The jacket blurb made it sound like this would be good, but I ended up feeling like I ate something sickly sweet. This white woman is grieving over her husband's death so she takes on a 'project' of helping a dying Black woman, Betty Jewell. They become friends & she learns Betty Jewell has a child by the white woman's husband. The whole situation seems artificial.
Part of the story is told by the dying woman's daughter, Billie, who is afraid of her mother's pending death. She is tough, and has her hopes on being rescued by her mother's ex-husband. The book's end glosses over Billie's pain & makes us believe she will grow up happy and secure.
Another part I hate is that the only way Betty Jewell can save her daughter from her ex-husband's grasp is by cutting him down, dissing him. OK, I get that he has a history of lying to her, and of drug addiction. But he's been out of touch for >10 years and is now trying to do better. Couldn't she have just told him the truth about who Billie's father was? How come he didn't figure it out as soon as he saw her? ( )

What a disappointment. I found this to be so unrealistic and SO predictable. People previously mad at each other (with good reason, mind you) become the best of friends? In the age of Emmett Till and the KKK, the reader is supposed to believe a white woman legally adopts a black child effortlessly? We're supposed to believe that two women who loved the same man become best friends? The dialogue between these two groups of people is so so sweet it gave me a cavity and not in a good way.

This book had such potential but fell very short. ( )

An interesting idea, but watered down with selective blindness and saccharine sentiment. Set in 1950s Mississippi - although the era probably only serves to ground the story in the author's childhood and the characters wouldn't be out of place in modern day chick lit - a young black girl whose mother is dying of cancer is adopted by the white widow of her real father. And apart from a few hostile comments and a door daubed with graffiti, that's perfectly fine! Even though I was under the impression that the story was going to cover the impact of the adoption and not the events leading up to the death of Billie's mother, the relative lack of racism was still surprising.

The characters are also decidedly flat. Despite barely knowing each other, terminally ill Betty Jewel and privileged cub reporter Cassie suddenly become firm and fast friends, extolling the 'I am woman, hear me roar' strength of womankind, which I found to be patently ridiculous. And then Betty Jewel, who lives with her mother and has two good friends who would no doubt share the guardianship of daughter Billie, decides that farming a black child out to a white woman in 1950s Mississippi is the perfect solution. Betty's friends are initially apprehensive, to say the least, but Cassie with her stubbornness, pride and brave pluck, soon wins them over, equally improbably.

And if the plot wasn't hard enough to swallow, Elaine Hussey's writing is similarly stiff and awkward, full of cliches ('I double-dog dare you') and an abundance of weak metaphors ('The roller coaster she'd been on since she found out about Joe tilted her over and threw her into space ... There was a river running wild in her, and she could no longer construct a dam.') I think the author was aiming for the poetic narrative of southern gothic novels, but missed the mark somewhat - the only part of story I believed was the description of food and the weather.

Unrealistic and lacking polish. ( )

Racism in the south is like another character in this story of love and two women- one white and the other black. But calling it a story of love makes it sound sappy and predictable - and that is to short change it. This is a story of worlds crashing and reshaping in the midst of deep heart break! A story of strength and frailty.

Betty Jewel is a washed up jazz singer who burned brightly with Saint a famous trumpeter. But drugs and fame soured everything and Betty Jewel fled from her marriage to Shakerag, Mississippi to be with her mama and raise her daughter. In a last ditch effort to save that daughter, she takes out an ad in the local paper looking for someone to adopt her girl after she passes from cancer.

Cassie is the lily white widow of a much beloved local coach. Since his death she has floundered her way through life barely living and depending on her job at the local newspaper to keep her going. She notices the ad and decides it would make a wonderful human interest story.

And thus the worlds crash.

But - this is not a touchy feely feel good story.

At the heart of this story is a 10 year old girl who will soon be without a mama. Billie, who sneaks around listening at keyholes, can not imagine a life without her mama - unless she is able to find her papa - Saint - and life with him.

Laid across the top of this story is the busted history of Jim Crow laws and lynchings in the south.

There were times this felt like a different version of The Help. But, Betty Jewel and Cassie are not merely telling a story - they are living it. Their lives are interwoven in a way that the south can not rip apart.

I really liked this book. I especially liked Billie. After teaching 10 year olds all those years - I felt like I knew her innocent and bare face. Her bravado and her depth of pain were real to me! The fantasies that she creates and believes in even while she knowing they can't be real - rang true!

I would recommend this!! ( )

Pregnancy stops many in a career path and Betty Jewel Hughes, the hottest black jazz singer in Memphis, was no different. Giving up her dream to be a mom, she ends up ten years later, dying of cancer. Who will take care of her beautiful daughter, Billie? Reading an ad in the paper for a "loving mother for Billie" a widowed white-society lady, Cassie Malone, is drawn to Betty Jewel. They form a bond but the racial tension is high, making their friendship difficult but transforming.

I highly recommend this book by author, Elaine Hussey. If you have given up hope on unconditional caring between races and peace amidst turmoil, this book, so well written, will inspire and encourage you. A great summer read but full of hope for the entire year. ( )