10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shattered Vessels Has Shattered A Record!!!!!!, January 29, 2003
This review is from: Shattered Vessels (Hardcover)
I must say that this book has shattered my record for finishing and book in record time and in one sitting. Nancey has done a wonderful job with her most recent work. This is one of the best written books I have read in a long time. With creatively named chapters such as "You Better Stop Abusing My Sister" and "Aint Nobody Helping You, The Lord, Nobody" the story touches on some very touchy subjects and different types of abuse. Step into the lives of Bedford and Sandy, Wanita and Wiiliam , India and Grayson and Patience and Johnathan. Each couple throughout the book deals with their own issues, whether it be infidelity, mental abuse or physical abuse the pages seem to turn on their own after a while. You are swept up into the lives of these unforgettable characters, and not dissapointed with the final outcomes. Shattered Vessels is a excellent discussion book and I will be recommending it to others book clubs around.
Reviewed By Nakea Murray of AsThePageTurns Book Club
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
How Could You Know That My Soul Is Shattered?, April 2, 2003
This review is from: Shattered Vessels (Hardcover)
Nancey Flowers opens Shattered Vessels, the novel with Shattered Vessels, the poem. In it she exhibits how your body is a vessel filled with emotions, spirits, thoughts, hopes and dreams. She alludes to the fact that on the outside your vessel may appear whole but on the inside you know the truth. This poem serves as great prologue for the story within.
Shattered Vessels features four friends, their husbands and their plights as couples. Sandy and Bedford; Sandy's cousins-sisters India and Patience; their husbands Grayson and Jonathan; and Sandy's friend Wanita and her husband William. The story focuses on domestic violence and its implications on the victim, the abuser, family and friends.
Sandy's abuse is not physical; her husband is a philanderer, bedding numerous women he comes into contact with including his ex-wife who is his business partner. Grayson physically abuses India and Wanita's husband William mentally abuses her; he believes he is academically superior and how dare she form an opinion. Of the four, Patience is not in an abusive relationship, however she knows that her sister India is trying desperately to hide her abuse for all the wrong reasons. We read about the daily trials and tribulations of these women and how they overcome, if they ever do, their demons or the demons of their husbands. I only wished that more insight had been provided on the husbands and their backgrounds. There was some but not enough to form an opinion as to their behavior. But then again, maybe there could never be an answer to their abusive behavior whether mental or physical.
Shattered Vessels is a compelling, engaging, wonderfully written and neatly packaged story. Nancey Flowers is a great storyteller that forces you into the lives and minds of her characters. She concludes the novel with a message defending the stories within as true occurrences due to her interviews with abused women. Domestic violence, whether physical or mental, knows no economic boundaries (as portrayed within this story) and happens to whom we least expect.
Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves, APOOO BookClub
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Sobering Tale, March 13, 2003
This review is from: Shattered Vessels (Hardcover)
What defines spousal abuse? Infidelity? Verbal Assault? Physical Battery? These issues are explored in Nancey Flowers newest novel "Shattered Vessels." Ms. Flowers enthralls the reader into the lives of India, Wanita, and Sandy, all apparently intelligent women whose lives are somehow strained by abusive relationships. The novel is more than a commentary on domestic violence; readers are drawn into some very disturbing situations and at times will find themselves uncomfortable, wondering, "What would I do?" Ms. Flowers does an excellent job tackling a very serious subject. "Shattered Vessels" will be long celebrated as a story of triumph over one of societies greatest flaws, Domestic Violence.
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