The Warmest December

Rating:
Summary: An Important Lesson about Recovery and Forgivness
Review: Most of us aren't from abusive families, but all of us suffer or survived certain stumbling blocks in our life that made us think twice about the quality of the character of one or both of our parents. HiLo was as abusive as anyone could imagine and then some to his wife Della, and his children Kenzie and Malcolm. The entire family lived in fear and denial for years, and suffered with all the pain and psychosis that develops living a life of turmoil. But through it all, I the reader, learned a little bit about what made each character tick. HiLo and Della, both suffered from demons that they were not able to discard from their lives. HiLo, the worst of all, let his pain eat away at his soul. His daily, but slow attempts to kill himself with alcohal was the lesson that his children learned and had to unlearn. How many of us could do that? How many of us could accept that our parents make mistakes, some seemingly unforgiveable. But the simple fact is that if you don't forgive and let go you pick up where your parents left off. That is the lesson in the wonderful novel--more real than fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Depressing But A Literary Masterpiece!
Review: Once again Bernice McFadden is on the scene and takes us to a place which vividly surpasses our wildest imaginations and makes us question whether The Warmest December is fiction or real life. Step Into Kenzie's world, where you discover a childhood lived in fear with an abusive and alcoholic father, Hyman Lowe aka Hy-Lo. Imagine Kenzie's childhood where most days were filled with sadness, pain, anger, harm and too many issues/situations that a child shouldn't have to live with. And then come full circle to One Warm December, where Hy-Lo/the Teflon man lay dying in a County Hospital, very much alone, estranged from family and himself. It starts on one cold winter morning, Kenzie is drawn by some unbeknownst force (maybe it was compassion, maybe it was pity for an old man who could no longer harm her) to take two buses daily to the hospital to be at the bedside of whats left of Hy-Lo. Hard-living had taken its toll on him and he was now a simple shell of the man he used to be: a man who was like Teflon and took to the bottle every day of his life to stifle out any emotions that tried to leak through when he was sober...which wasn't often. He was a man who was so horrible, that at the age of 5, Kenzie would start hating him and everyday of her life she would wish he was dead. A man who was like Teflon because he didnt allow anyone to get close enough to close the hole in his chest or the space near his heart. As Kenzie visits Hy-Lo and sits and waits for death to have its way with her father, she reminisces regarding yesteryears, and the memories of the past are filled with years of pain, hurt, abuse, anger and sorrow brought on by the wrath of Hyman Lowe. The wrath affected all of those who lived in Apt. A5: Della, the timid and scared mother; Malcolm the growing and daring only son; and Kenzie the only girl child. The trials and tribulations that this family experienced were so hauntingly and depressingly realistic that I pondered whether the storyline was fictional or factual. As I read, always lurking in the back of my mind was whether Hy-Lo was abused as a child by an alcoholic parent. I wondered if this was a generational issue and one that would take Malcolm and Kenzie to break the chains that appeared to shackle this family daily24/7, 365 days a year, for more years than I care to remember. The Warmest December is well-written and the subject matter is fierce and intense. The writing is vivid, graphic and yet lyrical; told in a storytelling fashion as only McFadden can do with supreme justice. As I read, oftentimes, I wanted to rush the story and get to the end so that I could quell the pain that I was experiencing. The message/storyline was so powerful that I was unable to read this book in one sitting; incidents would happen which would force me to set the book aside and come back at a later time. I couldnt give up reading this book though and there were times

when I wanted to; but then I would be drawn back because I wanted to know if my questions would be answered. Turning the pages of The Warmest December was sometimes emotionally hard but it was also hard not to turn the pages. I knew the answers lied deep within and I was determined to read until the very end to find out what made Hy-Lo tick and to discover whether Kenzie could end what appeared to be a vicious cycle. In the end, I discovered that "Some stories start out happy, go bad in the middle, and end up happy at the end. Still others start out bad, get worse, and still end up happy in the end. Hy-Los story started out bad, curdled up and soured in the middle, and ended up worse but for Kenzie there was still hope for change. Kenzie finds what she needs to sweep away the pain, open up the windows, and air out the hurt; letting in some joy and patching up that space near her heart; she learns how to apply a fresh coat of pain and move on with her life." I'm happy that I stuck with the Warmest December because I truly found closure in the midst of the Lowe's Family storm. Seeking wonderful literary reads and fiction that resounds with reality? Then check out The Warmest December and Sugar by Bernice McFadden.

Rating:
Summary: Very well written
Review: One wants to think that childhood is one of the happiest time in a person's life. In the Warmest December, Ms MacFadden shows the reader the dark side of the household of Kenzie, Malcolm, Della and Hylo. It's a home filled with abuse, humiliation, domestic violence, mental injury and more. The author was able to show the abuse, and the reconciliation of Kenzie with her father, while watching him lie on his deathbed in the hospital, by going back and forth in time. While trying to deal with Hylo pending death, she must also face her own demons.While the subject matter could be difficult to digest, the author's use of descriptive words, phrases and lyrical prose made the reading easy.

Rating:
Summary: Something Hot but with maturity and understanding "warm"
Review: The author was just great with last year's "Sugar" and now this and its great. The problems suffered by the girl/now woman had a lasting effect because of her daddy. Her mother was "just trying to keep it together" it was the 60's. Yet she woke up too late but she woke up. The character Hi-Lo really generated emotions to me because I hated him and the things he did and with that mom he had no wonder. The story was so good yet it left me wondering was it more biographical than anything else? I hope that the author will write another novel soon. She really makes one think, and feel so many emotions....

Rating:
Summary: The Warmest December
Review: The book was wonderful. Bernice McFadden is a great writer. Definitely recommend.

Rating:
Summary: A Haunting, depressing tale that some people REALLY LIVE
Review: The Warmest December by Bernice L. McFadden is a very haunting, depressing tale of life in home with an abusive alcoholic father. This is the haunting, depressing tale of a mother who wants her kids to have a better childhood than she did even if it means she has to suffer physical and mental abuse. This is the haunting, depressing tale that some people live with every day of their life.

In The Warmest December, I met Kenzie (our narrator), Della (her timid mother), Malcolm (her younger brother) and Hyman Lowe better known as HyLo (the father, the alcohlic, the tormentor). The story starts out with Kenzie telling us that she almost forgot she hated her father. She forgot how the sound of her mother's crying ate holes inside of her and ripped a space open near her heart. Those words pulled me into the story the way the unknown forced pulled Kenzie to the death bed of HyLo the father she's hated since she was 5...the father she's wished would just die and let everyone be happy. As Kenzie sits and watches her father or at least the shell of the man she has hated for so long she reminisces about her childhood. She tries to remember happy times but all her memories are filled with hurt, pain, abuse, anger, hatred, and sheer sadness that no one should have to deal with. Kenzie remembers the shouting, the bruises, the banging on the walls, the trips to the liquor store for HyLo, and the smell of gin and vodka that was ever present on HyLo's breathe.

I know none of what I've written so far will make you run to the nearest store and pick up this book but I will be the first to tell you that you should do just that. Why would I tell you to go out and buy this book? I'm telling you that because this book contains two lessons that everyone should learn. The first lesson is that alcoholism exists and it's a disease that not only affects the alcoholic but everyone around them in more ways then they could ever know. There are times when alcoholism is passed from one generation to another unknowing to the original alcoholic. The second lesson is that you are responsible for how the story of your life ends. There is a passage in the book that says "some stories start out happy, go bad in the middle and end up happy at the end. Still others start out bad, get worse, and still end up happy at the end." This was not the case for HyLo his story "started out bad, curdled up and soured in the middle, and ended up worse" Well Kenzie didn't want her life story to be that of HyLo but she wasn't sure how to change the writing that already seem to be on the wall. She eventually found a way to erase that writing and part of it was going to visit HyLo. During those visits and after dealing with her own bouts of alcoholism she realizes that she needs to get rid of the pain and let some joy into her life.

I gladly give this book a rating of 5 because the writing is so vivid and real that I actually felt the blows and heard the screams from HyLo and Della...I too hated HyLo and wished he would just die so that everyone could find some happiness in the life that he had thus far ruined...I too sat next to that bed and felt chills go up my spine by just the sight of the man who turned my life upside down...and I too felt that change that came of Kenzie on that warm December day.

Rating:
Summary: No Sugar Coating Here
Review: The Warmest December by Bernice McFadden deals with the detrimental effects of alcoholism... how the disease and its negative effects on the human spirit spread from one generation to the next. I appreciate the fact that Bernice McFadden did not sugarcoat the associated physical and mental abuse that alcoholism caused for Kenzie Lowe (the main character) and her family.

At the tender age of 5, Kenzie wished death upon the book's alcoholic culprit. As an adult, before her childhood wish is granted, Kenzie realizes the causes of the culprit's disease, which lead to her own.

We all know or have had to deal first-hand with people who suffer from alcoholism and, in many cases, have been negatively effected by their disease. After reading this book, the pain, hurt, guilt, and shame that the disease has imposed can be released, allowing one to move forward.

Rating:
Summary: A Sad Yet Fantastic Story!
Review: The Warmest December by Bernice McFadden is one of those books that will make you sad and angry. It was not very easy reading about spousal abuse and child abuse but this was a book I literally couldn't put down and I found that, when I DID have to put it down, that book and that story stayed in my head. Readers looking for the nicely tied up happy ending should look elsewhere but readers wanting a book that'll keep you reading and thinking shouldn't miss this one! I look forward to her next book(s) as Bernice has officially moved into my "must-read author" list!

Rating:
Summary: ALCOHOLIC VIOLENCE!!!
Review: THE WARMEST DECEMBER is a beautifully written and clearly told story about the life of a family controlled by the demonic possession of alcohol abuse. It's heartwrenchingly sad to visualize the physical, mental and emotional damage this family, particularly the children, suffer. HiLo, the alcoholic father, is fighting his own demons through the bottle. His way of exerting control is to burtalize his wife, Della, and his children, Kenzie and Malcolm. Each deals with the personal pain in their own unique way. This book also shows that alcoholic abuse, if not stopped, can continually move through the generations in a family. THE WARMEST DECEMBER is made even more beautiful for allowing emotional maturity, recovery, understanding and forgiveness. THIS IS A VERY GOOD BOOK!!!

Rating:
Summary: Very powerful book!
Review: The Warmest December is a story of domestic violence and a twist of fate that captivates the audience with smooth elegance in the end.

I finished reading this book last night and I cried throughout the whole book. Although I have never been a domestic violence victim, I felt as though I could have been Kenzie. Kenzie went through A LOT in this book and so did her stubborn mom Della. Actually, you can't blame Della for staying with Hy-Lo. Most domestic violence women do not remove themselves from their situations, until something drastic occurs or is inflicted...

Thank you Bernice. If I could afford to buy this book for all domestic violence women in this world, I would. An ex-friend of mine could sure benefit from this book.