Posted by Lenora Willburn None - HBCU Supporter
on May 14, 2005 at 05:48:14:
Do you know of any Black man that has been in an abusive relationship and he is the victim? Well, I hadn't ever heard of anything like that until I read an advanced copy of a stunning new book that is coming out. It is called, STEVEN, and the writer is a guy named Marvin Curtis Reid.
It's fiction but reads like a true story and I have to tell you, it's probably the best book I've ever read. Set in NYC, the man, Steven, meets and falls in love with Julie, the abusive girlfriend. As their relationship goes forward, she begins to abuse him physcially and then psychologically.
As a social worker, I was struck by the many themes in the work and impressed with the care the writer took in making sure people understood the motivations of both characters. Later on, he meets Fallon who becomes Steven's wife and the exchanges between the now fatal attraction-esque Julie are explosive.
At the end, Julie stalks Steven and ends up shooting him three times; at her trial, Fallon tearfully forgives Julie and, oh my God, I was crying along with her. With all of the bling bling and street fiction out there and frankly, some stuff we just should not be filling our minds with, this book is sure to be a best-seller and could easily be used as a "text-book" for psychologists and sociologists in their classes.
I'm not sure when the book will be out, but the lady that let me read her copy said June. I am not much of a reader but you can be sure I will have a copy when it finally hits. It is not only a must read but a must discuss too.