But their marriage remains unconsummated because of a horrible incident in Noon's past, so each seeks comfort elsewhere: Noon in the warm acceptance of the neighborhood church Herbie in the arms of Ethel, a jazz singer. Noon and Herbie are deeply in love and living in a tightly knit African American neighborhood in South Philadelphia during the 1940s. Writing in a style as accessible as Terry McMillan, yet with the literary touches of Toni Morrison, McKinney Whetstone’s Tumbling is a poignant, exquisitely rendered story of the ties that bind us and the secrets that keep us apart. Tumbling is the beloved bestselling debut novel that launched the luminous career of Diane McKinney Whetstone, critically acclaimed author of Tempest Rising, Blues Dancing, Leaving Cecil Street, and Trading Dreams at Midnight. An accomplished novel, with sharply drawn characters, exuberant prose, plenty of period detail and a wise, forgiving outlook on family life.” - Los Angeles Times Book Review In Our Gen, McKinney-Whetstone follows the residents of a Philadelphia-area active-living retirement community who revert to the passions and excesses of their youth.īooks will be available for purchase at the library on event night.Ī book signing will follow the presentation.“Warm and intimate. A two-time recipient of the American Library Association Black Caucus Literary Award for fiction and winner of a Zora Neale Hurston Society Award, she taught creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania for 12 years and has contributed writing to The Atlantic, Essence, and Philadelphia Magazine.

Partly inspired by these experiences, You Never Know features a hearing-impaired protagonist who fights off an attacker only to wonder later if he and her new husband are the same person.ĭiane McKinney-Whetstone is the author of six novels, including Tumbling, Tempest Rising, Trading Dreams at Midnight, and Lazaretto, a historical novel set in a legendary 19th-century Philadelphia quarantine hospital. After progressively losing more of her hearing, several years ago she had a cochlear implant that restored much of what she had lost.

A former managing editor of Gallaudet University’s American Annals of the Deaf journal, Briscoe was born with a hearing impairment. Country, and A Long Way from Home, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Her other works include Money Can’t Buy Love, P.G. Sisters and Lovers, her first novel, sold 500,000 copies and her second novel, Big Girls Don’t Cry, was a New York Times bestseller. In conversation with Diane McKinney-WhetstoneĪcclaimed for her literary portrayals of Black women’s relationships, Connie Briscoe's historical and romance novels have found acclaim and a wide readership for nearly three decades.

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