~ Review: This Bitter Earth ~

PLOT SYNOPSIS:  THIS BITTER EARTH picks up where SUGAR left off: on the dirt road leading to Sugar's childhood home in Short Junction, Arkansas. Here, she hears a shocking revelation about unrequited love, and about one man's hatred--and the black magic that has cursed generations.

REVIEW:  Author Bernice McFadden stated last year that she hadn’t really thought about writing a sequel to SUGAR—until the readers requested it. So she did and she read an excerpt from the then-work in progress, THIS BITTER EARTH at the Go On Girl book conference. It was evident then that she was on to something good. From that day on, I couldn’t wait to read it.

THIS BITTER EARTH is the story of Sugar Lacey and literally picks up where Sugar left off. In this sequel, Sugar goes back to her childhood home in Short Junction, Arkansas. She returns there to find out who she is, why she turned out to be who she was and where she was headed. She returns in search of answers to those questions and more.  Instead, she finds many old wounds longing to be healed.

Sugar ends up in St. Louis where she finds an old friend who is in worse shape than her. This friend is Mercy, the granddaughter of her ex-madam who thought of her not only as one of her stable, but as a family member. Mary the Madam helped Sugar when she was at a low point in her life and needed someone to care about her. Now, the proverbial tables are turned and Mercy is a young adult who is strung out on dope and Mary is a sick/half-dead old woman. Mercy needs Sugar in order to stay alive. Without Sugar’s help, they will both die because Sugar is at the point where she needs to concentrate her energies on someone other than herself.

Together, Sugar and Mercy find the answers they both need to get on with their loves and end up saving each other in many ways n several levels.

In this sequel, Sugar confronts the issue of death because so many people around her die. As a result of so much loss, she comes to terms with her true identity and the issues she buried from her past.

Pearl and Joe Taylor (as well as Seth) are featured prominently in THIS BITTER EARTH. Many aspects of their relationship that were alluded to in Sugar are explained in TTHIS BITTER EARTH.

This book is excellent and couldn’t have been done better. McFadden successfully resolves each of the storylines and leaves nothing unanswered. She deals with such issues as illegitimacy, black magic, murder, rape, love and loyalty.

Technically, this work is beautifully done. The prose is tightly woven, the language lyrical. McFadden’s voice is rich due to the well-drawn characters that people this book. This one is another keeper and any reader who loves good literature is sure to enjoy THIS BITTER EARTH. However, please be forewarned that Sugar must be read first in order to really “get” THIS BITTER EARTH as many events are set up and referred to in it that will only be understood only if Sugar was read.

Otherwise, readers will read THIS BITTER EARTH and not fully appreciate what’s going on in it or why certain things happen when they do.

Hats off to McFadden who penned a wonderful novel that’s sure to garner a slew of awards and other accolades.

13th February 2002