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    Leaving Cecil Street
    Leaving Cecil Street
    Leaving Cecil Street
    Audiobook9 hours

    Leaving Cecil Street

    Written by Diane McKinney-Whetstone

    Narrated by Saidah Arrika Ekulona

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Best-selling author Diane McKinney-Whetstone has won such prizes as the Zora Neale Hurston Society award for creative contribution to literature. Set in 1969, Leaving Cecil Street takes place in a proud neighborhood of West Philadelphia. The block has just thrown a summertime street party. Joe and Louise have been married for awhile, and Joe loves his wife. But sometimes he wonders what might have been if he had pursued some of those dreams he left behind. "Diane McKinney-Whetstone is an immensely gifted writer who seamlessly weaves a rich tapestry of desire and discontent in this engrossing tale of working-class Philadelphians coping with change and each other."-Essence
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJul 27, 2012
    ISBN9781470325374
    Leaving Cecil Street
    Author

    Diane McKinney-Whetstone

    The author of the critically acclaimed novels Tumbling, Tempest Rising, Blues Dancing, Leaving Cecil Street, and Trading Dreams at Midnight, Diane McKinney-Whetstone is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s Literary Award for Fiction, which she won twice. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband. For more on Diane McKinney-Whetstone please visit www.mckinney-whetstone.com or follow her on Twitter @Dianemckwh.

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    Reviews for Leaving Cecil Street

    4/5

    37 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Good storyline, great characters. Took a break from nonfiction and this was an easy listen about family, community and love. I’ll be looking for more from this author.
    • 4/5
      Similar to Tumbling, well written well read. Has a common theme of life coming full circle for the characters.
    • 5/5
      I instantly fell in love with Cecil Street and its occupants. Cecil Street is full of life, fun times, and houses with closets full of skeletons. In 1969 West Philadelphia, Cecil Street is not insulated from the changes that are happening in the world surrounding it. Relationships and friendships alike are being challenged throughout Cecil Street. On Cecil Street, tensions are growing and skeletons are leaving the closets and heading to the street. Joe and Louise are that couple that is trying to re-establish their romantic footing because they have been together so long. Joe is charismatic and fun where Louise is mainly grouchy and bitter. Joe and Louise's daughter Shay is their balance. Shay and her best friend and life long neighbor, Bonita "Neet", are inseparable. Due to the consequences of choices that one friend makes, the innocence of Neet and Shay's friendship is ground down to a fine powder. Meanwhile, Joe has found an unhealthy distraction. The wildcard of Cecil Street is Neet's mother Alberta. Alberta has shunned the entire street since joining a radical religious sect. No one on Cecil Street, including her daughter, knows anything of Alberta's background. The answers that lead to Alberta's mysterious ways and life are hiding in Joe and Louise's basement.Cecil Street is made up of all kinds of people and places. The Barber Shop has an extra room where men can bring their girlfriends for an additional fee. BB's house doubles as a place where women can rid themselves of an unplanned pregnancy. The Beauty Shop is one real live social networking stop. McKinney-Whetstone has developed characters in layers and present life situations to the reader in such a delicate way. I would say this is a refined, well paced, and well put together story. McKinney-Whetstone went to the heart of women. She dealt with our multi-faceted insecurities in Louise and Alberta. For the younger readers she showed the dynamics of a true friendship with Shay and Neet. Neet has to deal with the anguish of emotional and sexual abuse. Alberta's life could be another story in and of itself. Alberta shows how women sometime wear a mask or throw ourselves into a movement or jobs instead of dealing with the problems of past and present. The complexity of the characters is phenomenal and yet McKinney-Whetstone makes you love and care about them. Storytelling like this is rare. The ending is shockingly beautiful and redeeming.