A novel of contrasts and contradictions. 
Hypocrisy and religion. Homosexuality and spirituality. Sex and love. All are elements that fan the flames of Fire and Brimstone, a gritty urban novel of two totally different women who just can’t seem to distinguish between religion and spirituality until it’s too late. Or is it? 
Chris Desmereaux, single mother of two, is book-smart but lacks the know-how when it comes to the streets. A college graduate faced with issues such as food stamps, welfare, and unemployment, Chris seeks stability, love and compassion but only finds heartache after she returns home. Trapped in a Southern culture where one is more likely to be put down instead of uplifted, Chris earns an advanced ghetto degree the day Gayle slinks into her life and sends her reeling out of control. 
Gayle Evans, Minister of Music with one of the most beautiful voices God ever created, has got issues. Destroying every life she touches, Gayle brings more misery than harmony. Quick to praise the Lord’s name but even quicker to run a game of deception, she has a lesson or two to learn after she uses her “relationship with God” to break up a seemingly happy home. Gayle flaunts the persona of what does love have to do with it, and, when she falls for Chris, she finds out the hard way that love has everything to do with it. Complicated and pained, in church every time the door opens, this is one sistah-gurl with an agenda, and she knows how to work it. 
Fire and Brimstone explores lesbianism and Black motherhood as both separate and integrated issues impacting the main character’s role as a single parent, while opening dialogue on such issues as economics, same-sex domestic violence, and intra-racial castes systems among African-Americans. These issues, mixed with a portrayal of a myriad of relationships – mothers and daughters, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters - embody a true meaning of fire and brimstone that has yet to be shared with the world. The author does a tremendous job of unveiling the pain families inflict upon each other – pain that has little to do with racism or any other popular –isms. This novel is a significant creation delving not only into the complex relationships of African-American lesbians, but it also reminds us that gay women are everywhere, even in the African-American church – a place where no one expects to find them. 
Set against a backdrop of Southern mores, hypocrisy and religion take center stage in this intricate tale of contradictions with an emotional pendulum swinging from anger to elation, from satisfaction to frustration, from tears of sorrow to tears of joy. But with the ending comes the understanding that with Fire and Brimstone, true flames are the ones that burn within.

Fire and Brimstone

Literature & Fiction

Brown, Laurinda D.

United States

Creative Enterprises Inc

I read your reviews and heard your suggestions. Now, I want you to know that I really was listening. I present to you the new and improved, Fire and Brimstone - the revision. 
Chris Desmereaux, college graduate and single mother of two, staring down the food stamp line, looking for love, compassion, and stability is unaware that she has just been awarded an advanced ghetto degree the day Gayle Evans finds her personal ad in the paper - and answers it. 
Gayle Evans, toe-tapping, knee-slapping, make-you-wanna-holla Minister of Music with a divine gift from God. "Praise the Lord" is her mantra. Macking women is her game. Destroying every life she touches, Gayle brings more misery than harmony. She has a lesson or two learn after she uses her "relationship with God" to break up a seemingly happy home.

Fire and Brimstone, Revised 2nd Edition

LGBTQ+ Books

Nothing is ever what it seems. A "rehabilitated" drag queen, shunned by his lover, marries his best friend from high school. For years the couple has the ideal life until financial problems force the husband to take a second job that ultimately leads back to his old way of life. His wife is oblivious to his activities, but his sister-in-law, when introduced to him at the wedding reception, recalls seeing him at the nightclub performing as "Miss Nay". And that is when the drama begins. Alternating between Memphis, TN and Paris, France, UnderCover is two stories told in one book from the imagination of a writer who feels the reader should be educated as well as entertained. The reader learns about AIDS, it causes and transmission, how it affects children and how, at its onset, can be confused for other illnesses. Through this story the reader also witnesses the consequences of keeping secrets and living life on the DL (down-low) while peering into the lives of people viewed as real in spite of the fact that they are merely characters in the novel. UnderCover is a story for all readers regardless of race, profession or sexual orientation.

UnderCover

Touching upon such issues as one night stands, long-term femme relationships, bi-curious women, and the effects of childhood abuse, this provocative collection of stories centers around women who live life dangerously, while exploring their sexuality. Original.

Walk Like a Man

Urban Books

Chris Desmereaux, college graduate and single mother of two, staring down the food stamp line, looking for love, compassion, and stability, is unaware that she has just been awarded her own personal advanced ghetto degree the day Gayle Evans finds her personal ad in the paper -- and answers it. Gayle Evans, toe-tapping, knee-slapping, make-you-wanna-holla Minister of Music with a divine gift from God. "Praise the Lord" is her mantra. Macking women is her game. Destroying every life she touches, Gayle brings more misery than harmony. She has a lesson or two to learn after she uses her "relationship with God" to break up a seemingly happy home. Alternately set in Washington, D.C. and Memphis, Tennessee, Fire &amp; Brimstone is an "in your face" tale that explores lesbianism and Black motherhood as both separate and integrated issues impacting the main character's role as a single parent, while opening dialogue on same-sex domestic violence, religious beliefs, bisexuality, negligent fathers, economics, and intra-racial caste systems among African-Americans. Depending on one's beliefs and opinions, Fire &amp; Brimstone leaves no room for "in-between" emotions, leading the reader to ultimately draw his or her own conclusion as to what the ending actually means: Is homosexuality a sin, or does God love us as we are? The author reminds us that gay women are everywhere, even in the African-American church -- a place where no one expects to find them. Fire &amp; Brimstone does an excellent job of testing the boundaries of 21st century morality.

Fire & Brimstone: A Novel

Strebor

In Fire &amp; Brimstone, Laurinda D. Brown began the turbulent love story of Chris and Gayle, two women struggling with finding comfort in each other and in themselves while teetering on the verge of self-destruction. Chris Desmereaux and Gayle Evans. Two women. Two mothers. Two lovers testing the boundaries of 21st century morality with two lives torn between different ideas of right and wrong. Now in UnderCover, the author expands the story, introducing Nathaniel, the monogamous lover of Patrick, a high roller at the Memphis nightclub where Nathaniel transforms himself into a female diva before a standing-room-only crowd until Patrick breaks his heart. Devastated by his lover's rejection, Nathaniel leaves his flamboyant former life behind and reinvents himself yet again. This time it's Nathaniel, the committed family man -- a loving husband to his wife, devoted father to his three children, and brother-in-law to Chris. Patrick is a distant, still-seductive memoryŠuntil financial woes force Nathaniel to return to his old fast-money way of life. This fateful decision culminates in exposure -- and Nathaniel's subsequent downward spiral. Domestic crises abound as Nathaniel struggles with painful issues surrounding his sexual identity, and he must face the ultimate truth about himself in a harrowing climax. UnderCover is a powerhouse novel by a gifted storyteller.

Undercover

A century of unrest equals ten decades of change. The Highest Price for Passion reflects one hundred years of the most volatile era to divide American soil, interspersed with the uncontrollable fervor from the most unlikeliest of sources - when both master and mistress vie for the affections of a slave too beautiful to destroy, with a quiet intelligence neither can outwit. Discover a time when the concept of family paled against the principle of human bondage. Fight for the cause. Die for the freedom . . . to live, to choose, to love. Unyielding. Uncompromising. Undeniable. These are the qualities that make The Highest Price for Passion . . . unforgettable.

The Highest Price for Passion

In Fire & Brimstone, Laurinda D. Brown began the turbulent love story of Chris and Gayle, two women struggling with finding comfort in each other and in themselves while teetering on the verge of self-destruction. Chris Desmereaux and Gayle Evans. Two women. Two mothers. Two lovers testing the boundaries of 21st century morality with two lives torn between different ideas of right and wrong.Now in UnderCover, the author expands the story, introducing Nathaniel, the monogamous lover of Patrick, a high roller at the Memphis nightclub where Nathaniel transforms himself into a female diva before a standing-room-only crowd until Patrick breaks his heart. Devastated by his lover's rejection, Nathaniel leaves his flamboyant former life behind and reinvents himself yet again.This time it's Nathaniel, the committed family man -- a loving husband to his wife, devoted father to his three children, and brother-in-law to Chris. Patrick is a distant, still-seductive memory?until financial woes force Nathaniel to return to his old fast-money way of life. This fateful decision culminates in exposure -- and Nathaniel's subsequent downward spiral. Domestic crises abound as Nathaniel struggles with painful issues surrounding his sexual identity, and he must face the ultimate truth about himself in a harrowing climax. UnderCover is a powerhouse novel by a gifted storyteller.

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Strebor Books

Seeking escape from the pain that become her life, Monique Cummings finds refuge the only way she knows how. Like the clothes shoved in the bottom of her duffle bag when she flees her mother s house, she packs away the naiveté of her lovely, pigtailed young girl she used to be and replaces it with a newfound masculine boldness. Seeking refuge in a lesbian existence, Monique morphs into a street thug with the soul of a woman. Inside the world of Strapped, life is on real edgy, unnerving, passionate, and true. Without the ones in your life who care, Strapped could be you. Strapped: it proves that sometimes life just happens. Continuing where the sort story Mon left off in her 2006 best-selling novel, Walk Like A Man, author Laurinda D. Brown again weaves a tale in Strapped that will have pages turning and tongues wagging.

Strapped

Q-Boro

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

Books by Brown, Laurinda D.

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

Fire and Brimstone

Fire and Brimstone, Revised 2nd Edition

UnderCover

Walk Like a Man

Fire & Brimstone: A Novel

Undercover

The Highest Price for Passion

Undercover

Strapped