Strings of Color ties you into four separate but intertwined journeys through heartache and discovery.
A family filled with secrets, life lessons that will inspire and intique you.
Simone. Is immensely talented, yet everything she has ever known will be ripped apart. Her love will be tested. Her heart will call out for a strength that could only exist in moments like this, and her tears will carry her through the storm. Will she be able to give her heart to the love of her life while fighting to open her heart to a mother she has never known?
Naya. While facing her greatest loss, will she be able to find the key to strength, the will to continue on, and the endurance to make it through one of the darkest moments in her life?
Monà. Within her heart is a secret so deep that it could shake the very foundations of two lives. Will she be able to finally look into the eyes of a daughter she has only known from a distance?
Misty. Two paths are set before her; one could lead her back to the life of fame and prominence, which she so desperately wants; and the other could give her the love she so desperately needs. Will she choose the path that is best for her future, or for her heart?
Excerpt
Tonight I almost died...Naya thought to herself.
As she walked into her foyer, she dropped her purse, removed her shoes, and slowly allowed her eyes to follow the curve of the stairway until they met up with the oil painting which hung in the center.
Wrapped in a thick walnut wood frame, painted in the soft hues of crisp blues, creams, and specks of red, were herself and Chris.
His chest stuck proudly out. His smile was as wide as the sunshine. His blue eyes sparkled with the color of the ocean. Arms wrapped around her waist.
Chris. She could feel her fingers reaching out to toward him.
She remembered that day. How good it felt to be his wife.
The tears began to run down her cheeks as the weight of the day caused her legs to surrender to the pull of the rich mahogany wood floor.
Trembling. Heart pounding.
I've got to catch my breath, she whispered to herself.
Ten seconds later, she began to scream. The walls responded. The chandelier shook as the realization of what had happened began to sink deep into the pit of her stomach.
Less than two hours ago...I was sitting in a worn out chair watching a spider crawl up the wall. I had listened to the splatter of raindrops beat against the dirty windows. I had been staring at the moon for hours. Staring at the walls and then counting the tiny cracks in the floor. There were three hundred and forty-two. Crying for what seemed like days.
My tired body was heavy, ragged and empty. The whiff of dirty mop water had consumed my lungs and I had often found myself dabbing frantically at the corners of my red and swollen eyes. The lights had been dimed and the curtains slightly drawn shut but I could still see him.
Every touch we shared had flashed in my mind, every smile and every kiss.
I could hear the machines.
As I sat there, I remember feeling like my heart had begun to mix with the slow and methodic beeping noises they made.
My mind had just about settled and my eyes had finally closed when I heard it.
The noise penetrated the entire room.
Louder and louder it got, like a banging in my head. I began to scream as I ran to him and wrapped my fingers around his bed rail.
"Chris!" I shouted.
My body was calling out for strength. Darn near begging for it.
For him, I would give everything, anything. I would reach down into bottomless wells just to find a speck of it.
"Find me strength; find the darkness that I am in," I kept repeating over and over in my mind.
A teardrop fell upon his face.
The doors flew open. Three nurses came charging in.
One tried to pry my fingers from his bedside but I fought with all that I had to hold on.
I was like a mad woman. I kept thinking that if he could just feel my touch, it would give him the strength to fight.
"Please, ma'am," she said to me. "You've got to let go so we can try to save him."
I had watched her lips moving, but my mind had failed to register the reality of the situation I was in.
"Let go ma'am, we're losing him!" The tone of her voice had finally broken through and I somehow began to find myself again.
I remember staring at her, and then back at him. I remember thinking to myself, "Did I hear her right?"
Dizziness hit me like the strike of a lightning bolt. My palms had begun to sweat.
"Ma'am," she said again.
Finally--I blinked.
"Please save my husband," I whispered.
"We're trying ma'am, but you've got to let go." The nurse had been forceful but kind.
My fingers let go but my heart was still with him as I was gently moved out of the way.
There was rapid movement, loud voices, and machines being brought in.
I stood against the wall clutching my shirt and watching his motionless body.
When the doors flew open again, the doctor rushed in.
I think she glanced my way for a moment. But now I can't remember.
What I do remember is that there was no slow and methodic beeping noise from the machine penetrating deep into my ear lobes anymore. It had vanished as if it had somehow been carried off into the wind.
"Come back, come back." I whispered.
I wanted to hear it again. I needed to hear it again.
His blanket was pulled back; a nurse was cutting open his gown. I watched as the scissors grazed his skin. A chill came over me.
Strong and forcefully tears began to streak down the sides of my face.
The doctor was yelling, or was that me? I think I remember the doctor's voice.
"On my count of three, go!"
"Clear!"
"He's still not responding."
"Get the machine ready again!"
"It's ready Doctor."
"Clear!"
Still the machine was silent.
"Come back beeping noise. I won't complain about you anymore. Please come back to me."
I stared at the window as if it would open and the sound would return.
There was nothing. Not one single beep!
Fear and anticipation filled the air as more nurses and doctors came rushing in.
The last thirty years of my life was slipping out through the crevices of my fingers.
No part of this excerpt may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission.
Professional Reviews
An Excellent Read
Received a complimentary copy. A book with the family characters introduced to you. Names can be confusing.
So glad that I continued to read as I learned more about each character and just how their lives
as so inter-twined. A part of the book suddenly reveals- in a shocking way- why this family is so angry with each other. Fortunately the ending makes you so glad that you read to the end.
Make Time to Read This One
What an amazing story! I've got to say it took one day to read; I simply couldn't put it down! I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it at first because I was "judging a book by its cover." The cover is beautiful, but I didn't know anything about the author, story line, and I couldn't tell by the cover what the book was going to be about. I am glad that I pushed forward and read this novel. This was the first book for me from this author, having never heard of her before. This is her third book with another to come out in the spring of 2013.
Marian L. Thomas tells a wonderful story that has many threads running through it, threads of many different colors. The characters are more intertwined than you can imagine, as is the story line. There are surprises, twists and turns, and intrigue that keep you turning the pages until the end! Within the story line we learn about how two women are invariably tied deeper than they thought. In what way are they connected? The answer will surprise you. One woman is a successful singer who loses her husband, the love of her life. The other woman lost someone she loved before she was able to tell him how she felt.
There is a journalist who wants to tell a story only to find more worth living for than the story he longs to write. It is a story that includes being honest with a tragedy that happened and learning how to face some ugly truths. Besides all this, many of the characters learn how to overcome their fears and find reconciliation through forgiveness. This all sounds pretty generic doesn't it? Perhaps a quote from the book that I found encapsulates the threads coming together, Chapter 19 (page 297): "The pain of truth is hard to swallow. It's hard to bear and even harder to live through, or with. The pain of truth hurts deep in your gut, it causes your insides to ache and your heart--and you simply feel as if it no longer exists."
I plan on finding Marian's other two novels to read and look forward to the one being released in 2013. Strings of Color gets a 5-star rating from me. Well done, Marian. Keep writing!
Secrets...Emotional
This book was all about the dynamics that occur with a family full of secrets. It also touched a little bit on racial issues. I read this book in 2 days. I was just really drawn to the drama of it all. I would really consider this fiction but not chick lit . I was given a copy of this book to review.
Eight e-books regarding Pathological Narcissism, relationships with abusive
narcissists and psychopaths, and the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).
