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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS, September 26, 2001
This review is from: The Upper Room (Hardcover)
As a novelist, I always appreciate the ability of an author to create in-depth characters. Mary Monroe truly has the gift. Ruby is one character that I will never, ever forget. Ruby is an emotionally disturbed, obese, Christian woman who has more issues than 8 or 9 characters in other novels have put together. She killed her husband, the father of her son Virgil, after he tried to run off with a white woman, she "chatizes" anyone who gets in her way. In other words, she does them in and buries their bodies wherever she can find a vacant spot. While she professes to love the Lord and attends church regularly having grown up as the daughter of a preacher, Ruby manages to convince several people that she is the devil incarnate outside of church hours. After her childhood best friend, Othella, has a stillborn baby, Ruby who served as her midwife, is about to bury the little girl when she starts moving. Ruby has always wanted a daughter and jumps on the opportunity to raise the little girl who she names Maureen. Ruby flees her hometown and finds a home in the Goons, outside Miami, hoping that Othella never discovers that her daughter is still alive. She makes a special place for Maureen upstairs and calls it "The Upper Room." No one is allowed in the room with the exception of Maureen, Ruby, and Virgil. Ruby believes that if any other man entered the room, he would bring the devil with him and turn Maureen into a whore. Ruby knows about being a whore firsthand because, even though she is extremely unattractive, she was allowed to work in a brothel in a two-for-one deal along with Othella. There is just so much to this novel but I will not give anything more away. You just have to read it for yourself but The Upper Room is a treat of a read and I can't wait to hold serious discussions about it. Mary Monroe is a true storyteller, a rare find, and after reading both The Upper Room and God Don't Like Ugly, she has earned a place among my favorites. Reviewed by Zane
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Suspenseful, Comical Read...., October 17, 2001
This review is from: The Upper Room (Hardcover)
In Mary Monroe's novel, The Upper Room, Mama Ruby dominates as the central character that is so religious, malicious, and comical. She and her supporting cast are so drama-filled that their dysfunctional lives provide the reader with a page-turning/must-keep-reading tale. Mama Ruby is an obese, misguided crazed, crucifix wearing, switchblade carrying, self-professed "Christian" woman with healing hands that manipulates and controls everyone around her. She betrays her closest friend in the world, Othella, by taking Othella's once-thought stillborn daughter, Maureen, and raises her as her own. She sequesters the child in a sanctified "Upper Room" that has restrictions on who can enter it and vows that Maureen will never leave her. The story includes a colorful cast of characters and takes us through Maureen's life with the townsfolk of Goons, FL and her desires and eventual escape into the sanity of the "real world". Along the way, there are many 'episodes' that keep the plot flowing till the end. This review does not give the novel enough praise. The author provided vivid imagery, dialogue, and solid pacing to make this an enjoyable, suspenseful read.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic, June 12, 2005
Although this book was orginally published in 1985, the same year I discovered Zora Neale Hurston and a time period when I was ravenous for African American writers, surprisingly, I somehow missed this one. But better late than never. I consider Mary Monroe's writing style comparable to literary greats such as Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston. Mama Ruby is a character I will never forget. Mama Ruby is an obese woman who quotes scripture in one breath and curses like a sailor in the next. She carries a switch blade and a cross, symbols of her conflict with good and evil. According to Mama Ruby, Satan and the Lord are having a tug-of-war over her soul. Mama Ruby doesn't look for trouble but is ever vigilant, expecting trouble to come her way. And when it does... Whew! With her switchblade, shotgun, and sometimes her bare hands, she "chastizes," feeling not a bit of remorse, those who bring trouble into her life, i.e., bill collectors, an unfaithful husband, etc. After "chastizing" them, she demands that her young son, Virgil dig a hole and bury the bodies. She betrays Othella, her best friend in the world when she steals Othella's newborn daughter. She leaves town in the middle of the night and raises the beautiful child, named Maureen as her own in the a rural area called Goons in Florida. Maureen's designated bedroom is a special and sanctified place called the Upper Room. Mama Ruby plans to keep Maureen in the Upper Room for the rest of her life. The colorful cast of misfits who surround Mama Ruby, often participating in her deadly escapades are almost as memorable as Mama Ruby. I read God Don't Like Ugly and thoroughly enjoyed it; but I give author Mary Monroe major props for this masterpiece and plan to read everything she's written.
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