This Bitter Earth

by Bernice L. McFadden

Book Overview

This powerful sequel to Bernice L. McFadden's bestselling debut Sugar follows a young African-American woman back to her Arkansas hometown, where she must confront difficult truths about her parentage... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525946365
• ISBN13: 9780525946366
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Great read

This book is great. Could not put it down. A must read.

This Bitter Earth - compelling

Drawn in from the first, building this unique story to a place I wasn't expecting.

Great Book!!!!!!!

This is the sequel to "Sugar" and it is a great book. I love the author and all her books I have read thus far. This book was about a woman that lives her life freely and with NO REGRET. It is full of drama and suspense, once you pick it up, you won't want to put it down. Secrets are revealed and truths are told. BUY THIS BOOK, I read it in 2 days flat.

WHEW

If you thought Sugar was good, wait till you read This Bitter Earth. Mrs. McFadden has a very unique way of making the pieces of a quilt come together. All of the questions that you had after Sugar are answered in This Bitter Earth. I reccommend this to everyone who loved Sugar. A must read for all book lovers.Black Book Club

NOTHING SHORT OF EXCELLENT!

When finding out there was a sequel to Sugar, I had to get this book. Ms. McFadden writes THE STORY OF SUGAR LACEY, with even more fervor than Sugar. Sugar was nothing more than a backdrop for this EXCELLENT, well crafted novel. This book brings everything together from Short Junction-Bigelow-St. Louis doing a 360. Great characterization (We get to know a little something about all the characters). There's also alot of foreshadowing and imagery that brings so much life and color to this story.So far this is the best novel I've read this year and in a long time. Most authors of today opt for sensationalism than just a good quality story and Bernice Mcfadden has delivered once again.I strongly recommend reading Sugar first to get a little taste of Miss Sugar Lacey and how it all started and ended in This Bitter Earth.

AWESOME!!

If you have read "Sugar" then you will love "This Bitter Earth". Sugar Lacey is haunted by a past that she choses not to face. She runs from it but it only causes her more pain and confusion. In "This Bitter Earth", Sugar travels back to places like Short Junction and St. Louis to finally face her demons. She also has to deal with the her inner voice who will not let go of the fact that "Lappy Did It" and the haunting images of Jude. It is not just Sugar story anymore. This Bitter Earth is the story of the Lacey Sisters, Pearl, Joe, JJ, and Seth, who all have to face their fears and the two things that has managerd to tie them all together. Once you have reached the end, you will be able to take a breath. This Bitter Earth is filled with lyrical, yet haunting imagery that captures you from the beginning of the book. You will not put it down. I recently met Ms. McFadden, at Sibanye Books, and she has a wonderful spirit. Her reaccount of how Sugar came to life will want you craving more.Ms. McFadden, I look forward to your next book.Peace and Blessing!

Just As Sweet As Sugar

Sugar Lacey left Bigelow, Arkansas ten years ago with a secret and to confront those that she felt had betrayed her. With a heavy heart and a wounded body, Sugar traveled to Short Junction, Arkansas and St. Louis in search of answers. When she left Bigelow she left clues for those that mattered. Were those clues found? Examining her trials and tribulations that she was born into, Sugar redeemed herself by nurturing a young girl just as she had been nurtured. The only thing left for Sugar to do was to return to Bigelow with the hope of finding peace within.This Bitter Earth ties together the unanswered questions left behind with the ending of Sugar. The spirit of Sugar, Pearl and Joe remain vivid and with the additional information obtained about the other characters and their lives, the reader is brought full circled leaving an understanding of all that This Bitter Earth has to offer.This Bitter Earth is told in a fluid and surreal language that will leave you mesmerized. The imagery used in the prose will take you within the Taylor home, the juke joint, down the dirt roads and through the fields of this rural town. Popular belief is that most sequels don't measure up to their predecessors but This Bitter Earth is just as sweet as Sugar.

FANTASTIC!

"This Bitter Earth" picks up almost right where "Sugar" ends. Considering I have finished both books in the same week, I'm going to try to not get them confused!! If you read "Sugar," then you MUST read TBE. TBE explains many things that occurred in "Sugar."Sugar Lacey has been running from or ignoring the truth about her life for more years than she'd like to remember. However, the time has come, she realizes, to turn around and face those truths that she has been running from. To do that, she must go back to the beginning and places she thought she had long since left behind her. When Sugar returns to Short Junction and the house where she was raised, she learns some shocking secrets. From Short Junction, her journey to discovery leads her back to St. Louis. What she finds there is enough to tempt her to run again, but she stays for a while in an effort to help a young girl who can no longer help herself. Sugar decides to return to Bigelow as part of her plan to save the girl who doesn't want anyone's help. In the process, Sugar, who sometimes feels that she is walking on just this side of madness, may finally find the peace she has always craved but felt she never deserved.Ms. McFadden has written a book that so completely draws you in, that I highly recommend reading it on a weekend when you can sit down and not have to worry about getting up until you are finished. Like a fine wine that lingers on the tongue, long after it is gone, so will this story linger in your mind. I was blown completely away with this book. Having to interrupt my reading by something as mundane as going to work frustrated me to no end. And while I couldn't wait to finish the book, I was saddened when I did. I wanted to know what happened AFTER. You'll have to read it yourself to find out what the AFTER is! LOLMy hat is off to you, Ms. McFadden. You are a writer's writer. Your use of imagery, language and plot is just outstanding. I have now read every book you have written and I can't wait to read your next book!