Loving Her (Northeastern Library of Black Literature) [Paperback]

Ann Allen Shockley (Author), Alycee Lane (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 1997 | Series: Northeastern Library of Black Literature

The groundbreaking story centers on Renay, a talented black musician who is forced by pregnancy to marry the abusive, alcoholic Jerome Lee. When Jerome sells Renay's piano to finance his drinking, she leaves her destructive marriage, and flees with her young daughter to Terry, a wealthy white writer whom she met at a supper club. Terry awakens in Renay a love and sexual desire beyond her erotic imaginings. Despite the sexist, racist, and homophobic prejudices they must confront, the mutually supportive couple finds physical and emotional joy.

When Jerome discovers the nature of Renay and Terry's friendship, he beats Renay nearly to death and, in a drunken rage, kidnaps his daughter, who subsequently dies in a car accident. Grief stricken and guilty about her love for Terry, Renay feels that God has punished her and breaks off their relationship to atone for her "sins." In the end, she returns to Terry and a renewed life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In its exploration of a daring subject boldly shared I think [the novel] has immense value. It enables us to see and understand, perhaps for the first time, the choices certain women have made about how they will live their lives, and allows us glimpses at physical intimacies between women that have been, in the past, deliberately ridiculed or obscured. . . This book was obviously written out of an earnest passion that its subject be fully acknowledged as existing. It offers the reader an opportunity to develop a new way of seeing and caring." --Alice Walker, Ms.

About the Author

Ann Allen Shockley is Associate Librarian for Special Collections and University Archivist at Fisk University. Her previous works include The Black and the White of It, a collection of short stories, and Say Jesus and Come to Me, a novel. She is also the editor of Afro-American Women Writers, 1746-1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide; Living Black American Authors: A Biographical Directory; and Handbook of Black Librarianship. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Alycee Lane is Assistant Professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has written extensively on the depiction of lesbians and gays in African American literature.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (October 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555533299
• ISBN-13: 978-1555533298
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,295,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indeed a Classic, July 14, 2005

By 

Miss T "Indy Girl" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Loving Her (Northeastern Library of Black Literature) (Paperback)

For the time it was published (1974) Loving her was well ahead of its time. The book is as all encompassing as it could be. While not a sexually explicit or edgy book, it is pretty racy. The author explores the interracial relationship between Renay and Terri. Loving Her also explores the coming out of a black lesbian in the 1960's. Moreover, Renay was a black mother taking her child to live with her white lover. Pretty controversial stuff. As another reviewer mentioned to have a black protagonist, a lesbian one at that, was ground breaking. To this day, there are very few (if any) other bw/ww lesbian romance novels or lesbian novels that feature a black female lead. In that respect Loving Her is an extremely valuable piece of literature for the LGBT community.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CLASSIC, INDEED, February 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Loving Her (Northeastern Library of Black Literature) (Paperback)

Although far from perfect, "Loving Her," is indeed a ground-breaking novel...something the other reviewer doesn't seem to grasp. First published in 1974, "Loving Her" is one of the first novels to feature a black lesbian as its primary character. Shockley captures the cruelly mundane, and completely pedestrian reality of american gender politics of 50's and 60's. Given all the Shockley undertook in this novel, I think she can be forgiven for not doing ground-breaking work on inter-racial lesbian relationships.
Not the greatest piece of literature ever written, but a classic, indeed.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully written, tragic, beautiful and full of the details that create a great story, November 18, 2005

By 

E. B. MULLIGAN "Bronwyn" (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Loving Her (Northeastern Library of Black Literature) (Paperback)

I wish there was more to read by this author as I enjoyed this novel tremendously. The realistic prose is perfect for the story and one paragraph flowed into another. I didn't want the story to end. I'd like to call this a romance because it is romantic but it is so much more.

The main character, Renay, is so strong when it is so easy to be weak, she has my total admiration. She finds a chance at changing her life for the better and grabs at it. The characters are truly likable and human. They make mistakes and feel pain. They find happiness and you feel their joy. I loved watching the relationship between Renay who is black and Terry who is white develop, grow and change.

Just like any relationship the reader could not predict how they would develop. The dialogue is wonderfully written and left me racing from page to page. It didn't put it down until I finished it.

I would love to have more books exploring the dynamics of a mixed couple romance.

Don't miss this book!