Customer Reviews

Sarahs Psalm

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read this book about a year ago, and plan on reading it again for an upcoming book club that I plan to start. This book was excellent. Florence Ladd has remarkable talent in bringing the characters to life. The love relationship between Sarah and Abrahim Mangane had already been established long before they even met each other. It was a beautiful and soft romantic story about Africa, women and the relationship between a man and woman. I admired Sarah's courage and strength in giving up a life as an upper middle class African American woman married to a politician, to follow her dreams and heart to Africa. I look forward to other novels by Florence Ladd.

I can't believe I forgot to post a review of my all-time favorite book, years ago. Sarah's Psalm is a melodious novel that evokes a myriad of heartfelt emotions - from anger to zeal. Sarah's psalm sounds very much like the song in my head...a passion for Africa.

When Sarah Stewart decides to follow her dream of meeting well-renowned Sengelese writer, Ibrahim Mangane, she travels to a strange land during a turbulent time in her own country. While the Civil Rights Era is changing lives and changing history in America, Sarah experiences life-changing events in Africa that open her heart and her head. She makes decisions that alter her world and the world of those around her. Nevertheless, everyone adjusts and lives on!

I highly recommend this work of lyrical prose that still rings melodiously in my heart and my head ;-)

I liked this book and read it twice. It is about people I know well. They do not ordinarily appear in American fiction although their world view points in the direction of our national future. The author has brought them to life in such a way that I eagerly await a sequel that will tell what happens next in the lives of the characters we meet in Sarah's Psalm. The cameo appearances of people like Ellis Haizlip and James Baldwin help to anchor the novel in the reality of its time and to emphasize the effect of these giants on their generation. The conflicts that move the novel along are nevertheless the eternal ones. They show how men and women relate to God, to each other, to their communities -- and what forces impel or restrain them in their journey through life. Immediacy and timelessness -- I like this book.

SARAH'S PSALM explores the life of an upper middle class African American woman whose childhood dream of Senegal takes her on a journey of discovery from the elite world of Harvard and a good marriage to Senegal where she becomes wife and collaborator to Senegal's most celebrated writer. The struggles of her second marriage and its abrupt end allow Sarah to reach beyond her childhood dream to work for the good of African women. Florence Ladd understands the complexities of women's lives!

The book "takes you to Senegal". Very few writers have the skill to rope one in to the storyline to the point where one gets lost in the story line. Sarah's Psalms is a wonderful love story that takes you on a wonderful journey. I read this book a while back and actually just looked on Amazon.com to find out if it was stocked. I highly recommend it!!

The book "takes you to Senegal". Very few writers have the skill to rope one in to the storyline to the point where one gets lost in the story line. Sarah's Psalms is a wonderful love story that takes you on a wonderful journey. I read this book a while back and actually just looked on Amazon.com to find out if it was stocked. I highly recommend it!!

SARAH'S PSALM is an exciting, engaging novel which shows how a contemporary African American woman creates a life of her own in the context of her marriage to a Senegalese celebrity who is larger than life. With one son who rebels against them and another who protects them, the suspensful plot builds on their conflict.Every woman who has lived in the shadow of her husband and every mother of sons will identify with Sarah, a complex character who realizes her own identity and mission. An epic of grand proportions. A great novel.

This book is a hidden treasure. It is the lyrical story of a young, Harvard educated, woman who has been obsessed with going to Africa since she was a child. Fueling the fire, she is mesmerized by the works of a Senegalese author and moves heaven and earth, leaves husband and family, to trek to Africa to become his assistant and greatest fan. What, at first, seemed silly and far fetched to me became a wonderful story of dreams and self discovery. I highly recommend this !!!

This is one the most self-indulgent, poorly written novels I have ever read. It is all "I, I, I," with the clunkiest of plots. When the author cannot reach resolution re her relationship with her husband, she has him killed off in another country! Virtually NOTHING about Senegal, which is what I bought it for.

The book is relatively well-written. However, the plot is shallow and none of the characters are well-developed. The dialogs aren't believable. The relvelations in the book are blase. It's a quick, light read, but not particularly interesting.