Angel of Harlem.Angel of Harlem by Kuwana Haulsey One World/Ballantine, September 2004 $19.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-375-50870-8 The fictionalized story of Dr. May Chinn, the first black female physician in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , could have been a dry chronicle of a studious young woman who overcomes prejudice and penury pen·u·ry n. 1. Extreme want or poverty; destitution. 2. Extreme dearth; barrenness or insufficiency. [Middle English penurie, from Latin to become a pioneer in medicine. There is nothing dry about this version of May's story. Thanks to author Kuwana Haulsey's vividly textured novel, this vibrant, intelligent and beautiful woman virtually leaps off the page, engaging the reader with the tears, anger, love and laughter of a triumphant spirit. May Chinn is our mother, our grandmother, our aunt. She is every strong black woman who ever struggled against overwhelming odds to win an often-bitter victory. Born in Harlem in the 1920s, May is unwilling to settle for birthing babies and keeping house. Her father, a former slave and embittered em·bit·ter tr.v. em·bit·tered, em·bit·ter·ing, em·bit·ters 1. To make bitter in flavor. 2. To arouse bitter feelings in: was embittered by years of unrewarded labor. alcoholic, is embarrassed by a daughter who wants to attend college. Such things are for men, he rails. He stops speaking to May and refuses to contribute a dime to her education. Her mother works four jobs to help pay for her daughter's schooling. This story is told against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance and her cast of friends, including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American folklorist and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for the 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. and Paul Robeson. However, this is not the romanticized Harlem of "jazz and cocktails," but the grimly turbulent Harlem soaked in gin, high on heroin and rotten with syphilis. May becomes an unwelcome oddity at Columbia University, where she studies music. A racist professor ends her hopes of becoming a concert pianist by refusing to grant a degree to a "person of syncopated syn·co·pate tr.v. syn·co·pat·ed, syn·co·pat·ing, syn·co·pates 1. Grammar To shorten (a word) by syncope. 2. Music To modify (rhythm) by syncopation. origin" who can't possibly entertain the genius of Bach and Beethoven. May decides to study medicine. With great difficulty and sacrifice, she becomes a doctor and a pioneer in cancer research. Haulsey is also is author of The Red Moon (Villard Books, August 2001), a novel set amid the turbulent events of modern Kenya. Earni Young is a reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that began publishing on March 31, 1925, under founding editor Lee Ellmaker. In its early years, it was dominated by crime stories, sports and sensationalism. By 1930, daily circulation of the morning paper exceeded 200,000. . |
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