A Woman's Worth: A Novel (Strivers Row) [Hardcover]

Tracy Price-Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Strivers Row | Publication Date: March 30, 2004

Embracing the shattered pieces of the soul and championing the resilient nature of the heart, A Woman’s Worth takes readers on a journey of startling depth. From a speakeasy whorehouse in the bottoms of Alabama to a luxurious high-rise apartment in Kenya, acclaimed author Tracy Price-Thompson crosses boundaries of sexuality, gender, and culture to accentuate the core of black identity: the enormous strength of family.

“Ain’t nothing like a Black man. No other man on the face of the earth can hold a light up to him, coming or going. Why do you think women are all the time chasing behind them? Smooth game and all, when a brotha loves you, he loves you right.”
—from A Woman’s Worth

Abeni Omorru is a stunning Kenyan woman who is haunted by piercing memories. Although her father’s wealth ensures her a life of prestige, childhood trauma has left her emotionally damaged and sexually promiscuous. While Abeni takes on many lovers, none come close to healing the wounds of her heart—and only a man who understands her worth can truly claim her soul.

Bishop Johnson is also haunted by his past. Raised by prostitutes in a rural Alabama town, he is a promising teenage boxer—until his dreams are shattered when his parents are murdered during a violent robbery and he takes revenge on the perpetrators. Bishop goes to jail, and when he is released he has a volatile temper and a mean left hook to back it up.

Trouble continues to find Bishop, and he is forced to leave Alabama and travel to Kenya with the Peace Corps. There he falls in love with Abeni, and they marry. When Bishop learns the secret of Abeni’s past, he is force to make a decision that may cost him more than one man should ever have to sacrifice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After two steamy contemporary romances (Black Coffee; Chocolate Sangria), Price-Thompson changes course (slightly), tackling issues of female circumcision, racial identity and cultural difference in this raunchy, provocative novel. Bishop Johnson was born in a brothel in Alabama and grew up surrounded by liquor, gambling and sex. As a teenager, his parents are killed in a gunfight, and he is sent by the state to live with his abusive uncle. Luckily, he meets a kind family that takes him in and offers him a stable home, but when he beats the local white bully in a fair fight, he must leave town in order to protect his newfound family. He joins the Peace Corps and travels to Kenya, where his world is irrevocably changed. Here he meets Abeni, daughter of a powerful chief, who was forced at age five to undergo the painful genital circumcision rites that are believed to keep women pure until marriage. For Abeni, the ritual throws her into a state of agonizing mental confusion. When a family friend "ruins" her purity, she is sent to a sympathetic doctor, whose efforts to help her end in tragedy. Years of rebellious, frantic sex follow, but Abeni finally gives up her pleasureless trysts and meets and marries Bishop. When their own daughter is threatened with the same initiation rites Abeni endured as a child, she and Bishop are forced to confront their cultural differences and make a choice that will affect the future of their daughter, their relationship and their own lives. Price-Thompson gives weighty issues a tabloid-style spin ("When it comes to circumcising little girls, I'm one narrow-minded motherfucker!") and her prose veers from eloquent to purple, but her passion shines through, making this a charged page-turner.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In Birdtown, Alabama, Slim Willie and Dimples Johnson own a brothel and have a son named Bishop. Bishop witnesses his parents' murder, kills the gunman, and serves time. Upon release, he becomes the legal responsibility of his uncle. When Bishop meets Malcolm Marcus Mosiah Armstrong, he finds a friend with the same pain--they both have lost their parents. For 11 years, Malcolm has lived with his grandparents and been a helper at his grandfather's boxing gym. After injuring a white boxer in a match, Bishop leaves town and joins the Peace Corps. He settles in Africa, where he meets and falls in love with the tribal chief's daughter, Abeni, who sheepishly explains the tribal tradition of female circumcision that immensely affected her self-image and sexuality. When their daughter comes of age, the chief decides that she must also experience the ritual. Bishop is so unsure of Abeni's objectivity that he and Malcolm plan an escape to get the daughter out of Africa. The adventure is scary, extraordinary, but necessary if she is to be free and safe. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: One World/Ballantine (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375506500
• ISBN-13: 978-0375506505
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,606,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating, Brilliant, April 2, 2004

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Woman's Worth: A Novel (Strivers Row) (Hardcover)

Date Reviewed: February 22, 2004

Prostitution and female circumcision are juxtaposed in a plot that on the most basic level can be summarized as a love story. The book opens with a series of colorful, yet emotional scenes that introduce Bishop "Chicken" Johnson. At the story's opening, Bishop is a young boy living with his parents "Slim Willie" and "Dimples" in the whorehouse that they run in Birdtown, Alabama. Growing up in a whorehouse meant that Bishop was exposed to a lot more than the average child his age, but the familial relationships he shared with the prostitutes working out of his home, his father's protectiveness of ALL the women in his house, and his parent's special relationship taught him important lessons that would carry him throughout his life.

In Kenya, Abeni is the only daughter of a powerful Kenyan man. As part of their tribal tradition she is forced to undergo a female circumcision at a young age. The ritual not only leaves her physically mutilated, but also emotionally scarred. As she grows up, Abeni must endure many painful experiences including sexual abuse, and ultimately social isolation. But her life is forever changed when she meets Bishop, who ends up in Kenya working with the Peace Corps. Although the two have completely different backgrounds they both carry the luggage of a painful past. They marry and it seems that their love for one another helps both of them heal; that is until their own daughter has reached the age at which she should be circumcised. It is at this point that Bishop and Abeni must decide for themselves what a woman's worth is and make some difficult decisions.

A WOMAN'S WORTH is not meant to be a quick read; instead it should be savored and absorbed. It is like comparing an extra value meal to a classy steak dinner, both can ease the hunger pangs but in completely different ways. Tracy's characters don't jump off the page, they sneak into your heart and the result is an unforgettable read. This book will make you question what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. Themes of sexuality, race, gender and love are presented in a way that is not preachy but force you to re-examine your own values. Pay close attention because every word and every sub-plot fits together to form an intricate puzzle which the author puts together piece by piece until you reach the book's dramatic conclusion. I was thoroughly impressed by her attention to even the slightest details regarding both characters and plot. Before reading this book, prepare yourself for the stirring and emotional ride that is sure to follow.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful Story of Sacrifice, March 30, 2004

By 

Mahogany Book Club "Mahogany Media Review" (Albany, N.Y.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Woman's Worth: A Novel (Strivers Row) (Hardcover)

An emotionally charged love story!
The characters pull you in and hold you. Their story will move you so deep you'll have a lump in your throat.
Tracy writes a vivid story of two people, two outcast who find love. Abeni is haunted by the memory of her circumcision- at age five. You will be haunted by the vividness as you read it. Emotionally scarred she becomes promiscuous to shame her powerful father. She becomes numb, no lover can make her feel or open her heart until Bishop "chicken" a boxer who is also numb to life after the murder of his parents. You'll smile at their courtship and be glad they found love and were blessed with a daughter they call Hunnie. When Hunnie turns five Abeni's father demands she be circumcised and Abeni's father is no man to mess with. His wealth and power make him deadly. Bishop goes wild and Abeni is torn. If Hunnie doesn't have the ritual not only will it shame Abeni's family but no man in Africa will ever marry her. Bishop will not have his daughter traumatized or shamed like his wife and he decides to move his family to the United States. Starting With Hunnie. Bishop and Hunnie run for their lives trying to flee Africa with Abeni's father and his men hot on their trail. From this point on you will have white knuckles from gripping the book so tight and you'll be praying that they make it out. The last chapters are emotional. At the end you'll shed a tear.
A powerful story of sacrifice. Emotionally charged. Heartbreaking.

reviewed by:
Dawn

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tracy Price Thompson is sooooooo GOOD, December 19, 2004

By 

Serena Rollins (Spelman College) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Woman's Worth: A Novel (Strivers Row) (Hardcover)

In a woman's worth we are first introduced to Slim Willie, a man who runs a "whorehouse" and his son Chicken. Slim Willie was a powerful man who wasn't afraid and would die for his wife, Dimples who was blacker than midnight and was loved dearly by Slim. After a big break-in, Chicken moves to Alabama and it taken in by an elderly man named Poppa Daddy and his grandson Malcolm who took him in and let him practice his greatest talent, boxing. After beating a white boy badly, Chicken has to move again and joined the peacecorps where he met Abeni, a beautiful woman scarred by the female circumsion that is custom in her country and her past of being promiscous and letting men use her. The story then turns into a poetic romance that is beautiful, inspiring, and has a big turn of events that will make it like a thriller in the end.The way that Chicken accepted all of Abeni and didn't judge her made him a example for a lot of relationships.This is a MUST READ and must nto be looked over. I didn't not give all of the details of Chicken's departures so as nto to give away the book so go and buy it right now!!!

I put everything on this. You will LOVE this book.

Tracy Price Thompson never fails to BRING IT. Get her book "Black Coffee" too.