Tumbling

Diane McKinney-Whetstone's lyrical first novel, Tumbling,vividly captures a tightly knit African-American neighborhood in South Philadelphia during the forties and fifties.Its central characters, Herbie and Noon, are a loving but unconventional couple whose marriage remains unconsummated for many years as Noon struggles to repossess her sexuality after a brutal attack in her past.While she seeks salvation in the church, Herbie gains sexual gratificationin the arms of a bewitching jazz singer named Ethel, a woman who profoundly affects bothNoon's and Herbie's lives when she leaves with them, first, a baby girl and then later, afive-year-old named Liz. When a road planned by the city council threatens to break up this South Philadelphianeighborhood, the community must band together.Unexpectedly, Noon rises up and takesthe lead in the opposition, fighting for all she's worth to keep her family and community together. Tumblingis a beautiftilly rendered, poignant story about the ties that bind us and the secretsthat keep us apart.With striking lyricism, Diane McKinney-Whetstone keenly guides us throughthe world of community, family, and the human heart.