Rating: 
Summary: FANTASTIC!!!!!
Review: I visualized every single character in this book. I felt as though i was watching a movie. It was an absolute page turner!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Engaging Read...
Review: Imagine a place where your kids go outside to play grown-folks, a game
that has children beating each other with sticks, to see who can beat
up the most children...all ending up bloody, yet smiling through the
pain? Imagine a place where your "mother" is a Christian that murders
anyone that doesn't agree with her ways...and refuses to let you leave
her side, ever?In Mary Monroe's novel, The Upper Room, we are introduced to characters
so scandalous, so malicious, so mysterious, that you can't help but to
continue read this "down south" novel until the very end. Mama Ruby is a woman that hurts first and asks questions later. Everyone
thinks she's a big, fat, crazy woman, and for the most part, they're right.
She is known to have powers and strengths that are beyond any man's, and in
her "Christian" way, she uses them for her own needs and desires, and what
she desires more than anything is a daughter. When her best friend gives birth to a stillborn girl, Mama Ruby takes the small, yet beautiful child to
be buried. But Mama Ruby's healing hands bring the child back to life, and
realizing that this child is a "sign" of God, she flees the small town of Silo
with her son and her "daughter." Settling in to a dirt-poor migrant settlement, Mama Ruby raises Maureen as her
own, placing her in the UPPER ROOM of their home, not allowing the child to live
a life that is her own. Maureen witnesses the evil within Mama Ruby and the evil
that Mama Ruby creates in other people in the small town. Maureen wants nothing
more but to leave this downtrodding life, and as she gets older, she vows to move
away...but doing that could bring down a wrath upon her unlike anything she's ever
seen. Will Maureen ever get the life she deserves to have...will secrets be
revealed that could change her life forever? I have to say that first and foremost, Monroe is wonderful at painting a setting
for a story. By the end of the first page, I was engrossed in the Everglades and
could see it clearly. This clarity of setting follows throughout the entire novel.
Each character in the story is vividly descripted, with their own quirks and looks
and practically come off the pages. The dialect of the characters was thick, but
readable, and it fit in well with the time period and the location of the story. I was a little disappointed, because there didn't seem to be a swell to the story
where the reader would get a climactic ending. Aside from the many heinous acts
of Mama Ruby and her "clan," there didn't appear to be a rising of tension in the
novel. I also had some trouble digesting Mama Ruby's story as to why she was the
way she was, and as such, it was difficult to believe it all. However, the story
is engaging, and with its fleshed out, off-the-wall characters, you will want to
pick up The Upper Room and read it. Reviewed by Shonie
Rating:
Summary: A Suspenseful, Comical Read....
Review: In Mary Monroe's novel, The Upper Room, Mama Ruby dominates as the central character that is so religious, malicious, and comical. She and her supporting cast are so drama-filled that their dysfunctional lives provide the reader with a page-turning/must-keep-reading tale. Mama Ruby is an obese, misguided crazed, crucifix wearing, switchblade carrying, self-professed "Christian" woman with healing hands that manipulates and controls everyone around her. She betrays her closest friend in the world, Othella, by taking Othella's once-thought stillborn daughter, Maureen, and raises her as her own. She sequesters the child in a sanctified "Upper Room" that has restrictions on who can enter it and vows that Maureen will never leave her. The story includes a colorful cast of characters and takes us through Maureen's life with the townsfolk of Goons, FL and her desires and eventual escape into the sanity of the "real world". Along the way, there are many 'episodes' that keep the plot flowing till the end. This review does not give the novel enough praise. The author provided vivid imagery, dialogue, and solid pacing to make this an enjoyable, suspenseful read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I imagined!!
Review: Let me first start off by sayng that I have read previous books by Mrs. Monroe and have thoroughly enjoyed them - - - - UNTIL NOW!!! I read one of the other reports that warned of the writing style, but it still did not prepare me for it. It took me over 3 weeks to read this book when a good book normally takes me a day or two -->TOPS!!! I have read the dialect in both God Don't like Ugly and God Still Don't like Ugly, but this dialect was really out there. I had to re-read certain parts of it just so that I'd understand what was being said.
I really did not like this particular book for several reasons but the main one was because of the way it ended. Maureen never had the opportunity to find out the true story of her parentage. The writer never allowed Othello to tell her, nor did Mama Ruby or Virgil tell her and I think in order to break that spell over her or that bad luck streak that she assumed she had, someone should have told her. Not even after Mama Ruby died did Virgil tell her. And the way she treated the girl like a possession as a mother turned me off. I am hesitant about reading Red Light Wives after reading this one. I am just glad that someone loaned this one to me because had I paid for it I would have been crazy mad. This criticque is not to disparage Mrs. Monroe, only to offer my version of the book itself.
Rating:
Summary: Outrageous!
Review: Mama Ruby is off the chain! This story was kind of weird. Mama Ruby reminded me of a voodoo priest with all of her special powers and twisted ways of thinking. I never understood the significance of the "upper room". Once everything started unraveling, it was spooky yet stupid and funny at the same time. The characters were deplicted as being so stupid and ignorant. The names were genuinely amusing, "No Talk" and "Fast Black". This is not your normal story. It's great entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: The Upper Room will be re-issued later this year
Review: My second novel GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY, will be published by Kensington October, 2000! Synopsis: The message this story conveys is, "what goes around comes around". ANNETTE is homely and sexually abused uuntil her best friend, RHODA, murders her abuser. Supporting characters include: SCARY MARY, a manipulative madam; and UNCLE JOHHNY, a psychotic 'preacher'. Set in the fifties, sixties, and seventies in Florida and Ohio. Based on my own sexual abuse experience.
Rating: 
Summary: You Can't Judge A Title By Its Cover
Review: Oh my! I figured with a title like "The Upper Room," that it would be another Christian fiction novel. NOT! The first page had beautifully outlined metaphors and the prose was serene. Then you get into the story and what a story it is! God, the devil and murders! This is what you'll get in The Upper Room. The protagonist thinks she is part Holy, part demonic and a full fledged murderer. Because of the terrible deeds that she's done, she relocates to another city and dedicates the upper portion of her home to her foster daughter and name the room "The Upper Room" because of its purity. The protagonist was adamant about keeping her child pure and clean. She was derangely protective over her daughter.
Many readers may be turned off by the dialect (Zora Neale Hurston-type), but it depicts its true vintage and location. The protagonist was a mentally ill woman who was torn between two worlds. She was truly in what we would call a "spiritual warfare."
When I started reading about how absurb this woman was, I figured it was just another mainstream novel with no underlying message and I thought about putting it down, but I decided to finish it and was glad that I did. The characters in this book were comical and crazy. I didn't know that this book had been out for 10 years. I never heard of it until recently. Apparently it must be a good book because it is still selling copies after all of these years.
If you like reading fiction novels about mass murders (not mystery), that offers a comedic-style writing, then you'll enjoy this one. This was a good read and I give it a 4 star rating.
Rating:
Summary: A Prison Called the Upper Room
Review: Originally published in 1985, the Upper Room won critical acclaim as a remarkable work of art. The story unfolds in a fictitious small town located in the everglades of southern Florida. One evening Ruby delivers the daughter of her best friend Orthella. Both women believe the child to be still born. Ruby later learns that the beautiful baby girl is alive and decides that the infant should be hers. Ruby stills away in the middle of the night with the child, which by now is the namesake for an aging madam from Ruby's past, and Virgil, her preteen son. They settle in Goons, which is another small swampy community and is located just outside of Miami. Perhaps Ruby's love for small out of the way places has a great deal to do with access to places where the bodies that are mounting up will never be discovered. Ruby comes across a house with a single bedroom on the second floor, she dubs it "The Upper Room." Unless Maureen finds the courage to break free of Ruby's hold, she is destined to spend her life confined to this most holiest of places. Ruby also gains the respect and admiration of the residence of Goons. Like everyone else they fear her, but at the same time are in awe of her. The Upper Room is an intriguing read. The characters have been colorfully created and there is never a dull moment. I commend Mary Monroe on her creativity and the ability to bring a story such as this to life. Each time I opened the book I felt as if I was nosey neighbor, spying for the purpose of gossip. This was her debut novel and due to high demand has been brought back. I invite you to take a look and find out for yourself what all the hype is about.
Rating:
Summary: A Prison Called the Upper Room
Review: Originally published in 1985, the Upper Room won critical acclaim as a remarkable work of art. The story unfolds in a fictitious small town located in the everglades of southern Florida. One evening Ruby delivers the daughter of her best friend Orthella. Both women believe the child to be still born. Ruby later learns that the beautiful baby girl is alive and decides that the infant should be hers. Ruby stills away in the middle of the night with the child, which by now is the namesake for an aging madam from Ruby's past, and Virgil, her preteen son. They settle in Goons, which is another small swampy community and is located just outside of Miami. Perhaps Ruby's love for small out of the way places has a great deal to do with access to places where the bodies that are mounting up will never be discovered. Ruby comes across a house with a single bedroom on the second floor, she dubs it "The Upper Room." Unless Maureen finds the courage to break free of Ruby's hold, she is destined to spend her life confined to this most holiest of places. Ruby also gains the respect and admiration of the residence of Goons. Like everyone else they fear her, but at the same time are in awe of her. The Upper Room is an intriguing read. The characters have been colorfully created and there is never a dull moment. I commend Mary Monroe on her creativity and the ability to bring a story such as this to life. Each time I opened the book I felt as if I was nosey neighbor, spying for the purpose of gossip. This was her debut novel and due to high demand has been brought back. I invite you to take a look and find out for yourself what all the hype is about.
Rating:
Summary: Crazy Mama Ruby
Review: Ruby Montgomery and Othella Johnson have been best friends since childhood. Now married, Ruby to a local bootlegger and philanderer whom she murdered and Othella to a traveling salesman who ran off and left her. Ruby had only one son and always wanted a daughter, Othella has eight children and is now pregnant again. Mama Ruby (as she is nicked named) delivered Othella's stillborn ninth child, a girl who Ruby insist on naming Maureen. As Mama Ruby is getting set to bury the little girl she finds out the baby is not dead, but instead of giving the baby back she flees to rual Florida.
She gives Maureen a special room upstairs in her house and calls it "The Upper Room". Mama Ruby lives a crazy life, she is a strange woman who is very obese and does not pay her bills. When any bill collector comes calling she just kills them! She keeps her daughter on a tight leash. Maureen, who grows up to be a beautiful young lady, dreams of the day when she can move out from under her "mother's" suffocating love, but she also questions her "mother's" way of living.
This book is good. I liked the characters who along with Mama Ruby are always getting into some kind of trouble. Everything goes crazy when Othella turns up suddenly and finds out that her best friend stole her child!
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