The Silver Crescent.The Silver Crescent by Leslie Woodward Gorgeous Notions Press, June 2006 $22.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 0-974-34684-5 The Silver Crescent, a train that carried not only passengers but also their secrets, is the connecting are in Woodward's collection of short stories. Set in the South during a time when Pullman Porters were awe-inspiring, when men still wore hats and ladies wore slips, when respectability meant everything in the black community, the four stories are transported along the train line. The tales set loose upon the enclave of black towns that thrived before integration, towns where appearance meant life or death, acceptance or contempt. Woodward invests in breathing life back into those small towns by maintaining a central theme of freedom. The stories revolve around Verb 1. revolve around - center upon; "Her entire attention centered on her children"; "Our day revolved around our work" center, center on, concentrate on, focus on, revolve about four different women who are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. escape through travel, death, adventure and sexuality regardless of popular opinion. The Silver Crescent brings them to their destinies. What is remarkable about Woodward's writing is her ability to create a nuanced view of life during segregation. Forty-odd years removed from the Civil Rights Movement, there is an air of deprecation dep·re·cate tr.v. de·pre·cat·ed, de·pre·cat·ing, de·pre·cates 1. To express disapproval of; deplore. 2. To belittle; depreciate. present when discussing Southern black life in the 1930s and 1940s. It was not all hopelessness, it wasn't isolation and it wasn't poverty. Woodward turns this misconception on its head. Her characters are diverse people from diverse communities, people who have the same hopes and aspirations as anyone living in the present day. Writing a short story appears to be simple--there are fewer characters and fewer words to commit to paper. However, writing an excellent short story is an achievement. Some authors are incapable of hitting all the marks. Woodward doesn't leave you hanging, her stories never feel incomplete or unresolved. Unfortunately, there are too-few short stories published by African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. authors. Despite this absence, Woodward's debut should not be lost in the proliferation proliferation /pro·lif·er·a·tion/ (pro-lif?er-a´shun) the reproduction or multiplication of similar forms, especially of cells.prolif´erativeprolif´erous pro·lif·er·a·tion n. of novels and commercial fiction with bigger marketing teams and giant publishers. --Reviewed by Denise M. Doig Denise M. Doig is a New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of City--based freelance writer and editor. |
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