"The seeming inevitability of cruel fate juxtaposes the triumph of the
spirit in this remarkably rich and powerful novel, Glorious. Bernice
McFadden's fully realized characters are complicated, imperfect beings,
but if ever a character were worthy of love and honor, it is her Easter
Bartlett. This very American story is fascinating; it is also
heartbreaking, thought-provoking, and beautifully written."--Binnie
Kirshenbaum, author of The Scenic Route
"Riveting. . . . I am as impressed by its structural strength as by the
searing and expertly imagined scenes."--Toni Morrison, on The Warmest
December
>Glorious is set against the backdrops of the Jim Crow South, the
Harlem Renaissance, and the civil rights era. Blending the truth of
American history with the fruits of Bernice L. McFadden's rich
imagination, this is the story of Easter Venetta Bartlett, a fictional
Harlem Renaissance writer whose tumultuous path to success, ruin, and
revival offers a candid portrait of the American experience in all its
beauty and cruelty.
Glorious is ultimately an audacious exploration into the nature of
self-hatred, love, possession, ego, betrayal, and, finally, redemption.
aBernice L. McFadden is the author of six critically acclaimed
novels, including the classic Sugar and Nowhere Is a Place, which
was a Washington Post best fiction title for 2006. She is a two-time
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award finalist, as well as the recipient of two
fiction honors from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association
(BCALA). McFadden lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she is working on
her next novel.
