents of Cecil Street -- a neat, clean, tree-lined community filled with a close-knit group of law-abiding, hardworking middle class citizens. The story centers on two families: Joe, Louise and their daughter Shaylala (Shay) live next door to Alberta and her daughter, Bonita (Neet). Shay and Neet are best friends from infancy, but their 17-year-old bond, along with family marriage vows, religious convictions, and the neighborhood's tenacity are tested when tragedy strikes.

The novel opens in the afterglow of a festive neighborhood summer block party -- on the surface, all seems well. However, within Joe, this magical night has unleashed a longing for his first love and his balm: a mysterious prostitute named "C" and his music. He is a former tenor sax musician who seventeen years ago gave up the club life for his wife and family and now suddenly wants to pick up his horn again. He recklessly engages in an affair with a young, southern belle visiting for the summer in an attempt to recapture the freedom and passion that the previous lifestyle offered. Louise, Joe's wife, is wrestling with thoughts of Joe's fidelity and her own demons stemming from unresolved childhood issues of loss and abandonment. Alberta, harboring her own secrets, is the neighborhood outcast who emerges herself and Neet in a cult like "fire and brimstone" religion to atone for her shady past.

Like most of America at that time, Cecil Street has slowly recovered with mixed emotions in the wake of the turbulent political and social outcries that besieged the 1960's. Their hopes and dreams of a brighter and promising future are entrusted in the next generation. Outgoing Shay and reserved Neet are nice, college bound, wholesome girls idolized within the neighborhood. However, when Neet, one of Cecil Street's brightest flowers, nearly dies from a botched abortion performed in the very heart of the neighborhood, Shay and the whole of Cecil Street internalize the tragedy and are thrown back into the reality that reminds them of their shortcomings, misdeeds, and misgivings. When one of their own hurts, the neighborhood mourns and rallies to ease the pain and initiate the healing. It is in the healing that each of the characters through several subtle, yet unexpected plot twists resolves their issues with humility and dignity.

McKinney-Whetstone uses daydreaming and flashback sequences to reveal the pain of lost loves, suppressed sadness, underlying fear and insecurities of the characters. She builds delicate layers of complexity with amazing skill and delves into the emotional psyche to deliver wonderfully developed characters - a reader can clearly see their desires, needs, and understand their motivation. Reader empathy is definitely elicited in this wonderfully blended saga of love, forgiveness, and resolution.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub, The Nubian Circle Book Club

Welcome to Cecil Street; a strip of West Philadelphia inhabited by an interesting group of black Americans. The year is 1969. Afros abound, jazz music is "hot" and the topics of the day include the Vietnam War and hippies.

In Leaving Cecil Street, Diane McKinney-Whetstone vividly portrays a neighborhood that is pleasant to both the eye and heart as she gives us an intimate look at the innermost thoughts of the people.

In the story, we are privy to the private thoughts of only a few of the people in the neighborhood. There is Joe, a passionate saxophone player who in sadness of having to lay down his instrument to start a family has discovered other ways to fulfill his passion. His wife Louise, who has a significant lack of compassion and empathy and a fear of pain, is ironically a successful nurse. Their daughter Shay is a typical teenager faced with the challenge of dealing with love lost-both between her parents and her and her best friend.

Their churchy next-door neighbor Alberta is so ostracized by everyone for her decision to follow a strict religious group, it's a wonder she remains on Cecil Street. Neet is Alberta's daughter. The innocence she thinks she has reclaimed with love causes an eerie catastrophe that affects everyone on Cecil Street. Deucie, a character who unknowing to everyone, becomes a mysterious resident of Cecil Street.

As the story progresses, we learn more and more about how each of the characters is disconnected from the rest, until at the last party of the story, we discover they are more connected than they could have ever imagined.

1969 was a tumultuous time for blacks in America. Black leaders such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King had been assassinated after leading the battle for civil rights. Hippies roamed the streets preaching free love; and the "black is beautiful" movement was in full effect. And though there were troubles and hard times, there were still neighborhoods where folks treated either other decently, almost like family. Next-door neighbors spanked your kids for you when you were away. Block parties brought people together. Even funerals brought out the love in others in the form of repasts, where neighbors cooked all kinds of food in hopes of bringing your spirits up.

"Leaving Cecil Street" captures all of the above and then some. The new novel from the author of Tumbling, Tempest Rising, and Blues Dancing tells the story of the goings on of two families who live next door to one another in West Philadelphia. This includes Joe, a horn-playing lover of both jazz music and women who can't seem to keep his hands off the latter even though he is married. Louise, his wife, is a wife and mother who refuses to see a dentist, even though half the teeth in her mouth are rotten. Shay is their Afro-wearing teenage daughter whose best friend lives next door. Bonita (Neet) is Shay's best friend for life. And Alberta is the church-going, mean-spirited mother of Neet who has a secret past. Then there's Deucie, a strange and dying woman looking for her lost daughter who takes up residency in Joe and Louise's basement during a block party without their knowledge.

The story centers on what happens with both families before and after Neet's pregnancy and subsequent, illegal abortion (described with shocking and incredible detail). After this tragedy is revealed, it affects the entire neighborhood, especially the next-door neighbors and their relationships with each other. Before the story ends, the past will be remembered, secrets will be revealed and life-altering decisions will be made.

"Leaving Cecil Street" is a moving and enchanting work of art from Diane McKinney-Whetstone. Not only is the author an expert in crafting a masterful plot but the fine-tuned writing shows a clear love of the language, a skill lots of writers lack. The book invokes the spirit of works from The Harlem Renaissance era. You can almost hear the likes of Langston and Zora kindly nudging the author on. This book is a must read for everyone.

Emanuel Carpenter
[...]

"Leaving Cecil Street" was an enjoyable and warm book to read. The book takes us back to Philly. And we are wrapped into this wonderfully imaginative story of youth, healing wounds, loss, marriage, longing and overcoming. I really love how the author describes each character with an honesty that makes you love them all. Joe is such a complex character who struggles with infidelity and the loss of passion in many areas of his life. I think the reader really relates to him and his desire to fill the empty spaces and explore the "what ifs" from his past. Also, I love how it explores the issue of living with choices and doing the right thing. I have read all Ms. Whetstone's other books and this one is another success...I highly recommend it!

The novel LEAVING CECIL STREET by Diane McKinney-Whetsone is set in Philadelphia in 1969 on a beautiful African-American neighborhood street. It was a joy meeting Joe, Louise, Shay, Alberta, Shawn, Neet, Deucie, and Brownie in the novel. Cecil Street and its inhabitants reminded me of the cohesiveness of the African American neighborhood in the past. This is when African American continued to try to keep their streets as nice and neighborly as possible. The story centers on family, betrayal, secrets, love, survival, and dysfunctional families. It included vivid imagery and was full of nostalgia.

The author's novel writing skills are extraordinary. She really knows how to provide vivid setting descriptions that made you think that you are right there where everything is happening. She gives you a feel for the problems that the characters have contented with in the past and current. Her character descriptions make them seem like someone you have known; they jump right off the page. Even though there were scenes were my teeth cringed (eating cat food, mouth surgery) I couldn't stop reading. This story bought back memories of my childhood neighborhood. Where everyone knew everyone's business however, the neighbors were always there to lend a hand whenever needed

One problem I had with the story was that many of the subplots developed by the author were not brought to a conclusion, which left me with many unanswered questions. In addition, through there some very dicey scenes in the book, as soon as the excitement happened, the book ended. .

Overall, I rated the book a five based on its easy read, vivid descriptions, interesting characters and wonderful story line. What happens on Cecil Street could happen in any neighborhood. If you like a good story, read this book.

When I read the story last summer, I missed the richness of it all. The second read left me soooo satisfied that I couldn't read ANYTHING immediately afterwards.

Diane McKinney-Whetstone is masterful for her art of bringing characters, places, and sounds to life! On Cecil Street, you will meet the residents who are so real. The introductions are intense and animated - enabling you to feel their pain, their joy, and their sorrow.

The soulful music that moves from the pages into your heart will create a beat that you never imagined - a heartbeat for Joe, Louise, Shay, Neet, Alberta, and Deucie. These characters will etch indelible prints upon your heart - endearing you to them forever.

Leaving Cecil Street is a MUST read... a MUST hear... a MUST see... a MUST feel... a MUST have. It is sure to soothe your literary soul.

Leaving Cecil Street is set in Philadelphia during the 1960's but centers around one particular block Cecil Street and two families that live on that block. Diane tells the story in such a way that the characters seem to come alive with each page that you read. First there is Joe whose heart is back in the clubs blowing his sax but his reality is a wife, child and a job with the transit system. The regret that Joe carries with him about giving up playing his sax so soon after marrying his wife Louise, at times becomes a pain so unbearable that it brings him to tears and causes him at times to question the choices that he made early on in life. Shay who is Joe's daughter and Neet's her next door neighbor have been best friends for 17 years but that friendship is put to the ultimate test when Shay tries to help Neet get rid of an unwanted pregnancy and the procedure goes terribly wrong. Then there is Louise (Joe's wife) who is losing all of her teeth due to gum disease. These characters learn valuable lessons about trying to hide from their pasts and learning to live in the present as well as the future. I read this book in one day and enjoyed it from beginning to end!!

-reviewed by Jocelyn Lawson for www.avid-readers.com

Leaving Cecil Street is a story that centers in on the lives of two families whose lives are intertwined in more ways than even some of them realize. These characters learn valuable lessons about trying to hide from their pasts and learning to live in the present as well as the future. Using Philadelphia as the backdrop for this story, Diane McKinney-Whetstone vividly brings to life the mood and atmosphere of the 60's in an amazing and unforgettable story of love, loss, and redemption. The way the author breathes life into these characters and the way their individual stories come together in the end make for a well-written, fresh, and full-of-surprises story that I really loved. For those who have enjoyed her previous work, Leaving Cecil Street is yet another fantastic story by this excellent writer.

I am also a big fan of Diane McKinney Whetstone, and while I'm not sure why it took me so long to buy and read this book, I am really glad that I finally did. Once again the author has given us characters who we can't help but love - even the ones that we probably aren't supposed to! I enjoyed this book immensely and can't wait for the next one!

Diane Mckinney W hetstone is one of my favorite authors. I bellieve I've now read all her novels and can truly say each is absolutely

astounding and satisfying. Not only is she a good storyteller but her style is literary. I have always been drawn to stories set in big racially-mixed cities since I grew up in Chicago. I'm never disappointed with this author. I can't wait until I have a new novel to read. She's realistic and compassionate. I learn much about surviving from her novels.