Between the Giant Twin Oaks

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Summary: between the giant twin oaks
Review: Between the Giant Twin Oaks is a passionately written, and entertaining novel that presents a powerful message about family bonds, pride, love and conflicts that arise in families and other significant relationships. Ellis-Maxwell is clearly a great storyteller with a bright future as an author.

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Summary: Deep-fried Southern Heritage!
Review: I had the privilege of meeting Ms. Maxwell at the Pulpwood Queens Author's Extravaganza in Marshall, Texas. I was impressed by her book and personality, so I picked one up. I had no idea what was inside, but was pleasantly suprised. The author takes you back in time from present generation to windows of time in the Riley family. The story is written in first person and stays that way even when going to another character. A new experience for me, however I was able to grasp each characters true feelings this way. Very clever writing style in my opinion. It was written with true southern flair. I also chuckled at the many southern cliches peppered throughout the stories. I felt the pain of loss and amazement of strength in the characters. Being a relocated East-Texan I really enjoyed this book. I felt I had went home for a visit to Grandma's. This book will have the reader really look to and appreciate the meaning of family, heritage and ancestry. After all how can we know where we are going, if we don't know where we came from. Two-thumbs up for this Fried Green Tomato! Author - The Country Gourmet

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Summary: A Wonderful Family Saga
Review: Sweeping from the eighteen hundreds to the present, this novel of one black family from Arkansas is beautifully written. The emotions contained in these pages will grip you from the beginning and hold you in their thrall until the very end. The Riley men did not look at the ground when in the presence of whites like their brethren. Because they didn't kow tow to racists they earned a reputation for being uppity or crazy (from whites) and brave (from fellow blacks). Riley women were strong, they had to be to support such strong men. Charlotte Ellis Maxwell is an author to watch. She is a storyteller with the power of the African griot. You know you're reading her words but, somehow, it's almost as if she's personally whispering the tale in your ear. I certainly hope this story gets wide recognition because it deserves it.