The Black Orchid by Persia Walker


Black Orchid Blues by Persia Walker is more than a mystery. It's a highly dramatic book about the mind of a person who operates outside of his gender. Queenie/Junior is an impersonator in a New York high society nightclub during the 1920's. Queenie is kidnapped at the nightclub. It causes chaos and mayhem. However, this is not just a novel about the murderous rages of  a psychotic mind. It's also a novel about the trauma of childhood sexual abuse. Persia Walker shares on a deep level what a child might do if abused by a family member. It's also about the family members involved. How far will a family go to protect their reputation, and how far will they go to keep their lies and dreadful activities a secret? Plus, how many innocent people become lost in the spiderweb of a dysfunctional family?

Persia Walker writes professionally about Queenie and Junior's slide from one person to the other Their need to survive is almost magical. Most events are told  through the eyes of the crime reporter, Lanie. I really like Lanie. She has a heart and high morals and of course, she's a whiz at her work.

When I thought Persia Walker had taken me further than I wanted to go or thought she could take me, she took me five more steps. By the end of the novel, my mind was completely blown by those who murder in rage, by those who are innocent victims to the lusts and desires of other people and the power of the mind to think of ways to survive and live through horrendous events. The story is told simply with no frills. Therefore, there is a great deal of violence. Thankfully, there are no judgments. Certainly none are made by Lanie. Her strongest desire is to see the killing stop, end, finish. I am anxious to meet Lanie again under different circumstances. persiawalker.com/books/black-orchid-blues/ AKASHIC

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Catherine E. Mckinley had a deep desire to know about Indigo. It became her purpose.

Image
"We watched the woman disappear into the bend of the road. It was unsettling. She seemed possessed, driven by some mimetic force. I was afraid that that force was also a part of me. I was also a worshiper, set wandering in an unfamiliar land."   It seems this week I have been driven to write about my mother. It has happened more than once. Here she is again. Tapping my shoulder a reminder that she loved blue. There is the one and only photo of her where she wears a dress of blue. The photo was taken years and years ago. In the photo are my two nephews, my mother and myself.. The photo was taken in West Philadelphia. She sewed it. A light blue that now I wish to call "Indigo." I have much to learn about Indigo. It is easy to pick up on the author, Catherine E. Mckinley's, fervent love for the color. One day my son asked me my favorite color. I said, "I don't have one." I don't. Perhaps, I choose colors by mood. Today red  and tomorrow green,
Read more

First Chapter First Paragraph

Image
http://www.bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com Closed until June 13     "Michael Hunter stared at the hand-lettered sign on the Gull Motel office, expelled a breath, and raked his fingers through his hair. Not the welcome he'd been expecting after a mind-rumbling thirty-six-hour cross-country drive to the Oregon coast. And where was he supposed to stay for the next three weeks, until the place opened again?"
Read more

First Chapter First Paragraph

Image
http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com Every end is a new beginning. " He's not in there." "What do you mean he's not in there? I left him just a few hours ago. We have to get in there and check! Why is everybody just standing around/" Leo and my father didn't move.  What was wrong with them?I started running into the fire, but felt hands fastening onto my arms to hold me back. The Pecan Bayou Gazette building that stood proudly on Main Street for sixty-three years now began caving in on itself as the white hot flames overtook the structure." 
Read more