Customer Reviews

Starlight Passage

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I HAVE READ MS. BUNKLEY'S OTHER NOVELS, BLACK GOLD AND WILD EMBERS AS WELL. AS IN THE OTHER 2 NOVELS, MS. BUNKLEY CAN TRULY MAKE HISTORY COME TO LIFE. THE READER CAN HARDLY PUT ANY OF HER NOVELS DOWN. THEY ARE DEFINITELY PAGE-TURNERS. WHILE READING HER NOVELS, THE READER ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE THEY ARE THERE WITH THE CHARACTERS. MS. BUNKLEY, KEEP WRITING BLACK HISTORICAL FICTION WHERE ONE CANNOT PUT THE BOOKS DOWN.

This was an excellent book. The characters were real! There is action in every chapter. The author keeps you turning pages. It also gives life to history. It's the kind of book that keeps you wanting more. This author is truly gifted. This is how a book should be, it keeps you going. Never a dull moment!

I have had the pleasure of reading all of Anita 's books, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt, Starlight Passage is my favorite. Once again her flair to place you in the book is ever present. Kiana in search for the knowledge of her ancestors, I was her co-pilot. I never want her books to end. This is truly a must read.!!!

This book, thankfully, doesn't drag like "Wild Embers" seemed to, and dives right into the drama, intrigue and mystery. Kiana, as usual, is a strong sista, there's another fly brother waiting to help dig up the skeletons in the closet, and love tinged with danger is looming in the shadows. The characters are tight, especially the Stepsister from Hell, Ida.....what a [...] BOY did she get hers!!! the accounts of how the slave families were broken up were chilling, and makes one glad to be born in this time, as well as appreciate what our ancestors endured. Anita's research is on-point, and this is a DEFINITE page-turner!! If you are a history buff, this is for you!! Dig in with both hands and enjoy!!!

I wish there were more books like this. It contains my two favorite subjects: genealogy and runaway slaves. Combine that with excellent storytelling and I had a book I couldn't stop reading. I guess I just added a new author to my must read list.

Starlight passage is one of those books that you start reading and find you can't put it down. Anita Richmond Bunkley keeps the story informative, interesting and thought provoking. It's a very difficult task for writers to incorporate historical and modern-day storylines while keeping it together: easy-to-read and enjoyable. Anita Richmond Bunkley does a spectacular job of doing just that

I enjoyed reading this book. I give this book a solid 4. This story takes us to a village in Africa, somewhere probably in present day Ghana. We meet Adiago Kante, the princess of her village. We are told of how she was captured and brought to the US to be a slave on a southern plantation. We follow her saga and her descendents. I highly recommend. The reasons for the four stars are as follows:

The following are some things that were either contradictions or just bugged me:

Excerpts:

"The wide pinstripes in Bonard's Giorgio Saint Angelo suit made his shoulders appear two inches wider than they were. A man of medium height and build, he had a blunt nose, flat planed cheekbones, and a thick bullish neck that might have been considered sexy on a member of the Washington Redskins. Though he spent lavishly to dress in a manner that would deflect attention from his less than attractive features, his custom-made suits and shirts did little to slim his barrel-shaped body or give his jaw line a better edge of definition."

On the following page, there is a contradiction on Bonard's looks"

"Now, the oddly handsome man stood in front of Ida, head erect, a cardboard box in his hand, looking nothing like the long-haired delivery boy he had been years ago, but exactly like the mature wealthy suitor he was."

Here is another contradiction regarding what actually happened to a character named Daniel.

Excerpt from page 279:

"What happened to Daniel?
An awful thing, really, Miss bowser said. He was killed in 1859 in a slave uprising on his plantation. Everything was burned to the ground."

According to the author later, she tells a different story.

Excerpt from 329:

"Daniel DeRosesette struggled to get up, but was pressed back to the ground by his neighbor's polished boot.

The tallest of the two bounty hunters tossed his length of the rope over the lowest limb of the old white oak that shaded the grounds where the slave children played. The other followed suit. Once both ropes where swinging, hangman's knots were tied. The horse was slapped on the rear. The thick ropes snapped tautly into place as the two body fell, and the cracking sound of breaking bones could be heard above the fury.

Then all hell broke out. Before the planters had time to get their rifles, the slaves broke ranks and rushed the men, using machetes, pitchforks, clubs, whatever they could get "their hands on, piercing, chopping, slashing at the men until blood covered the dusty clearing and bodies fell to the ground."

My point is that she said that Daniel died in a slave uprising. This is incorrect according to her story. Daniel died before the slave rose up. The uprising was as a result of the hangings.

I notice details and am a stickler for writers keeping their stories straight.

Lastly, the thing that annoyed me the most is the author's excruciating description of Ida's material possessions. Every time this character appeared, I had to be assaulted with details about her possessions or what she wore. It was an over kill. She established Ida's persona earlier on, I did not see the continuation of it as necessary.

In saying all of this. I enjoyed the book very much. However, I strongly recommend.

STARLIGHT PASSAGE was lengthy, yet worth every word. This was a story filled with lots of action and passion, and with enough history of Kiana's ancestory to make this novel more of a screenplay that somebody would want to make into a mini-series. Anybody who is into novels that include reaching back into the past to make the present complete, this is the novel for you.

I stayed up all night to finish the book, because, I couldn't put it down! Outstanding historical opening, which makes readers wonder about their own family story from Africa. Realistically written family relationships--we all have relatives described in the book. ARB makes us want to know our own family history by her creative story-telling.

This was an excellent book, one that I could not put down. This is by far the best book by Bunkley. During the time of reading this book I was also taking an African- American class. When I finished this book, I had to let the class know how wonderful it was. Hopefully my teacher will include this in his curriculum next semester