19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!!!!, February 23, 2007
This review is from: Love Is Never Painless: Three Novellas (Hardcover)
This book was off the hook!!! I literally finished it in 2 days!! I can't say if it was because I was going through something myself at the time, or if the book was just plain reality that hit me where it hurts...but whatever the case may be, I'm glad I purchased this book because it helped me to get through my own drama. This was one of the best reads I have ever laid hands on. The first novel hits you and it makes you say, "I love myself and I love the people that love me!" Then the second novel hits you and it makes you say, "that's what you get for not giving me the love that I so deeply found and gave to you," But then the third novel hits you and it makes you say, "what the hell have I been thinking and doing all of this time - wake up sista!" Eileen Johnson, V. Anthony Rivers, and Zane...YA'LL PUT IT DOWN!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Three novellas that tackle the darker sides of love, March 15, 2007
This review is from: Love Is Never Painless: Three Novellas (Hardcover)
Love is Never Painless is a collection of three novellas by African American authors that tackle the darker sides of love. None of these stories has a happy ending, and though they all have unique perspectives on the theme "love is never painless" they each handle it in different ways. These are stories about physical abuse, rape, abandonment, and drug addiction, so don't expect something light-hearted and fun to read. That being said, the collection is solid, the stories are well-written, and they all definitely provide some food for thought. It's nice to see authors tackle something besides the typical love story and it's good to read something that shows the other side of love.
The stories are, in order:
How The Other Half Lives by Eileen M. Johnson
Fernecia and Jamellah are best friends who grew up together in the Third Ward ghetto of New Orleans. They both came from impoverished families and fought their way through hardship to graduate from college and make a name for themselves. Fernecia did so by marrying Fernando, a well-off man who she met through one of Jamellah's boyfriends. Embarrassed by her poor family and overweight body, Fernecia never thought that a man like Fernando could fall in love with her. But he did, and he married her, and together they have a son, Hugs. Still, despite all that she has, Fernecia can't help but feel like she's playing pretend in her big house with her maid and her fancy car. She'll always be the ghetto girl from Third Ward, she just now has to pretend that she isn't. Jamellah took another route. She'd always known that she was beautiful, and she used her looks to her advantage. She even used them to reel in married men who would buy her a house, a car, and help her climb the corporate ladder much more quickly than she could have on her own merit. After years of sleeping with other women's men, Jamellah finally feels like she wants one of her own. When she meets one of Fernando's friends at a fundraiser, she thinks she might have finally found the man of her dreams. But like Fernecia, she'll soon learn that things aren't always what they seem...
How The Other Half Lives was a good way to start off a collection about the darker sides of love that people don't normally talk about. Fernecia and Jamellah both know what it's like to come from the wrong side of the tracks and to lift themselves up from nothing to make something of their lives. However, they both realize that despite having material wealth and living what appears to be the American dream, there is darkness in every life. When they both experience hardship in their relationships and things seem to fall apart, they use their friendship as the backbone to pull it back together again. This story shows that romantic love isn't the only thing that helps people survive hardship, but that friendship plays an important role as well.
Love Is 2 Blame by V. Anthony Rivers
When his girlfriend Shaylisa breaks up with him, Malcolm is heartbroken, distraught, and disenchanted about love. He thought he'd found the one and then that image was shattered by Shaylisa's dismissal. Though his good buddy Jamal keeps trying to make Malcolm jump back on the proverbial horse, Malcolm just isn't ready until he meets the beautiful and charming Zahara. Zahara is a single mother and is forward, open, and honest in a way that Malcolm has never experienced. She doesn't play the mind games that Shaylisa did and she makes it clear from the start that Malcolm is what she's looking for and she wants a relationship not just a good time. Malcolm has to decide if he wants to sit around and wallow in self-pity, hoping that one day Shaylisa will want him back, or if he wants to move forward and begin a future with Zahara.
Love is 2 Blame was my least favorite story in the collection because it felt a little disjointed. For much of the story, Rivers writes from a woman's point of view and, as a woman, I have to say he has no clue what's going on in our heads. In fact, there wasn't a single woman in the whole story who I could identify with or who I even liked. That as a whole, made it difficult to like the story. Still, I can see how it earned its place in this collection. Love is 2 Blame is a story about how you can't just sit around and mope when you've had your heart broken because you never know what you might be missing out on in the interim period.
Staring Evil in the Face by Zane
Starting Evil in the Face is the story of college sweethearts Tiphanie and Robier. Shortly after the birth of their first child, Tiphanie is involved in a horrible car accident that does permanent damage to her back and leaves her addicted to painkillers. Over the years her addiction escalates until it spreads to alcohol, cocaine, and crack. Though Robier tries to be there for the woman he loves, and tries to help her pull her life together, no one can help Tiphanie unless she wants to be helped. After several stints in rehab, and disappearing acts that leave their children wondering where their mother is, Robier has to decide if he wants to help someone who doesn't want to be helped, or if he needs to just cut things off and try to salvage what's left of his own life.
Staring Evil in the Face was, of course, the best story in the collection. It's obviously the most carefully plotted, it's definitely the most wrenchingly emotional, and it's clear from the author's note "A Word from Zane" that the story comes from the heart. This story brings the collection together by helping to show that sometimes things fall apart, but not because the parties don't care, but instead because they care too much. Robier spends years trying to fix his wife, before finally discovering that he can't fix what she doesn't see as broken.
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