The Jazz Flower: A Novel [Paperback] Review

I read the first of Vee Williams Garcia's Johnson/Stills family sagas, Forbidden Circles, about two years ago.I enjoyed it, so I'm pleased that she's written a follow-up book.The Jazz Flower chronicles the life of Rosa Johnson-Stills, the eldest daughter of Nora and Douglas Stills. The time period the book covers is from 1930-1953.So, you could call this a historical novel.Garcia definitely does her research and especially when describing Rosa's obsession with Jazz music.From early childhood, she knows that one day she will be a great Jazz singer.However Rosa, who is the darkest of Nora and Douglas' three children, and is reminded all her life by her color-struck grandmother, Lilly, that she is not good enough, soon develops a hard shell in order to fend off the negativity.Rosa is at times an unsympathetic character.If you don't understand her motivation, you may not like her.That is the mark of a memorable character: she has a good side and a not so good side.
She makes mistakes.For example, she loves a man who is destined to marry another.And even when he marries, she does not give him up.The triangle is set, and there is certain to be a showdown somewhere down the line.Believe me, you will be reading this book well into the wee hours.And the conclusion is shocking to say the least.

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Product Description:
The Jazz Flower is a follow-up to Forbidden Circles, which ends with Nora Johnson and Douglas Stills expecting their first child.In The Jazz Flower, the child is born.Later, the couple has two more children.But it is their first child, Rosa, who takes center stage. Rosa Johnson Stills grows and blooms into a beautiful mocha-hued jazz singer in 1930s and '40s Washington, D.C.During those years, Rosa challenges her light-skinned grandmother, Lilly, who low rates her dark skin color and her jazz dream.Rosa also fights her rival, socialite Iris Haywood, in an endless effort to possess her first love, Attorney Alan Covington.Because of a long-ago pact their families made, Alan is pledged to Iris.And Iris will never let him go.Eventually, Rosa relocates to New York City to take a singing job at The Blue Phoenix nightclub and to try to forget Alan.In New York, Rosa dates Jackson Parker, a racketeer.But Alan is in her arms whenever he's in New York on business ─ even after he and Iris are married.Parker threatens to kill Rosa if he catches her with another man.Set in the Swing and Bebop eras of jazz music, The Jazz Flower unfolds prejudice, obsession, and murder, as it transports readers from D.C. to New York, to Paris, France, on its way to a riveting conclusion.

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