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Smart, kind, and beautiful, Rikki Moore has storms that ripple just beneath her image of perfection. Addressing a subject often avoided in African-American families, "A Quiet Storm" reveals the secret anguish of a family pulled apart by mental illness and the tragedy that results from their denial.
About the author
Rachel Howzell Hall lives in Los Angeles.
Summary
In this vividly written, suspense-driven novel, the secrets shared between two sisters erupt in tragedy.
Rikki Moore was always the star of the family, easily outshining her younger sister, Stacy, at every turn. Smart, kind, and beautiful, it was no surprise when Rikki met and married the perfect man -- pediatrician Matt Dresden. Her students at 59th Street Elementary School adored her, the church matrons solicited her help on every committee, and everyone wanted the golden couple to put in an appearance at their parties. Stacy? She was just the overweight little sister who couldn't get her love life together.
But the world didn't know about the storms that rippled just beneath the surface of Rikki's image of perfection. Ever since she was a teenager there were emotional breakdowns and obsessive behaviors -- secrets that Stacy was left to bear alone. Folks whispered, but they didn't know. When Rikki's husband, Matt, mysteriously disappears, however, the Moore family's carefully constructed image comes crashing down.
Additional text
Lolita Files Author of Child of God Rachel Howzell Hall has written a powerful, astonishing tale about the responsibilities -- and horrors -- we sometimes bear in the name of family, and how those familial boundaries can be pushed to the limit. The author does a tremendous job of pulling the reader into the abyss of frustration the characters endure as they deal with the unraveling of one deeply troubled family member.