Mainstream Fiction

RHYTHMS

Donna Hill

St. Martin's Press

August 2001

(4+) Wayne Jordan

PLOT SYNOPSIS: 

REVIEW: 

It’s after midnight here on the island of Barbados, and I’ve just finished reading, RHYTHMS, Donna Hill’s first hardcover to be released in August.  I decided to write the review immediately as I wanted to get my thoughts down while my feelings and impression were still fresh.

RHYTHMS is a historical romance and set in a period of time not usual in recent historical romance.  The story opens in 1927 - in a tiny town called Rudell.  Rudell is colored town; a community of less that 500 people.  A town that is painted so vivid that by the end of the book, I felt as if I were there.

Down in the delta, somewhere just beyond Alligator, Mississippi, rests the colored section of Rodell.

Towering yellow pines raised their angry fists toward the blinding white sky demanding a long cool drink.  Mosquitoes buzzed and bit, zealous in their hunt for sweet moist flesh.  Especially the plump legs of little brown boys and girls.

Like this description, there is a harshness that hovers beneath the story that Ms. Hill tells.  But it is this quality that moves RHYTHMS from being just another love story into something that is realistic and explores the plight of the black woman in the early part of the 20th century.

In RHYTHMS, Ms. Hill takes us into the minds of three women whose lives are intricately linked by events that begin in 1927.  RHYTHMS is the story of the journey of self-discovery that each of these women must take and the events in their lives that they must face.

Cora’s story is first.  An idealistic young woman, she leaves the dullness of the little town of Rudell for the bright lights of Chicago.  Behind, she leaves the man she loves.  Cora has a lovely voice, and wants to sing, but she is no longer satisfied with singing in the church where her father is reverend.  She has read too much about the famous singers in the city to be contented with the country life.  Her father and mother reluctantly let her go.  Unfortunately, city life does not turn out to be all she dreams, and she returns home in shame.  Her shame made harder when she looses the love of the one man who loved her.

The second part of the book focuses on Emma, Cora’s daughter.  White child to a black woman, she hates her mother, and the race she is forced to acknowledge as her own.  When she realizes that she can pass as a white woman, she leaves Rodell hoping that by living as a white woman she can find the peace she desires.

The novel’s final part introduces us to Parris, Emma’s daughter.  Parris has grown up with the love of her grandmother and grandfather.  She’s a confident strong woman, but like her grandmother of years ago, she wants to be a singer.  She has her grandmother’s wonderful talent, and the same desire to find fame and fortune in the city.  Like her grandmother and mother she set out to find her dreams in the city.

RHYTHMS is Ms. Hill at her very best, and with this book she fulfils the promise that was hinted at in IF I COULD (4+) and A SCANDALOUS AFFAIR (4).  The nature of this book is evidence that Ms. Hill is writing for a more mainstream audience, but still keeping her romance fans satisfied.  Though RHYTHMS deals with issues of race and the role of women in society, the book is still very much concerned with the importance of love in our lives.  At the end of the book, each of the characters finds love and happiness.

Ms. Hill’s skill as a writer is evident in the beauty of every word she uses.  The attention to detail, the realistic dialogue, the fluidity of language, and the ability to evoke emotion are only a few of the elements of style that makes this book a masterpiece.   Ms. Hill’s ability to take the reader through a range of emotions is definitely her forte.  At points in the book, I laughed and at times, I felt the intensity of the character’s sadness. But most of all I felt angry at a society that still had the gall to treat black men and women as secondary citizens, and disturbed by the injustices and abuse that black women had to face.  The images in RHYTHMS are vivid and clear.

At the end of this book, I felt breathless.  Moved by the intensity of the author’s passion for the story she was telling, and like a devoted fan I gobbled every word up.  With RHYTHMS, Ms. Hill has finally found her true voice.  She has written an outstanding historical novel that is a tribute to the strength and vision of the black woman.

Ms. Hill, I applaud you!

wayne@romanceincolor.net (1st April 2001)