Savor the Sweetness by Marchel Alverson
(Paperback)
- Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.
- Pub. Date: February 2008
- ISBN-13: 9781432718237
- Sales Rank: 359,932
- 292pp
Synopsis
A Tale of Juicy Proportions
There is an old adage; "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." But what happens when your closest friend becomes your greatest enemy? Celeste Gray and Terri Hunter are best friends who seemingly have everything, lavish homes, luxury cars, designer labels, beautiful children and doting husbands. At the center of their friendship lies a private orange grove where the twosome secretly meet to share their innermost thoughts and partake of the delectable fruit. Though they are spoiled rotten by the sweet life, what they possess is not what they desire. For Celeste, it is an escape from the mundaneness of her life as a homemaker. For Terri, it is the attention she desperately seeks from an online romance. When a tragic hit-n-run accident kills Celeste's husband, Jayland, both their lives are left in ruins, and the only desire that remains is to turn back the clock. However, in the aftermath of the crash, guilt forces the duo on a downward spiral of events. Terri searches for a deeper connection on the Internet, while Celeste solicits sexual favors from Rowan, Terri's barely legal son. Grief has never turned so bitter as secrets are discovered and deception is unearthed in the lives of the women and the sacred orchard that connects them.
Customer Reviews
Savor the Sweetnessby Anonymous
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August 08, 2008: 'Savor the Sweetness' is a wonderful sentiment and is an appropriate title for this book. It is an adult style coming of age story and I was intrigued by the various dynamics that grew within the characters as they were trying to navigate their paths. StS reminded me that teens are not the only ones who experience puberty. Alverson did a great job of exposing the complexities and politics that adults often find themselves negotiating in a 'family values' oriented society where marriage is defined in narrow terms that are often gender and power specific. I especially appreciated that there was a murder mystery plot that was gracefully intertwined. Kudos! Kudos! Kudos! I can not wait for the next adventure.
Savor the Sweetnessby Anonymous
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May 15, 2008: Celeste Gray and Terri Hunter have little in common, save the lifelong friendship that?s sustained them throughout the peaks and valleys that each has experienced over the years. Celeste is a wife and mother whose husband eagerly fulfills her every need, and Terri, with a fierce independent streak, wants for nothing as she makes her mark on the world. The two women are the very semblance of strength, class, beauty, and success, and their lives are striking examples of the best the world has to offer. Looks are often deceiving, though, and such is never more true than with Celeste and Terri. Beneath their polished facades, both women secretly crave change, longing to experience the very lives that others would gladly exchange with them if the opportunity ever presented itself. To paraphrase an old saying, though, the grass may always seem greener on the other side, but the true essence of life always lies in personal perspective. Whether she?s ready for it or not, change ultimately ? and tragically ? comes when Celeste?s husband is suddenly killed in a hit-and-run accident, sending her on an emotional tailspin that leads her to make one ill-informed decision after another. For her part, Terri struggles to comfort her ailing friend ? a task made nearly impossible when Celeste begins a lustful pursuit of Terri?s barely-legal son. As the bond of their friendship weakens further and further under the considerable strain, the two women are forced to take deep introspective looks within themselves ? and one another ? in order to come to a greater understanding of the true nature of their relationship ? as well as the looming prospects for their quickly unraveling lives. The second effort by Marchel Alverson, Savor The Sweetness is a promising sign of a literary talent that continues to improve. Her compelling tale of humanity at its most raw and vulnerable is all at once arresting, inspiring, and engaging. Accentuating her storytelling is her conversational writing style, which enables the reader to relate to the women?s travails on a personal level. Even though the women live in the lap of relative luxury, the sagas of their lives unfold in the depths of familiar human drama, which offsets the shallow opulence of their existence. Furthermore, by personalizing Celeste and Terri so effectively, Alverson prevents the women from being demonized in the eyes of the reader, which allows their actions ? questionable though they may be ? to be viewed as natural byproducts of the simple machinations of everyday lives with which we are all familiar. Impressive and engrossing, Savor The Sweetness is a highly recommended account of the best and worst of the common human nature that binds us all.
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