"Wonderful plot elements and superb characters..."

• ASIN: ‎ B0C1MN2NW3
• Publisher: ‎ Legacy Books LLC. (May 11, 2023)
• Publication date: ‎ May 11, 2023
• Language: ‎ English
• Print length: ‎ 499 pages
• Genre: Black & African American Urban Fiction

The BookViral Review:

A novel that will tear at the heart Mothers Vol. 1 is the powerful prologue to the award-winning novel, Defining Moments: Black and White. A novel about a mother’s courage and resilience as she struggles to raise her two boys after their father’s untimely death.

His narrative is verbally smart and the various contrivances and tangles of his plot are cleverly played out. Provoking reflection on the dichotomy between societal expectations and the race-defined self.

Burgess Jr. Isn’t the first author to tackle the subject and he won’t be the last but far too many reads in the Black & African American Urban Fiction genre fail to go beyond transgressive violent romps. This is something Burgess Jr. nimbly avoids and in doing so he gives readers so much more than a narrative that plays like a laundry list of difficulties faced specifically by the urban black community.

There is an overt message in Mothers Vol. 1 but it isn’t preachy and it’s something that’s often hard to pull off and Burgess Jr. achieves it by making us empathize with the hopelessness his key characters face, and encouraging us to ask, along with them, how long can this go on.

This is conveyed through the narrative perspectives of Juanita and her oldest son Jalen. They are both flawlessly crafted characters and it’s through them that we are challenged to think beyond cause-and-effect, stereotypes and expectations without allowing his main characters to tangle up his plot.

Both Juanita and Jalen feel trapped and are despairing of a way out and Burgess Jr. moves their story forward with an abundance of energy and superb dialogue whilst exploring what education means on differing levels in a faltering urban structure. From the classroom to the office to what kids on the corner are learning about drugs and easy money. It’s bold and sweeping and in the burgeoning friendship between Jalen and Akeem, we get an intimate perspective that’s easy to access and decipher.

With wonderful plot elements and superb characters, Mothers Vol 1 is a novel you will not only enjoy immensely but want to talk about! It is an unreservedly recommended 5-star read.