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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Melancholy, Melodic, and Masterful, April 18, 2004
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
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Intense Story About a Close-Knit Community, May 13, 2004
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.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Harlem Renaissance Memories!, May 30, 2004
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
[...]
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