TUMBLING

Rating:
Summary: Herbie and Noon, I love you!
Review: This is one of the most heart-warming stories I have read in a long time. I loved it so much that I can't begin to explain in words the joy I felt peeking in on Herbie and Noon's lives.

This is truly a remarkable read and one can only go out and read the book to understand.

Rating:
Summary: We fall down, but we get up. . .
Review: This story charts the lives of a family, Herbie, Noon, Fannie and Liz. I particularly enjoyed the beginning of the book when the story centered around Herbie and Noon. Talk about creating a character!! The way Ms. McKinney-Whetstone wrote Herbie was phenomenal. He was so real to me that I thought he was going to walk right off the pages of the book! It was also especially poignant to me to read about Noon's faith and prayers to God for her healing and recovery. That was really beautifully written.

The arrival of Fannie and later Liz shifted the focus. For a while Fannie was the center, but when Liz showed up on the scene, it became more of her story. This is definitely true as they became young adults. The story takes us into those dark places with Liz, into the very cracks and crevices of the walls with her. It is really a powerful story of abandonment at that point with Liz.

Relationships, moreso than plot, are key factors in this story. The interplay between husband and wife, parent and children, sister and sister, pastor and congregant was examined. It was interesting reading with deep emotions. Ms. McKinney-Whetstone definitely reaches inside!

Rating:
Summary: Hearttwarming and Well written!
Review: Tumbling was a very quick and good read! I enjoyed it from the first page to the last. There were alot of different issues going on in this story. You have Noon and Herbie who have been married for three years and have never had sex. Because of this Herbie turns to another woman, Ethel who is named the town whore. Every woman's nightmare and every man's fantasy. She has a secret that she has been holding back from Herbie that could change everything.

Herbie comes home one night from the club and finds a small box on his steps with a baby girl inside. They end up adopting this girl and naming her Fannie. Fannie is very smart girl and at the age of 10 she can predict the future. A couple of years later Noon and Fannie are walking home from the store and there is a girl sitting there. Noon ends up adopting this girl. Her name is Liz. But Liz has a problem, when she gets upset she eats plaster and uses the bathrom on herself. I thought this would stop, but at the age of 18 this continued.

I fell in love with all the characters and never wanted the story to end.This was a very good read and highly recommend Tumbling to all book lovers!

Rating:
Summary: Better catch yourself...
Review: What a lovely novel. Ms. Whetstone has a gift for letting her characters make the story rather than just her putting pen to paper. Her books seem to write themselves. Her characters are just that; characters. The story of Herbie and Noon is a touching one, but devoid of all romance. And although that was hardly the focus of the novel, it lingers. There are many tragic heroes and sheroes in this novel and the author's ability to tie them all together with one thread to one woman who can help them all is fantastic. Excellent story. Excellent writing.