Resurrecting Mingus is the story of a young woman lost - striving to find her own identity while dealing with powerful and painful questions that force her to confront everything and everyone that matters to her. In this stunning debut novel, Jenoyne Adams, a P.E.N. Center U.S.A. West Emerging Voices Fellow, displays a rare talent for a first-time author: the skill and courage to write about some of the most controversial issues today in an absorbing and compulsively readable manner. Mingus Browning is a successful, young, beautiful lawyer whose life is falling apart. After a thirty-five-year marriage, Mingus's African-American father has suddenly left her Irish mother for a black woman. A daddy's girl, Mingus is torn between the father she has always been closer to, the mother she may have to defend in divorce proceedings, and a sister hell-bent on winning their lifelong sibling rivalry. Mingus is caught in middle of the three, a woman alone, and, in turn, realizes that she has probably always felt more comfortable that way because she is part of no one group, let alone a united family. Juggling her parents' grief with her own proves to be too much for Mingus as she stumbles from one questionable relationship to another, further complicating her life. After years of isolating herself from those who have tried to care for her, Mingus finally meets someone who rips through her protective defenses and exposes her need to be loved. Eric Simms, a smooth-talking television producer, is through playing dating games and is looking for love for real this time. With Eric, Mingus finally learns to forget the fear of a broken heart and opens herself completely. That is, until word starts circulating that her new love has his secrets as well, and suddenly what was a perfect relationship begins to look like yet another minefield of hurt, as Mingus is forced to choose between her man, her sister, and the truth. After facing a long

Resurrecting Mingus: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Adams, Jenoyne

United States

Washington Square Press

With this sensual, heartrending second novel, bestselling author Jenoyne Adams further establishes herself as a stunning talent. Probing and engaging, Selah's Bed explores how a woman can use sex to gain acceptance, escape her past, and even endanger her soul. Selah Wells looks for salvation through sex and in her photography of nude black men. She feels most alive under the touch of new hands. But she's married to a minister, and, as the adage goes, secrets done in the dark will come to the light. Interweaving scenes from Selah's adult life, including the loss of her only child, and moments from her childhood -- spent in a lively housing project -- Adams deftly depicts Selah's journey. As her grandmother's health deteriorates and her husband immerses himself in the work of God, Selah's latest lover, Peter, tries to get her to confront her fear and anger. Unable to relinquish regrets that have fueled her behavior all these years, Selah resists. But when she is pushed to the emotional brink by an unexpected turn of events, she must finally face her past and begin to make peace with God, her husband, her lost child, and herself.

Selah's Bed: A Novel

Contemporary

Free Press

Sex was a way to stop the crying, the powerlessness of not feeling beautiful. She always felt beautiful under lustful hands. Lustful hands can't lie. The want, greed, and emptiness is real. That type of emptiness can't be imagined. And she trusted it because she understood it. The magic that disillusioned others about loving was what she liked most -- the emptiness always comes back. She could count on that. And as long as it did, she could keep believing that she didn't need promises of forever. -- from Selah's Bed Selah Wells takes on lovers to deal with the stresses in her life. She feels most alive under the touch of new hands. But she's married to a minister in the church, and as the old adage goes, secrets done in the dark will come to the light. With this sensual, heartrending second novel, bestselling author Jenoyne Adams further establishes herself as a stunning young talent. This probing and engaging work explores how a woman can use sex to gain acceptance, escape her past, and eventually endanger her very soul. Selah and Parker met in college when love and sexual exploration were fresh for both of them. After the loss of their only child challenges their marriage, Parker turns away from their sexual passion and immerses himself in the work of God. Selah, who was young and felt unequipped to make decisions about the daughter she lost, now harbors bitterness toward her husband, her grandmother, and God. She looks for salvation through sex and in her photography of nude black men. Interweaving scenes from Selah's adult life and moments from her childhood -- spent in a lively housing project where she learned things beyond her years -- Adams deftly depicts Selah's journey. As her grandmother succumbs to a prescription-drug addiction and Alzheimer's disease, Selah's latest lover, Peter, tries to get her to confront her fear and anger during their lovemaking. Unable to give up the regrets that have fueled her behavior all these years, Selah resists Peter's efforts. But when she is pushed to the emotional brink by an unexpected turn of events, she must finally face her past and begin to make peace with God, Parker, herself, and the little girl she lost. With fluid, poetic prose, fearless truth telling, and deep insight into the human condition, Adams offers a story about the resilience of the human spirit and how love can triumph over loss and regret.

Literary

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Adams, Jenoyne. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Adams, Jenoyne

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Adams, Jenoyne. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Resurrecting Mingus: A Novel

Selah's Bed: A Novel

Selah's Bed: A Novel