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Summary: THERE IS MORE TO LIFE
Review: I read this book because a friend raved about it. This is a must read for any woman over forty. You can't read this book until you are ready to look at your life and feel it. We always want this and that, but this book makes us feel our life to date and appreciate that we too have come a long way and represent our ancestors hopes, dreams,desires and must ensure that others fulfil theirs. IF YOU ARE NOT READY TO READ THIS BOOK, THE TRUE MESSAGE IS NEVER FELT. ALSO READ,SMILE, I'M ON MY WAY BUT YOUR FOOT IS ON MY HEAD - LIFE AGAIN AND IT MAKES YOU THINK AND SMILE, SAYING HMM, HMM, TOO TRUE SISTA. EXCEPTIONALLY WELL WRITTEN - I RAISE MY HAT IN PRAISE TO THIS BEAUTIFUL BLACK WOMAN.
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Summary: Beautiful!
Review: A truly inspirational and moving story.
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Summary: A cultural pivot with a universal lesson
Review: Although the story centers around the black culture, the lessons to be learned are universal. The lush intense language hits every emotion as you become one with the characters. If you are looking to be entertained, this is the novel. If you are looking for guidance, this is the novel. If you are looking for enlightenment, this is the novel. This powerful story refuels your desire to dream and know that dreams can be more than imagination. You will know you were meant to read this novel when you have finished.
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Summary: Inspiring
Review: I found this to be a wonderfully inspiring book. Very easy to read, it left me with a lot of fruit for thought. It was a small book but it packed a lot of power. I would recommend anyone to read this book.
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Summary: One of the most beautiful books I've read in a long while.
Review: This book is short but extremely powerful and deeply moving. It clearly shows how love transcends time, slavery, and even death. Bertice Berry does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life quickly. Through them, we discover that the only limitations that exist are the ones in our minds. This book expands one's consciousness and gives one hope. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
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Summary: What a wonderful book
Review: This book was so wonderful that I am not sure that my review will do it the justice it deserves. It may have been short, but from beginning to end you are caught by the beautiful love story it tells. Right from the beginning the characters and story quickly come together. It touches your heart and your soul. It lets you see how the past has impact on the future. I was so moved by the message of this book that I felt the need to discuss it with any one I came in contact with. What an awesome read!!! I'm glad I had the opportunity to read and experence all it had to offer. Hopefully you will too.
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Summary: Disappointing
Review: This was a beautifully packaged book, the synopsis on the cover, the artwork, and the author as well. All marketed to perfection. Unfortunately, the content does not measure up. If Bertrice Berry would have spent as much time writing the book as the publishing house spent making it pretty, it may have been worth the ten dollars I paid for it.
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Summary: Redemption Song was a gift.
Review: I have been blessed by the reviews and response to Redemption Song. I feel that it was a gift that had to be passed on. It is my first novel, but not the last. I have recently completed a book about a Hip Hop producer who is moving into a house that is inhabited by the spirit of the ancestors who tell him, "we gave you back the drum in the form of rap, but you are playing the wrong message". I am currently writing a book that also links the present with the past. The ancestrial voice is that of Nat Turner. All of these books tie back to Redemption Song. The fourth book brings all of the characters together for Iona's revolution. Some have commented that the book was too small to cost so much. While others have shared that they were surprised to get so much from such a small book. The is because our language is truly parsimonious. (It says alot in a small amount of space) Books like The Color Purple, and The Alchemist, are able to take you across generations , into the lives of others while finding solutions to your own problems.These books cut across space and time and get to truth. This is not just a book for Blacks or women, however, it is a Black woman's story, but we have wisdom for all humanity. And as my mama would say, "Ya'll just better start to listen". We buy $200.00 sneakers and can't run. $20 is not too much for a book that can inspire. Fake nails cost a lot more , but don't last. I encorage you to read as much as possible. The library is free. The brothers in the 60's would say, "That's how they keep you out." Read, write tell the stories of your ancestors and of your own life. When we live a life that honors the ancestors, they honor us with their stories. Much peace, much grace.
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Summary: More than just an ordinary book!
Review: I have tried for days to decide how to adequately describe this book for you. In doin so, I realize that I don't have the vocabulary that I need to do this book justice. There have been books that "move" me - however - this book does more than that. Redemption Song gives you the ability "to see!" I think that there are few books that have that power. Many books entertain you and are good reads, but this one does more than that! Redemption Song won't change your life....but it will make YOU want to re-evualuate many things. I plan to give this book as gifts this Christmas. Love {True} is such an awesome thing. Ms. Berry does a WONDERFUL job of showing it's power. I am glad that I got a chance to witness the message the books holds. Get the book! Thanks Ms. Berry! This was truly worth all the stars and more!
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Summary: Reviewed by Sofrina Hinton for Bookreporter.com
Review: REDEMPTION, a brief fiction debut by former talk-show host, Bertice Berry, represents a loving bid to enlighten African-Americans on the steps to personal freedom. Set in an unnamed city, the story follows three strangers who meet in a bookstore on a spiritual quest predicted in a slave woman's journal. The journal, "Children of Grace," has been passed through many hands, ending with bookstore owner Miss Cozy. Enter anthropologist Ross Buchanan in search of the fabled document; and Fina Chambers in search of a journal long-since gambled out of the family. Imbued with psychic abilities by the book, Miss Cozy refuses to sell it to either Ross or Fina. Instead, she maneuvers the two into reading it together at the bookstore. "Children of Grace" itself recounts an unremarkable tale of a slave girl who finds love with another slave while being made concubine to the plantation's young master. Her world is destroyed when her father is killed and her lover and baby sold. What is remarkable about the journal is that its author was illiterate until the instant she began writing. The prophetic statements in the journal reveal that Ross's and Fina's families have been intertwined since before the journal's creation, extolling the virtues of the so-called "Recipe of Life," a plan by which the African-American community can prosper through a spirit of love. This diminutive book is high-priced for its scant 178 double-spaced pages, and readers may find the sudden closeness of the three strangers somewhat unbelievable. But REDEMPTION SONG is a comforting tale with its heart in the right place. If nothing else, readers should be able to find some truth in the elements of the "Recipe of Life." --- Reviewed by Sofrina Hinton
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