Glorious. Bernice L. McFadden
More Critical Praise for Bernice L. McFadden
for The Warmest December
“Riveting. The Warmest December so nicely avoids the sentimentality that swirls around the subject matter. I am as impressed by its structural strength as by the searing and expertly imagined scenes.”
—Toni Morrison
“Ms. McFadden is one of those rare talents who can keep a reader enthralled regardless of the topic … This is a story that cuts across all race and social strata in its need to be told.”
—Dallas Morning News
“Bernice L. McFadden has proven that she knows how to tell a story with insight and clarity … McFadden’s prose is lyrical.”
—USA Today
“McFadden’s voice remains refreshingly free of clichés and it’s easy to admire her fearless way with metaphor.”
—Washington Post
for This Bitter Earth
“This Bitter Earth tells a brutal tale of salvation and adds to it a satisfying subplot of revenge. McFadden’s sensuous prose and folk wisdom conjure a memorable character with complexity and grace.”
—People
“This Bitter Earth resonates with the mythic patterns of an epic poem, complete with lyrical language and an omniscient narrator.”
—Houston Chronicle
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published by Akashic Books
©2010 by Bernice L. McFadden
ePUB ISBN-13: 978-1-936-07078-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-936070-11-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009938474
Akashic Books
PO Box 1456
New York, NY 10009
… and the end of all of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
—T.S. Eliot
For my daughter, R’yane Azsà Waterton, who is the best part of me
Contents
Title Page
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
BOOK III: NEGROPHILIA
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
BOOK IV: APERTURE
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
Acknowledgments
While this work is built on the foundations of historical events, in many instances I have knowingly altered facts and dates to suit the purpose of the story.