Rating: 
Summary: Heartwarming!
Review: (originally posted June 2, 1998)I read this wonderful novel in 2 days! This tale shows us that love is tie that binds strong families. This is a heart-warming story of a family's love, pain and jubilation! An excellent and creative work of art that brings the characters to life. They become so real, you even feel their love, joy, fear, passion-without vulgarity, and anger-without too much profanity. Creatively and vividly written for appreciative audiences (thirtysomething and up). Diane, I wish you wrote them as fast as we read them. You are a gifted artist, and hopefully you will include Atlanta on your tour. How about a collection of short stories? I love your writing style.
Rating: 
Summary: The Tempest has Risen!
Review: I have to say for sure now that I am a true fan of Ms. McKinney-Whetstone. Her writing is like no other author that I know of and that is what makes reading her books a true joy. This book was a bit of a mystery in the waiting with some really interesting twists and turns. Ramona was a true character and she didn't fall to far from the tree because Mae was the original character. These two women really had some major healing and bonding to do to make their relationship what it started out to be. I am glad that Shern, Victoria and Bliss were able to come into their lives and make the tempest rise in that house on Addison Street. I did enjoy the plot a little more for Tumbling, but this was just as enjoyable and I can't wait to read the next one, Blues Dancing!
Rating: 
Summary: It was alright
Review: I like the whole sixties concept but it needed some energy this book seemed to be so slow, yet it had good parts to but
I wouldn't suggest you rush to the store to get it it's not that wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining, Captivating Read
Review: I picked up this book off my beauticians reading shelf and couldn't put it down. 10 pages in and I was totally hooked. I've never read this author but now intend to read everything she publishes. Excellent, captivating, descriptive writing. One of those "if you put me down, you won't be able to sleep" books. Wished it could have gone on, and on, and on.
Rating:
Summary: I'm already planning to read her next book.
Review: In her second work, the author again takes us to some familiar place in Philadelphia full of quirky characters that we may be related to by blood,marriage or guilt. The story begins in 1965 and we are given a generous sprinkling of Vietnam/civil rights era history. We follow the daughters of Clarise and Finch,Shern,Veronica and Bliss, from the sweetness of a priviledged life to placement in foster care,after their father's death and Clarise' subsequent mental collapse. The beautiful Clarise,so beautiful that the neighborhood crazyman wants to claim paternity,is raised by her mother's four never married siblings who devoted themselves to her nurture and the manufacture of handmade coconut-honey barsoaps. Clarise is as devoted to her girls as the aunts and uncles are to her and we feel real fear when bad blood spills over and fate places them in the hands of Ramona and Mae. "Now Vie was talking about the thirty years that it took her to go from general clerk to case manager and she was damned if she was gonna undignify her position and allow those girls to go with that convicted felon Til."Furthermore, I still have serious concerns about their lifestyle, all of them in that house,serious concerns." We know from the beginning that these girls will be saved before the anvil drops,and McKinney-Whetstone's storytelling makes us like finding out just how that happens.
Rating:
Summary: Blood is thicker than water
Review: In Tempest Rising, Dianne McKinney Whetstone brings back the same indelible knack for superb characterizations that was evident in her debut novel, Tumbling. Set in Philadelphia in the 1960's, Tempest Rising is the tale of three sisters forced to live in foster care because of their mother being erroneously diagnosed with mental illness. When these sisters meet up with their foster family, they are distraught and stricken with the reality of being separated from their kin. The girls endure hardship after hardship, but manage to stick together in their time of trial. Ramona, the foster "sister", if you will, is cold and emotionless toward the girls as well as toward her beau, Tyrone. She is forced to do all of the "grunt work", while her mother, Mae, takes all the glory of caring for the fosters that pass through their home. However, we are enlightened as to the demons haunting Ramona and Mae, and taken deeper into a secret that has permeated her being for decades. Bold, lively characters such as the girls' aunts Til and Ness and uncles Blue and Show, the mysterious Mister who helps them out in times of danger, and the whole cast shed light on the plot, rather than deter the reader from it. A delightful, suspenseful, emotional read, Tempest Rising ranks among the best. Reviewed by CandaceK
Rating:
Summary: "TEMPEST RISING" and falling and "RISING" and falling and...
Review: TEMPEST RISING didn't hold or keep the pace as well as TUMBLING, but it made for a good story. The true stars were Ramona and Mae. There was enough tension between these two to light a christmas tree. Shern, Victoria, and Bliss' story was interesting, but with out the aunts and uncles, it wouldn't have carried much weight for me. Ramona and Mae had a relationship built on resentment, but once the background story kicked in, everything was understood. The ending didn't satisfy me, especially with Mae's treatment of her daughter, but I guess I couldn't have everything. A good filler for slow times.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFULLY WRITTEN STORY
Review: Tempest Rising is just a good old story plain and simple. The writing is filled with emotion to let you experience exactly what the characters are feeling at that exact moment of your reading experience. Whetstone can make you taste air with her writing. The story is about three sisters who experience misfortune and are determined to stick together to get back to the normalcy they are accustomed. Great characterization and follow-up to Tumbling (which is one of my all-time fav's).
Rating:
Summary: Captivating account of a rich Black family's fall from grace
Review: Tempest Rising was an absolutely intriguing novel brimming with lively and realistic characters. Being a Philadelphia native, I was especially delighted to read the author's familiar portrayal of the city, and the life of an affluent black family prospering during the time set in the novel. The timeless romance of Clarise and Finch was heartwarming, as much as the struggle by Shern, Victoria, and Bliss, the unwavering love of the aunts and unlces for their family, made the novel a definite page turner. One review I read that I had to agree with was the initial dislike for Ramona invoked in the reader, which subsides as the story progresses, with one hoping for a positive outcome for the character. This was actually the first novel of McKinney-Whetstone's that I had the pleasure to read. Tempest Rising will not disappoint for first time readers of McKinney-Whetstone's, her depiction of Philadelphia 1965, well thought out excellent prose and realistic characters was a rewarding read.
Rating:
Summary: LOOOVED IT!!!
Review: Tempest Rising was an emotional story that kept me connected to the character's feelings. I laughed and cried throughout the novel, and I truly enjoyed the ending. Keep up the good work Diane.
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