Breathing Room.Breathing Room by Patricia Elam Pocket Books, January 2001, $24.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-671-02842-1 Patricia Elam creates an immediate and lasting connection with the reader through thought-provoking characters, seamless transitions and a plot that makes you eager to turn the page. Combining a vivid array of depth and emotion, her story questions the limits of the sisterhood sisterhood: see monasticism. between middle-aged friends, Norma and Moxie, and the families they find so difficult to love. Although Norma will not admit it to anyone but Moxie, her marriage is evaporating slowly. From dealing with the all-white law firm that continually questions her husband's competency COMPETENCY, evidence. The legal fitness or ability of a witness to be heard on the trial of a cause. This term is also applied to written or other evidence which may be legally given on such trial, as, depositions, letters, account-books, and the like. 2. , to battling her memories of a tragic past, Norma is at the end of her rope Turning to the photography that has long been her passion, she reaches out for the love she misses and finds an unexpected refuge. Moxie, still haunted by her mother's death when she was eleven, buries herself within her militant Afrocentric beliefs, and her work as a probation officer probation officer n. 1. An official usually attached to a juvenile court and charged with the care of juvenile delinquents. 2. An official charged with supervising convicts at large on suspended sentence or probation. for black, juvenile, repeat-offenders. But her job isn't half as difficult as raising her sixteen-year-old daughter, Zadi. Zadie is an aspiring ballerina and the last virgin at her prestigious private school. Elam injects a vibrant tone of wit, humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was and realism through Zadie's entries into her diary, affectionately af·fec·tion·ate adj. 1. Having or showing fond feelings or affection; loving and tender. 2. Obsolete Inclined or disposed. af·fec called, "Sistergirl." Solid supporting characters, presented within a thoroughly engaging plot, pay tribute to the essence of family and the issues which can bind them or break them. Nikitta A. Foston is a freelance writer and finance professional in Chicago whose work has been published in Black Voices Quarterly Magazine and BlackVoices.com. |
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