Book Description...
"Penelope Grand has scrapped her failed career as an artist in Pittsburgh and moved back to Brooklyn to keep an eye on her ailing father. She’s accepted that her future won’t be what she’d dreamed, but now, as gentrification has completely reshaped her old neighborhood, even her past is unrecognizable. Old haunts have been razed, and wealthy white strangers have replaced every familiar face in Bed-Stuy. Even her mother, Mirella, has abandoned the family to reclaim her roots in the Dominican Republic. That took courage. It’s also unforgivable.
When Penelope moves into the attic apartment of the affluent Harpers, she thinks she’s found a semblance of family—and maybe even love. But her world is upended again when she receives a postcard from Mirella asking for reconciliation. As old wounds are reopened, and secrets revealed, a journey across an ocean of sacrifice and self-discovery begins.
An engrossing debut, Halsey Street shifts between the perspectives of these two captivating, troubled women. Mirella has one last chance to win back the heart of the daughter she’d lost long before leaving New York, and for Penelope, it’s time to break free of the hold of the past and start navigating her own life."
Title: Halsey Street
Author: Naima Coster
Publisher: Little A
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"Halsey Street" by Naima Coster
My Thoughts....
What a read "Halsey Street" [Bed-Stuy] was being well written thought-provoking read that involved what happens when Penelope Grand who carried deep pain from childhood to adulthood. This was quite a emotional complexed journey for Penelope being raised in a dysfunctional family as she suffered from 'abandonment, unworthiness, love/hate detachment, anger and recklessness' while her parents were having real life issues of their own. I found this read filled with sadness for this entire family that I found it so very hard to read at times. This author gives the reader some well developed characters that were not likable at times lacking in communication and understanding. My favorite characters were the grandmother, Brooklyn boyfriend and the heartsick neighbor. My main concern in this read was just finding out why was Penelope so mad most of the time and had such animosity toward her Mom.
I found this story about the relationship between this daughter [Penelope] and mother [Mirella], the neighborhood and her father [Ralph] were quite a intriguing sad read that was quite raw, gritty, painful and yet in the end being a story that seemed to end with love and hope. I did felt that this story ended quite abruptly leaving me with some questions that I wished had been answered.
What a read "Halsey Street" [Bed-Stuy] was being well written thought-provoking read that involved what happens when Penelope Grand who carried deep pain from childhood to adulthood. This was quite a emotional complexed journey for Penelope being raised in a dysfunctional family as she suffered from 'abandonment, unworthiness, love/hate detachment, anger and recklessness' while her parents were having real life issues of their own. I found this read filled with sadness for this entire family that I found it so very hard to read at times. This author gives the reader some well developed characters that were not likable at times lacking in communication and understanding. My favorite characters were the grandmother, Brooklyn boyfriend and the heartsick neighbor. My main concern in this read was just finding out why was Penelope so mad most of the time and had such animosity toward her Mom.
I found this story about the relationship between this daughter [Penelope] and mother [Mirella], the neighborhood and her father [Ralph] were quite a intriguing sad read that was quite raw, gritty, painful and yet in the end being a story that seemed to end with love and hope. I did felt that this story ended quite abruptly leaving me with some questions that I wished had been answered.
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