Rating: 
Summary: This story was heart-wrenching
Review: This story was heart-wrenching. Diane brings back 1969 with vivid accounts of the lives of the residents of Cecil Street Philadelphia. I was moved by the very first page.
The plot is thick and I liked that I couldn't figure out right away how the characters all tied in. Joe, the long ago sax player who played in clubs and lived life on the road until he met his wife Louise. Joe loved the club scene. He loves his wife but he has never forgotten about the prostitute he fell in love with but seemed to vanish. Now he has his eye on the southern bell visiting family for the summer across the way. Cecil Street is having a block party. Joe's daughter Shay and her bestfriend and neighbor Neet share a tramatic event that changes many things between them. Neet's mother who is shunned by the neigbors for her weird religion holds her own secrets as does a strange woman who arrives on Cecil Street looking for her daughter. I don't want to give away this breath taking novel. Diane is a gifted writer, her stories well planned. Her descriptions are so vivid that I could see Joe with his face twisted, cheeks puffed playing his horn. You can see and feel his blues.
The characters will grab you and you won't easily forget the heart wrenching way they all connect.I've become a fan of Diane after Blues Dancing and now Cecil Street. Her ability to capture the moment, an era and her vivid descriptions are remarkable. You won't be disappointed.
reviewed by
Dawn
Mahogany
Hudson& Albany, N.Y.
Rating:
Summary: oh my goodness
Review: This was a good book. Keep up the good work Mrs. McKinney
Rating: 
Summary: Novelty
Review: This was a good read. The author's writing is reminiscent of Morrison but she has an edge on Morrison where her characters have understanding and direction. If you like MOrrison, you'll enjoy Whetstone.
Also, if you enjoy family/church drama, please read LUST OF THE FLESH by Beverly Rolyat and THE PREACHER'S SON by Carl Webber. These are excellent pageturning novels with lifechanging messages. A MUST read for LUST. You'll enjoy them.
Rating:
Summary: An Intense Story About a Close-Knit Community
Review: Welcome to Cecil Street; a strip of West Philadelphia inhabited by an interesting group of black Americans. The year is 1969. Afros abound, jazz music is "hot" and the topics of the day include the Vietnam War and hippies. In Leaving Cecil Street, Diane McKinney-Whetstone vividly portrays a neighborhood that is pleasant to both the eye and heart as she gives us an intimate look at the innermost thoughts of the people. In the story, we are privy to the private thoughts of only a few of the people in the neighborhood. There is Joe, a passionate saxophone player who in sadness of having to lay down his instrument to start a family has discovered other ways to fulfill his passion. His wife Louise, who has a significant lack of compassion and empathy and a fear of pain, is ironically a successful nurse. Their daughter Shay is a typical teenager faced with the challenge of dealing with love lost-both between her parents and her and her best friend. Their churchy next-door neighbor Alberta is so ostracized by everyone for her decision to follow a strict religious group, it's a wonder she remains on Cecil Street. Neet is Alberta's daughter. The innocence she thinks she has reclaimed with love causes an eerie catastrophe that affects everyone on Cecil Street. Deucie, a character who unknowing to everyone, becomes a mysterious resident of Cecil Street. As the story progresses, we learn more and more about how each of the characters is disconnected from the rest, until at the last party of the story, we discover they are more connected than they could have ever imagined.
Rating:
Summary: Cecil Street-a hood near you!
Review: What a wonderful book this book was hard to put down. Diane has done it again she is such a great storyteller. All her characters have life to them, they come alive on the pages. This is a pager turn a must buy.
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