Seen It All and Done the Rest: A Novel
by Pearl Cleage
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Book Summary Information
Author: Pearl CleageEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-03-18
ISBN: 0345481127
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: One World/Ballantine
Product features:
- Great novel of the trials and tributes of life and relatioships
Book Reviews of Seen It All and Done the Rest: A Novel
Book Review: Seen It, Done It, Loved It!
Summary: 5 Stars
Seen It All and Done the Rest by Pearl Cleage is a mature, reading
delight. Grande Dame Josephine Evans has been the toast of
Amsterdam's theatre circuit for over twenty years. Aging gracefully,
at fifty-eight, her life could not be better or so it would seem.
However, Josephine discovers that it is not so hip to be an American
overseas any longer and that being American is having an effect on
her career. After all these years, she finds herself without a
contract and limited funds. So what is a woman to do? She can always
go home, she does have a niece, Zora, at home in Atlanta and a house
that has been bringing in an income for years. So surely Atlanta and
Zora will be waiting with open arms, or will they?
Zora is a smart, educated young woman who has always been the apple
of her grandmother's eyes. Her father drank himself to death at an
early age but her grandmother was always there. However, as a grown
woman, Zora finds herself in the middle of a controversy, involving
the death of a prominent citizen and she has become fodder for a
local tabloid, Dig It! The notoriety causes Zora to drop out of
college and hole-up in a luxury house in West End, with her favorite
companion, a glass of vodka. When her grandmother informs Zora of her
return, she is not as excited as she once would have been.
Jospehine's return home is filled with pain, love and laughter. She
reconnects with friends while discovering what has been going on in
the life of her granddaughter. She also discovers that change occurs
whether one is there to see it or not. I absolutely loved meeting
these characters and getting to know them. The flavor of family,
friends and community flows through the pages of this book, painting
a realistic picture of what life is really like. I also love how Ms.
Cleage touched on the subject of a woman aging gracefully. I highly
recommend Seen it All and Done the Rest to everyone.
Angelia Menchan
APOOO BookClub
Summary of Seen It All and Done the Rest: A Novel
For Josephine Evans, home was on the stages of the world where she spent thirty years establishing herself as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Josephine was the toast of Europe, and her fabulous apartment in Amsterdam?s theater district was a popular gathering place for an international community of artists, actors, and expatriates who considered themselves true citizens of the world. Josephine lived above and beyond the reach of conventional definitions of who and what an African American diva could be, and her legions of loyal fans loved her for it. She had a perfect life and enough sense to live it to the hilt, but then a war she didn?t fully understand turned everything upside down, thrusting her into a role she never wanted and was not prepared to play. Suddenly the target of angry protests aimed at the country she had never really felt was her own, Josephine is forced to return to America to see if she can create a new definition of home.Camping out with her granddaughter, Zora, who is housesitting in Atlanta?s West End; and trying to avoid the unwanted attentions of Dig It!, the city?s brand-new gossip magazine, Josephine struggles to reclaim her old life even as she scrambles to shape her new one. Hoping her friend Howard Denmond is as good as his word when he promises to engineer her triumphant return to the European stage, Josephine sets out to increase her nest egg by selling the house her mother willed her, only to find the long-neglected property has become home to squatters who have no intention of leaving.
But an unexpected reunion with an old friend offers Josephine a chance to set things right. Spurning an offer from unscrupulous land developer Greer Woodruff, Josephine gathers new friends around her, including Victor Causey, a lawyer whose addictions left him homeless but still determined to protect his mother; Louie Baptiste, a displaced New Orleans chef hoping to return to the city he loves; and Aretha Hargrove, recovering from her role in the same scandal that sent Zora running for cover. As Greer gets serious about her plan to tear the community apart, Josephine finds herself playing the most important role of her life, showing her neighbors what courage really is and learning the true meaning of coming home.
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