Valerie Wilson Wesley

Valerie Wilson Wesley

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Ms.Wesley's fiction and nonfiction for both adults and children have appeared in many publications, including Essence, Family Circle, TV Guide, Ms, Creative Classroom, and The New York Times, and Weltwoche, a Swiss weekly newspaper. She is also a 1993 recipient of the Griot Award from the New York Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists and has received numerous awards from national reading groups. In 1996, she was voted Author of the Year by the Go On Girl! Book Club. Ms.Wesley is also a former executive editor of Essence magazine.

Ms. Wesley is a former board member of Sisters of Crime, a professional organization committed to fighting discrimination against women writing mysteries. She has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, New Jersey and the YWCA of North Essex. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Newark Arts Council in Newark, New Jersey. Ms. Wesley is a graduate of Howard University and has masters degrees from both the Banks Street College of Education and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She is married to noted screenwriter and playwright Richard Wesley and is the mother of two grown daughters.

Playing My Mother's Blues
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ISBN: 0060188820
Format: Hardcover, 240pp
Pub. Date: March 15, 2005
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

In her triumphant new novel, bestselling author Valerie Wilson Wesley, one of the most respected and acclaimed voices in contemporary African American fiction, poignantly examines the stubborn bonds of family, passion, and a past that insists on repeating itself.

Dani Carter was seven years old -- her sister, Rose, seventeen -- when their beautiful, impetuous mother, Maria, walked out of their lives, abandoning her husband and family for a love affair that would end tragically mere months later. Over the decades that followed, Dani was able to overcome the persistent pain and feelings of betrayal, eventually wedding a successful man and giving birth to a wonderful son. But love has long been missing from her marriage, propelling her into the arms of another and inspiring troubling thoughts of escape. If it were not for the distress caused by the recent death of her father, she might well have already been gone. The sins of the mother, Dani fears, have been visited upon the daughter.

Dani's sister, Rose, never spoke or speaks of their lost parent. And their iron-willed, driven father -- who channeled his shame and anger into phenomenal business success -- always made it brutally clear that he considered his ex-wife to be evil incarnate. But Dani remembers a sweet, funny, vivacious young woman who did everything with exuberant love and tenderness. And now that she finds herself in a similar heartbreaking situation, Dani can't help but wonder who Maria really was.

It's a puzzle that may soon be completed, after a lifetime of searching for missing pieces. Maria, calling herself Mariah, is about to reenter her daughters' worlds -- at a time of emotional confusion and physical chaos -- bearing secrets and bitter truths ... and, perhaps, long-awaited answers to what could possibly drive a mother to sacrifice what was dearest to her heart.

Always True to You in My Fashion: A Novel
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ISBN: 0060188839
Format: Hardcover, 320pp
Pub. Date: November 2002
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

A trio of great single women is being driven to distraction; they have one thing in common -- Randall Hollis, a successful art dealer at the top of his game. Randall is rich, handsome, and charming -- the true-to-life dream lover of these smart, independent women who all find themselves passionately involved with him during the same seven-month period.

There's Medora Jackson, an artist who has loved Randall since college and is now desperately trying to cut him loose. But turning Randall Hollis out of her life will end up being far more difficult than she thinks. There's Ana Reese-Mitchell, a wealthy widow and art collector who is haunted by the death of her best friend and the specter of her cruel late husband. She hopes Randall Hollis will be her second chance at love. And there's ambitious Taylor Benedict, a graduate student in art history who is coming to terms with her parents' divorce and problems from her childhood that she can't chase away. She's sure that Randall Hollis will be the first rung on her ladder to success.

Randall Hollis is a man for all seasons, representing a different fantasy for each of the women who love him. As the novel unfolds, each woman will discover more about herself than she bargained for. And each, along with the errant Randall himself, will finally know the true meaning of love and the peace that comes with forgiveness.

Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do : A Novel
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ISBN: 0060515929
Format: Paperback, 336pp
Pub. Date: August 2002
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

When it comes to living life to the fullest, it ain't nobody's business how one goes about it.

At the age of forty, artist-turned-librarian Eva Hutchinson isn't looking for a change. But on a hot Friday the 13th in June, Hutch, her husband of ten years, picks up his suitcase and walks into the night searching for the "joy" that he feels is missing from their marriage. Suddenly, playing by the old rules doesn't make much sense to a not-quite-young sister whose stable world has turned upside down.

Now Eva is alone with an empty heart in a big, empty house. Hutch fears he is falling in love with the neglected wife of his wealthy, philandering best friend. Charley, Eva's law school-bound daughter, wants to chuck it all and become a stand-up comedian — while Steven, Hutch's son, harbors a secret that will rock his father's world. And into the mix strolls Isaiah Lonesome, a handsome hunk of a twenty-eight-year-old jazz musician who will teach Eva to play some lusty new riffs on love's oldest song.

Where Do I Go from Here?
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ISBN: 0590456075
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 144pp
Pub. Date: December 1995 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Edition Description: REPRINT
Age Range: 12 and up

Winner of the 1993 American Library Association Best Book for Reluctant Readers citation

Nia and Marcus, two of the very few African American students at a snooty prep school, struggle to find out what they want to do with their lives.

"This is a sensitive and powerful novel of a young African-American girl's struggle to find her place at a top-notch, almost exclusively white, private school"

Related links

Valerie Wilson Wesley Website
(author photo and above bio. excerpted from this web site)
http://tamarahayle.com/

Tamara Hayle Mysteries
http://authors.aalbc.com/tamara1.htm

Wilson is included in Best Black Women's Erotica
http://aalbc.com/books/best.htm