Diane McKinney-Whetstone's Books

Tumbling

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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“Warm and intimate. . . . An accomplished novel, with sharply drawn characters, exuberant prose, plenty of period detail and a wise, forgiving outlook on family life.” — Los Angeles Times Book Review Tumbling is the beloved bestselling debut novel that launched the luminous career of Diane McKinney Whetstone, critically acclaimed author of Tempest Rising, Blues Dancing, Leaving Cecil Street, and Trading Dreams at Midnight. Writing in a style as accessible as Terry McMillan, yet with the literary touches of Toni Morrison, McKinney Whetstone’s Tumbling is a poignant, exquisitely rendered story of the ties that bind us and the secrets that keep us apart. Noon and Herbie are deeply in love and living in a tightly knit African American neighborhood in South Philadelphia during the 1940s. But their marriage remains unconsummated because of a horrible incident in Noon's past, so each seeks comfort elsewhere: Noon in the warm acceptance of the neighborhood church; Herbie in the arms of Ethel, a jazz singer. Then one day an infant girl is left on their doorstep, and later Ethel blesses them with her five-year-old niece. Suddenly and unexpectedly a family, Herbie, Noon, and their two girls draw closer—until an outside threat reawakens a fire in Noon, causing her to rise up and fight to hold her family and her community together.

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Page Count

372

Publisher

HarperCollins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0062795546

ISBN 13

9780062795540

Tempest Rising

A Novel

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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Tempest Rising

A Novel

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

Class, race, and sexuality converge in this page-turning story of desire, jealousy, and survival. Set in west Philadelphia in the early sixties, Tempest Rising tells the story of three sisters, Bliss, Victoria, and Shern, budding adolescents raised in a world of financial privilege among the upper-black-class. But their lives quickly unravel as their father's lucrative catering business collapses. When their father disappears suddenly, he is presumed dead, sending their mother spiraling into an apparent breakdown. The girls are wrenched from their mother and dumped into foster care in a working-class neighborhood in the home of Mae, a politically connected card shark. Though Mae lavishes affection onto her foster children, she is abusive to her own child, Ramona, a twenty-something stunning beauty. As Ramona struggles with Mae's abuse and her own hatred for the foster children, she also tries to keep at bay a powerful attraction she has for her boyfriend's father. In Tempest Rising, McKinney-Whetstone richly evokes the early 1960s in west Philadelphia in this story of loss and healing, redemption, and love.

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Page Count

308

Publisher

Harper Collins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0061876232

ISBN 13

9780061876233

Leaving Cecil Street

A Novel

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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Leaving Cecil Street

A Novel

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

A riveting tale about a back-room abortion that has devastating consequences for two teenage girls on a close knit Philadelphia block circa 1972 Block parties were king in this West Philadelphia neighborhood, especially the year Cecil Street decided to have two. These energetic, sensual street celebrations serve as backdrops to the story of best friends Neet and Shay and their families. When Neet becomes pregnant by one of the corner boys, Shay arranges an abortion that goes terribly awry when Neet begins to hemorrhage. Neet is left unable to bear children and to Shay’s horror slips under the spell of her mother Alberta’s severe, esoteric religious beliefs. Shay is left to struggle with the grief of losing a cherished friendship, while she also bears witness to the the disintegration of her parents’ marriage. The story climaxes during the second block party, during which time it is discovered that Neet and Alberta have disappeared from Cecil Street—the holy-roller mother, Alberta, having finally been set free from the shackles of her church by none other than Shay’s father.

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Page Count

324

Publisher

Zondervan

Published Date

ISBN 10

0061875775

ISBN 13

9780061875779

Leaving Cecil Street

A Novel

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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Leaving Cecil Street

A Novel

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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324

Publisher

Zondervan

Published Date

ISBN 10

0061875775

ISBN 13

9780061875779

Tumbling

By: Diane Mckinney-whetstone

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Tumbling

By: Diane Mckinney-whetstone

A beautiful and uplifting debut from one of the,most exciting voices in new black fiction.,.

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Page Count

356

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

0684837242

ISBN 13

9780684837246

Our Gen

A Novel

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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Our Gen

A Novel

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

Residents of an active-living retirement community revert to lives of youthful indulgence, even as time-bomb secrets of their pasts tick toward explosion. The Gen—short for Sexagenarian—is an upscale fifty-five-plus community located in the bucolic suburbs of Philadelphia. Main character Cynthia befriends the Gen’s two other Black residents, Bloc and Tish, as well as Lavia, who everyone assumes is from India. They regularly convene to smoke weed, line dance, and debate politics and philosophy as the wine goes down like silk. Their camaraderie is exhilarating. But beneath the fun and froth, storms gather. With its walls of windows gushing light and air, the Gen becomes the catalyst for secrets to be exposed. Shifting the narrative between the characters’ pasts and the present day, Diane McKinney-Whetstone deftly builds suspense as she captures with insight, poignancy, and humor, the scars, tenderness, and swagger of those not yet old, but no longer young, coming to the mean acceptance that life is finite after all, who knew.

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Page Count

231

Publisher

HarperCollins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0063140136

ISBN 13

9780063140134

Our Gen

A Novel

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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Our Gen

A Novel

By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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231

Publisher

HarperCollins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0063140136

ISBN 13

9780063140134

Book's by Diane McKinney-Whetstone

Tumbling

Tumbling

Tempest Rising

Tempest Rising

Leaving Cecil Street

Leaving Cecil Street

Leaving Cecil Street

Leaving Cecil Street

Tumbling

Tumbling

Our Gen

Our Gen

Our Gen

Our Gen

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