Sing Her Name: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Description

• THE THIRD AND BEST NOVEL YET FROM ROSALYN STORY, the critically acclaimed author of More Than You Know and Wading Home.
• RESONANT THEMES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND BLACK HISTORY: Story explores the intertwined lives of two African American singers separated by a centuryone lost to history, and one who finds opportunity only after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
• A PLOT-RICH PAGE-TURNER WITH COMPELLING CHARACTERIZATIONS: As with all of Storys novels, this new one is distinguished by compelling characters and a complex, deeply satisfying plot.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR SING HER NAME:

"Sing Her Nameis an uplifting tale told with a sure command of narrative pacing and drama. Story reveals a knack for natural dialogue and writes movingly, both about music and the devastation caused by Katrina." The Dallas Morning News

"Musical talent blooms in Rosalyn Story's stirring, character-driven novelSing Her Name, a powerful story about Black artistry, women's dreams, and overcoming strife. . . .Sing Her Nameis a beautiful and triumphant novel in which a talented woman works to reconcile her sense of family loyalty with her fidelity to her own considerable gifts." Foreword Review, starred review

"Story's background as a musician and nonfiction writer about African American opera... primes her to tell this musical tale of the ghosts of wronged artists and the burdens they pass on, the legacy of place, and how we can forgive others and move on, with or without them. This truly is a novel that sings." Booklist

"Sing Her Nameis a brilliant jewel of a novel, gorgeously crafted, intensely moving, and entirely fluent in the historical and musical worlds it portrays. Such is the mastery of Rosalyn Story's double narrative that this novel of two singers, bound in spirit but separated by some seventy years, captures so much of the weight and thrust of Americaof promises broken, of possibilities dangling just out of reach. Sing Her Namegives us heartbreak and heroes in nearly equal measure, and it's in thatnearlypaper-thin, and wide as the oceanthat this glorious story lives." Ben Fountain, New York Times bestselling author of Billy Lynns Long Halftime Walk

"Rosalyn Story is a superb storyteller who has beautifully illuminated the life of Sissieretta Jones throughout her novelSing Her Name. In her novel,the mystery and intrigue of the two main characters, Celia DeMille and Eden Malveaux, and how their lives are entwined, is what propels this moving story to an outcome that ends on a Magnificent High Note.As in her previous book,And So I Sing, Rosalyn has once again paid homage to the greatest singer of her generation, Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones. Like Rosalyn Story's novel,Sing Her Name, we will continue to let our voices rise in a loud crescendo to celebrate her life and legacy." Harolyn Blackwell, Soprano, Metropolitan Opera

"WithSing Her Name, more than any of her novels, Rosalyn Story establishes herself as a true artist. This novel demands the musicality of a classical musician, the love of bringing history into the present, and the desire to right the wrongs of African American women, and Story weaves them together as if she were a chief conductor.Sing Her Nameis Rosalyn's masterpiece. Bravo.Sanderia Faye, author ofMourner's Bench, winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

PRAISE FOR WADING HOME:

"New Orleans natives struggle to recover their lives as well as their property after Hurricane Katrina.... Storys musical background infuses her novel with a lyrical rhythm...as engaging characters rebuild their relationships and their city. The current oil-spill crisis only makes the hopefulness of this novel more moving, if heart-wrenching." Kirkus Reviews

"Story writes with the plot-twisting precision of a veteran and a lyricism reminiscent of James Baldwin." Black Issues Book Review

Author Bio

Rosalyn Story is a violinist with the Fort Worth Symphony and the author of the novels More Than You Know (Agate Bolden, 2004) and Wading Home (Agate Bolden, 2010), as well as And So I Sing, a nonfiction work about African American opera singers. She lives in Dallas, Texas.