The Seasons of Beento Blackbird [Paperback]

Akosua Busia (Author)

Book Description

Reminiscent of the works of Terry McMillan, this contemporary novel tells of one man, the three women who love him, and the different cultures which lay claim to him. Spending one season each year in three different locales--New York, the Caribbean, and Africa--Solomon Wilberforce has neatly compartmentalized his life--until a family tragedy changes everything forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Unabashedly sentimental and preachily uplifting, Busia's sprawling first novel maps the physical, erotic and spiritual migrations of Solomon Wilberforce. Under the pseudonym of Beento Blackbird, Solomon is a gifted writer of children's books that enlighten black children all over the world about their rich African cultural roots. A blend of American, Caribbean and African antecedents, he's the walking embodiment of the multicultural African diaspora. He seems to have it all and then some: genius, charisma, great looks and the devotion of three women. Solomon spends winters on the Caribbean island of Cape Corcos with Miriam (nine years his senior) and summers in Ghana with his young bride, Ashia. In New York, his literary agent, a woman named Sam, has been in love with him for years, completely unaware of his other lives. Busia enriches her narrative with glimpses of her native Ghana and scenes in London and New York. Too often, however, she mistakes purple prose for lyricism and sentimentality for true feeling. Only late in the story, when the precarious balance of Solomon's life goes awry, do the characters experience anything remotely resembling a convincing crisis. And even then, the resolution lacks gravity. At one point, Busia writes that Solomon's "inner child was eager to come out and show him how to lead the children into a bright new world." This is book is written with a similar, wide-eyed eagerness.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this first novel, lead character Solomon is emerging from self-exile and reliving his recent past. His story revolves around three very different women?one from the Caribbean, one from America, one from Africa, and all in love with him.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671014099
• ISBN-13: 978-0671014094
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5++ Stars, May 28, 2000

By 

Gloria L. Few "Purple Daisee" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Seasons of Beento Blackbird (Paperback)

I enjoyed reading this book a great deal. Like other readers, I fell in love with "King Solomon". I had my reservations about him from the cover synopsis, but as I read I became too focused on him and his true love for the women in his life to think about what bothered me from the cover.

Solomon's love for the women in his life was phenomenal. He ached for each of them in different ways. The portrayal of Solomon with Ashia and Miriam was profound. I began to ache for Solomon as the story unfolded. As Solomon yearned in different ways for the loves in his life, I yearned for Solomon's happiness.

It is refreshing and unusual to find a man's story told from a different viewpoint. Had the story been told differently, I can see where I might feel some degree of dislike for a man like Solomon. Yet, the author's sensitivity to Solomon and his plight (to love equally but differently two very different women), placed the main male character in a more favorable light. As in reality, the author appears to realize that a man's choices are not always selfish and/or sexually driven.

Through this book, I feel like I have a better understanding of a custom that previously left me with a bad thought. Before the book, I could not understand for what reasons a man might think he needs more than one wife. I now feel I can understand it better. I still don't agree with it, but I can understand Solomon's position. As I read this book, I also found myself sometimes lying the book down as I reflected on my own life and thinking of better ways to educate children in my life about our heritage. Solomon had a fierce pride in his blackness and an even stronger desire to learn about our wonderful history.

Finally, I read a review that described this book as overly long. I disagree; I found this book to be too short. I want more. I want a sequel. I want to learn what happens to Ashia and the baby and what happens in Miriam's life.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a book for all Seasons 5 +++, January 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Seasons of Beento Blackbird (Paperback)

The Seasons of Beento Blackbird is overwhelming, it is one of the best book I have read, ever. Set mostly in Ghana and the Caribbean , the scenic descriptions were lush, almost visual. The characters were rich in human spirit and intune with a higher power and were able to show the sacrificies made, when you truly love.

Solomon Wilberforce, the main character was delivered by a 9 year old midwife, to a teenage mother. He spent his early childhood in the Caribbean and then moved to New York City, the home of his absentee, unyielding farther. Solomon, using the pen name Beento Blackbird, writes children's stories about African history using the Blackbird to impart his messages. He returns to the Caribbean, marries his midwife, Miriam, and is seemingly happy, but, during his travels gathering infomrmation for his books, he meets and marries Ashia, a young Ghanian woman. Solomon lives his life in seasons, the winter season in the Caribbean with Miriam, the summer season with Ashia and the remaining season is spent in New York writing. Each wife is aware of the other and have different feelings about the arrangement.

The death of Solomon's farher disrupts his seasons, and thrust his life into a tailspin. When Ashia, with her infant son, travels to the Caribbean and the wives meet for the first time, Solomon has a decision to make. The beauy of this story is that aside from having two wives, Solomon is a decent man. Highly influenced by the teachings of is mother and the lack of teachings from his father, Solomon has lived in emotional turmoil. He wants to belong to one wife, one woman, one love, but he loves both and has never committed fully to either.

Miriam and Ashia share an equal love for Solomon and have themselves bonded. As a reader you find yourself pulling for both wives, because they both deserve the best. Will Solomon continue to live with his wives are will he follow his heart and become ONE with one.

At different stops on Solomon's journey you couldn't wait to see how the story would end. This is a must read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A readable novel with a not-so compelling protagonist, November 2, 2005

By 

Robert Reid (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Seasons of Beento Blackbird (Paperback)

This book paints the story of a brilliant but realistically flawed protagonist (Solomon), cycling through seasons of living with a Carribean wife, a Ghanaian wife, and a woman in New York City who abstains from commitment for ten years because she is secretly in love with him. Being an American man, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the blind devotion of the three women towards a character who isn't convincingly charming in anything other than description.

The book does take too long developing, with no real plot until about halfway in. However, this book begins to become compelling once Solomon breaks his seasonal pattern and is forced to confront his polygamy, which is only acceptable in the Ghanaian culture but in practice not satisfying to anyone. It's hard to sympathize with Solomon, who, despite his professional significance as a writer bridging multiple cultures, is utterly flaky, selfish, and irresponsible in his treatment of women. But this is a realistic and cross-cultural look at what makes committed relationships work.