Synopses & Reviews
In 1975 young Tempestt Saville and her family are chosen by lottery to "move on up" to Lakeland: one square mile of rich black soil carved out of a Chicago ghetto, cradling sparkling apartment towers and emerald lawns where the elite of black professionals live in privilege, secure behind a ten-foot-tall, ivy-covered wrought-iron fence.
But eleven-year-old Temmy is drawn to the world outside the fence, to 35th Street, a place of colorful, often dangerous, characters. Here the saved and the sinners are both so "done up" you can't tell one from the other: among them, Alfred Mayes, the oily street preacher and connoisseur of "fine young thangs", whose line is as smooth as honey and whose looks are twice as sweet; and Miss Jonetta, a former lady of the evening, who knows everyone's story, and whose own history is as long and dark as 35th Street. Before a month has passed at Lakeland, Tempestt will witness the death of a friend, cause the arrest of a preacher, and start a chain of events that will send 35th Street up in flames.
Only Twice l've Wished for Heaven is a tale of love and loss told by characters as vivid as the times they live in and as complex as the rage they try to bury.
Synopsis
Eleven-year-old girl Tempestt and her family are given what is considered the chance of a lifetime: to move on up to Lakeland. It's a chance to leave behind the gritty neighborhood Tempestt has known throughout her entire life for one square mile of pristine beauty carved out of a Chicago ghetto and secured by a 10-foot-tall, ivy-covered, wrought iron fence.
Tempestt is quickly drawn to the streets beyond the fence, to a place of colorful, often dangerous, characters: 35th Street. Here the saved and the sinners are both so "done-up" you can't tell one from the other: Alfred Mayes, the oily preacher and connoisseur of "fine young thangs," whose line is as smooth as honey and whose looks are twice as sweet; and Miss Jonetta, a former lady of the evening who knows everyone's stories, and whose own history is as long and dark as 35th Street itself. Barely a month after moving to Lakeland, Tempestt will witness the death of friend, cause the arrest of a preacher, and start a chain of events that will send 35th Street up in flames.
About the Author
Dawn Turner Trice is an editor at the Chicago Tribune and was a participant of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She lives in Monee, Illinois.